In Person Activism

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How to diplomatically handle car drivers who use their horns to demand cyclists make room for them (self.inperson)

submitted 6 months ago by activistPnk to c/inperson

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In this case I operate on the assumption car drivers are inherently good people. So when I am cycling in the middle of the lane (when the lane is too narrow for safe sharing), and they are behind me hitting their horn, I give them the benefit of the doubt as to whether they are being a malicious prick.

So I stop the bicycle, get off look around, check my pockets, and if their window is open I ask “did I drop something?” Because surely they would not use their horn to demand that I move to the side so they can pass me unsafely. Surely they are kindly signalling to me that my backpack is open, or that something fell from my bicycle.

Every single time, I never manage to discover that anything was lost or out of place.. but I continue to give drivers the benefit of the doubt every time.

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[–] activistPnk 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

This actually happened to me: I arrived at my destination and discovered my load was loose, ready to fall. There have also been times that I dropped something. And times that my backpack was mistakenly unzipped and I could have lost something worth keeping.

So if I operate with your assumption (that honking drivers are always assholes), then I lose the opportunity to pick up something I dropped or correct insecure cargo. Why should I give that up?

(edit) Since a horn is an ambiguous signal, in this circumstance of a car following a cyclist it should come to be universally understood to mean a cyclist dropped their phone or wallet, as this is the legit scenario.