As an avid cyclist, I applaud our local motorists for generally being aware of, and polite to, their two-wheeled fellow users of the road.
But lately, I’m seeing quite a few local motorists being perhaps a little too polite in terms of yielding the right of way to cyclists who don’t have it.
Specifically, when you see a mounted cyclist stopped in the roadway at a stop sign and you are a motorist driving with arterial traffic, you have the right of way, and the cyclist is waiting for you to drive past so he or she can then cross when traffic is clear.
The cyclist isn’t waiting for you stop and yield to them.
If you do this, you’re creating a dangerous situation by confusing the motorists coming up behind you at arterial speed.
This is especially dangerous on multi-lane, one-way streets (like First and Front streets in Port Angeles).
Sure, you could let the cyclist cross in front of you, but the driver in the next lane over may not know he’s coming across and smack him at 35 mph.
A dismounted cyclist on the sidewalk waiting to cross at a crosswalk is of course a pedestrian and should be yielded to in the manner of other pedestrians.
Sure, there are a lot of cyclists (just as motorists) who don’t obey all the rules of the road, so it makes sense to use extra care when you see them.
But when you see a mounted cyclist waiting to cross at a stop sign, the person is just waiting for you to pass by, not to stop and hold up the traffic behind you.
Tim Chamberlain,
Port Angeles