How many of us apologise to motorists?

andy83

It got me wandering as there are times when I will be in the wrong on the road, ie in wrong lane etc and may not do the correct thing on the road, however I always say sorry and hold my hand up. were not all perfect and make mistakes

Now the thing is when i drive i hardly ever see cyclists say sorry for poor riding etc.

im not sure if the majority of cyclists dont say thank you but sometimes I get looks of shock when I say thanks for someone giving way, like people on bikes never do.

Maybe its cos I live in birmingham and there is not a massive cycling culture or the fact that I use the road so feel that I should obey the rules and treat other motorists like I was in a car

spasypaddy

if ive done something wrong i will apologise. always. i'd expect an apology if they've done something wrong.

jonginge

I do. I also thank other road users for their consideration. All part of the game

andy83

JonGinge wrote:

I do. I also thank other road users for their consideration. All part of the game

Yea I thought this was the given but I just never see it when driving.

I even had a chat with a driver the other day cos I was at the lights and some muppet just jumped then as they had been doing all down the road and still not getting much ground on me

Sometimes i accidently jump lights as im not fully focussed I always say sorry, bit guilty if nothing else

TiBoy

I always say thank you to anyone who has been stuck behind me. It's just polite and most people around my way wave back.

camerone

JonGinge wrote:

I do. I also thank other road users for their consideration. All part of the game

me too, majority dont here in Brum though. only this morning i pootled in the car behind a cyclist for a mile or so , a good 50 yards back, he looked over shoulder several times, not a hint of acknowledgement when i finally bimbled past when the road widened. I realise i was only behaving as i should have been, but i always give a wave and a thumbs up when drivers do that to me on the bike.

MonkeyMonster

JonGinge wrote:

I do. I also thank other road users for their consideration. All part of the game

+1

andy83

camerone wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

I do. I also thank other road users for their consideration. All part of the game

me too, majority dont here in Brum though. only this morning i pootled in the car behind a cyclist for a mile or so , a good 50 yards back, he looked over shoulder several times, not a hint of acknowledgement when i finally bimbled past when the road widened. I realise i was only behaving as i should have been, but i always give a wave and a thumbs up when drivers do that to me on the bike.

yes I find that a lot, cyclists on the whole are very miserable in birmingham

lost_in_thought

MonkeyMonster wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

I do. I also thank other road users for their consideration. All part of the game

+1

+1

Nigel Bennett

I always try to acknowledge courtesy and consideration by others. I recall once a few years ago I was out training with a group and we kept getting hassled and abused by seemingly everybody else on the road, so we were a bit uptight to say the least. One motorist then gave us a toot as he passed, and as one we gave him the finger and bawled obscenities at him, thinking it was just yet another twonk having a go at us. ...it was Paul's Dad, giving us a friendly toot of encouragement....

kelsen

I apologise to other road users when it's my fault

I apologise to my wife when it's her fault

daviesee

kelsen wrote:

I apologise to other road users when it's my fault

I apologise to my wife when it's her fault

Cafewanda

kelsen wrote:

I apologise to other road users when it's my fault

I apologise to my wife when it's her fault

DDD take note!



I apologise when I'm in the wrong and say/sign 'thanks' when drivers are nice to me. Must be a summer thing, cos a higher number are nicer this time of year than in the winter.

BentMikey

JonGinge wrote:

I do. I also thank other road users for their consideration. All part of the game

+1

rjsterry

Ditto, although I'm pretty much limited to hand gestures only, what with the face mask an' all.

King Donut

camerone wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

I do. I also thank other road users for their consideration. All part of the game

me too, majority dont here in Brum though. only this morning i pootled in the car behind a cyclist for a mile or so , a good 50 yards back, he looked over shoulder several times, not a hint of acknowledgement when i finally bimbled past when the road widened. I realise i was only behaving as i should have been, but i always give a wave and a thumbs up when drivers do that to me on the bike.

I agree. Even just acknowledging their considerate behaviour might make them do it again next time.

I've ridden away from a few situations where I wish I'd apologised/thanked a driver. Sometimes I just get a bit defensive and in the heat of the moment can't see that I'm in the wrong. Live and learn I guess.

bornagainroadie

Are there any standard signals used to communicate thanks or apologies to other road users? There have been times when I have wanted to thank someone who has held back rather than squeeze past me but its never been clear what signal to use that a) does not compromise my control of the bike and b) wont be misinterpreted. As a result I tend to do nothing and concentrate on making progress.

Nick

jonny_trousers

I do too, but don't forget, we here are the enlightened ones.

bails87

What if you never make mistakes?

rjsterry

BornAgainRoadie wrote:

Are there any standard signals used to communicate thanks or apologies to other road users? There have been times when I have wanted to thank someone who has held back rather than squeeze past me but its never been clear what signal to use that a) does not compromise my control of the bike and b) wont be misinterpreted. As a result I tend to do nothing and concentrate on making progress.

