I've pondered for a while about this blog. PM Summer inspired the blog title. A young lady in an SUV gave me the first post topic this morning, as I rode to the gym on "Frankenbike."
Going south through Bedford on Murphy Drive, I stopped at Harwood for a red light. Position was exactly where the line shows up if you pass your mouse over the embedded picture. Why there? Well, principles aside, that is the only lane position where any motorists coming up behind don't form the notion that I'll turn right AND where my wheels will trigger the induction sensor.
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Up behind me comes a young lady in an SUV and she stops fairly far back behind me. However, she fulfilled her duty to signal that she wanted to make a right turn. While I had no obligation to do anything (already being at the light), I waddled the bike over to the left, on to the edge of the white line. She didn't move. I did a little "Keri Wave" to encourage her. She recognized the courtesy, taking her free right turn in a safe and legal manner, passing a little over a foot to the right of my right elbow. She did say "thanks" in a very pleasant manner as she crept by. She had no way to know she'd launch yet one more blog.
Two points here. The first is that, rights and duties aside, courtesy makes things nicer for all users of the road - and I'd like to think that might be infectious. The second is that her actions would have been illegal under the failed Texas "three foot" law, even though I was in no danger whatsoever.
20 minutes ago
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12 comments:
Now Steve, really! When you are riding down the road, do you pass a cursor over it to determine where to position yourself in the lane? Or do you only post Google street views when the line happens to correspond to your position?
I think there is something fishy going on here!
So how do you like self publishing? I'm looking forward to visiting often and promoting your site as often as I can. Congratulations!
Well today, some motorists felt it was their duty to honk their horns long and loud at me.
Then they felt they had an obligation to tell me about imaginary laws that I was violating.
I courteously allowed them to remain ignorant on that point, but in the end they yielded to my lawful right of way.
I'd need an iPhone to do what ChipSeal suggests. I adjust Google Streetview to make the line correspond to the postition and then click on the "embed link." Seems to work. Besides, when stopping at an induction-triggered light, there're only one or two choices on where to stop, depending on the wiring pattern.
Self publishing is not bad. At one time, I was the webmaster on my Jaguar Club website up in Seattle, but that was a long, long time ago.
SPEAKING OF WHICH - for those that don't know, that ChipSeal guy is pretty nosey - following the blog before my first post. He probably was peeking to see just what was cooking as the stuff at the right evolved...
Steve - Congrats on starting this blog! As soon as I saw it was you, it went on my blogroll and my reading list.
Re: ChipSeal - yes, he is certainly on top of things! I like it; I can usually count on a comment from him, and I like comments.
I agree with you, courtesy makes a big difference.
Re: Courtesy vs. the Letter of the Law - I couldn't agree more. When it doesn't compromise safety, courtesy, including Keri waves, or general thank you waves (which I do a lot) can go a long way to everybody getting along and perhaps create a little more acceptance.
Thanks. Rantwick, upon seeing your comment, I felt compelled to change the name of my link to your blog. Pretty slick, eh? FWIW, my mom was born in Toronto & grew up in Victoria.
And my absolute FAVORITE concours has always been the Vancouver Jaguar Club's HERITAGE Concours, held every August on the waterfront.
I knew there had to be some Canuck in you, you're just so pleasant. I used to take issue with that "eh" thing, as an innacurate stereotype... then I started listening for it, and sure enough...
Congrats on the new blog. You've been subscribed!
Congrats on the new blog Steve!
Good post about courtesy. Using my narrow profile to allow right turns (where possible) is a courtesy that is often rewarded with a "thank you" and exchanged of good will. It's a little reminder that coexistence is a partnership... and that we're fellow humans.
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No Need for Non-Robot proof here!