Nick

A wave, a nod or a thumbs up for thanks is pretty universal. It's possible to give a sort of acknowledgement wave with out taking your hand off the bars. I believe JonGinge has refined this to a fine art and can display the entire range of human emotion without letting go of the bars. Sorry is a bit more tricky, but I think a contrite wave and a slight bow of the head probably just about does it. Kind of a thank-you-for-putting-up-with-my-amateurish-riding sort of thing.

Alternatively, carry a set of flash cards with common messages, or get one of those dot matrix boards fixed to the bike.

pastryboy

I have raised a hand in apology before.

If they're ranting at me (as happened once) I won't be so polite.

Norky

JonGinge wrote:

I do. I also thank other road users for their consideration. All part of the game

Same here. Better to use the carrot of graciousness in response to decent behaviour from others than the stick of rudeness to in response to twattery (though a few times I have been surprised/scared and stuck a finger or two up).

cee

yip..another +1...

same as i do when driving the car.

the universal rasied hand palm out.

this can be combined with a dip of the head to show apology, or a nice big smile to show thanks.

Porgy

On my bike I respond to courtesy and reasonableness like in any other walk of life, but I don't see much out there on the roads. I realised how bad things are in London and Kent when every car in devon I let pass me on the narrow lanes back in May said thankyou with one notable exception who I reckon was a Londoner on holiday. No motorist in the Kentish or Essex lanes ever says thankyou - thye consider a kind act not to run you over, I reckon.

I even had cars giving way to me in Devon when they didn;t have to - in which case I said thankyou.

Now in London noone says thankyou and if I as a cyclist do something wrong by accident - we all make mistakes - I'm lucky if I get a chance to say sorry in between the show of strength from the irate car/van driver - wheel spin, revved engine, brakes slammed on right in front of me, something thrown at me through the window - or I just get called a c*nt and then they're gone - and I have no chance of apologising and often don't even get to find out what I did wrong.

Where I have succeeded at apologising then it usually disarms them completely - but so few drivers even give you the chance.

Saying thankyou though does depend on someone doing something for you in the first place - in London that so rarely happens.

scouserinlondon

i'm a prolific thanker and apologiser. I also shout at motons too.

Just very demonstrative really.

Porgy

scouserinlondon wrote:

i'm a prolific thanker and apologiser. I also shout at motons too.

Just very demonstrative really.

Those motons - they're c*nts :twisted:

scouserinlondon

Porgy wrote:

scouserinlondon wrote:

i'm a prolific thanker and apologiser. I also shout at motons too.

Just very demonstrative really.

Those motons - they're c*nts :twisted:

I've used some quite naughty words I have to confess.

lost_in_thought

Porgy wrote:

On my bike I respond to courtesy and reasonableness like in any other walk of life, but I don't see much out there on the roads. I realised how bad things are in London and Kent when every car in devon I let pass me on the narrow lanes back in May said thankyou with one notable exception who I reckon was a Londoner on holiday. No motorist in the Kentish or Essex lanes ever says thankyou - thye consider a kind act not to run you over, I reckon.

I even had cars giving way to me in Devon when they didn;t have to - in which case I said thankyou.

Now in London noone says thankyou and if I as a cyclist do something wrong by accident - we all make mistakes - I'm lucky if I get a chance to say sorry in between the show of strength from the irate car/van driver - wheel spin, revved engine, brakes slammed on right in front of me, something thrown at me through the window - or I just get called a c*nt and then they're gone - and I have no chance of apologising and often don't even get to find out what I did wrong.

Where I have succeeded at apologising then it usually disarms them completely - but so few drivers even give you the chance.

Saying thankyou though does depend on someone doing something for you in the first place - in London that so rarely happens.

I don't know where you're riding or what you're doing wrong, or indeed what I'm doing right, but my experience of riding in London and Essex could not be more opposite.

Drivers are as a rule courteous and kind, immediately memorable examples include a minicab driver waving me out in front of him, another slowing for me to pass another cyclist, both of which got a thank-you from me and responded with a wave and a toot of the horn. Drivers are always cutting me some slack in London, some are muppets, but they're definitely the minority by far.

In Essex, well, very north Essex where I live on the weekends and holidays, drivers give me tons of room, and invariably thank me when I wave them past. I thank them too, 'cause they're lovely.

Sure, there's the occasional pillock, but that's true of all walks of life.

Porgy

lost_in_thought wrote:

Porgy wrote:

On my bike I respond to courtesy and reasonableness like in any other walk of life, but I don't see much out there on the roads. I realised how bad things are in London and Kent when every car in devon I let pass me on the narrow lanes back in May said thankyou with one notable exception who I reckon was a Londoner on holiday. No motorist in the Kentish or Essex lanes ever says thankyou - thye consider a kind act not to run you over, I reckon.

I even had cars giving way to me in Devon when they didn;t have to - in which case I said thankyou.

Now in London noone says thankyou and if I as a cyclist do something wrong by accident - we all make mistakes - I'm lucky if I get a chance to say sorry in between the show of strength from the irate car/van driver - wheel spin, revved engine, brakes slammed on right in front of me, something thrown at me through the window - or I just get called a c*nt and then they're gone - and I have no chance of apologising and often don't even get to find out what I did wrong.

Where I have succeeded at apologising then it usually disarms them completely - but so few drivers even give you the chance.

Saying thankyou though does depend on someone doing something for you in the first place - in London that so rarely happens.

I don't know where you're riding or what you're doing wrong, or indeed what I'm doing right, but my experience of riding in London and Essex could not be more opposite.

Drivers are as a rule courteous and kind, immediately memorable examples include a minicab driver waving me out in front of him, another slowing for me to pass another cyclist, both of which got a thank-you from me and responded with a wave and a toot of the horn. Drivers are always cutting me some slack in London, some are muppets, but they're definitely the minority by far.

In Essex, well, very north Essex where I live on the weekends and holidays, drivers give me tons of room, and invariably thank me when I wave them past. I thank them too, 'cause they're lovely.

Sure, there's the occasional pillock, but that's true of all walks of life.

tbh - I don;t get aggression in Kent - just no one ever says thankyou. And I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm extrmemely courteous and always try to pull in asap to let vehicles pass me. But then I'm a big fat bloke - maybe that's it.

But - try riding in Devon - if I was doing something wrong then I wouldn;t have had such a positive experience there would I?

As for Essex - I cycled round suffolk for a week last year and had a lovely time - very nice drivers. Once in Essex just a few miles over the border I got cut up by a white van and beeped by a random car passing me who thought I should be on the pavement! After that it got worse.

rjsterry

Porgy wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Porgy wrote:

On my bike I respond to courtesy and reasonableness like in any other walk of life, but I don't see much out there on the roads. I realised how bad things are in London and Kent when every car in devon I let pass me on the narrow lanes back in May said thankyou with one notable exception who I reckon was a Londoner on holiday. No motorist in the Kentish or Essex lanes ever says thankyou - thye consider a kind act not to run you over, I reckon.

I even had cars giving way to me in Devon when they didn;t have to - in which case I said thankyou.

Now in London noone says thankyou and if I as a cyclist do something wrong by accident - we all make mistakes - I'm lucky if I get a chance to say sorry in between the show of strength from the irate car/van driver - wheel spin, revved engine, brakes slammed on right in front of me, something thrown at me through the window - or I just get called a c*nt and then they're gone - and I have no chance of apologising and often don't even get to find out what I did wrong.

Where I have succeeded at apologising then it usually disarms them completely - but so few drivers even give you the chance.

Saying thankyou though does depend on someone doing something for you in the first place - in London that so rarely happens.

I don't know where you're riding or what you're doing wrong, or indeed what I'm doing right, but my experience of riding in London and Essex could not be more opposite.

Drivers are as a rule courteous and kind, immediately memorable examples include a minicab driver waving me out in front of him, another slowing for me to pass another cyclist, both of which got a thank-you from me and responded with a wave and a toot of the horn. Drivers are always cutting me some slack in London, some are muppets, but they're definitely the minority by far.

In Essex, well, very north Essex where I live on the weekends and holidays, drivers give me tons of room, and invariably thank me when I wave them past. I thank them too, 'cause they're lovely.

Sure, there's the occasional pillock, but that's true of all walks of life.

tbh - I don;t get aggression in Kent - just no one ever says thankyou. And I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm extrmemely courteous and always try to pull in asap to let vehicles pass me. But then I'm a big fat bloke - maybe that's it.

As a child of the West Country, I'd have to say that London is less friendly generally. Not aggressive, just indifferent. To give an example, it's perfectly normal to thank a bus driver when alighting in Bristol (or at least it was when I lived there), perhaps a "Cheers then, drive." whereas in London, you're looked on as a bit of a weirdo for such interaction. See also speaking to people in the tube.

Porgy

I've had a revelation - and it's this - people outside London and the home counties are normal decent people. They are friendly and want to chat and stuff, and will do stuff out of the kindness of their hearts without expecting something for it.

People in London - well if they're not c*nts then they are dragged down by the c*nts.

I think my disilluisonment of London begins here. Hopefully I'll be out of here within 3/4 years.