BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I wave. I think of it as stick and carrot. I let people know when I'm happy, I let them know if I'm unhappy. Seems only fair.

Wave. Part of what it communicates is "I see you and I'm aware of how you are driving." If they extrapolate that to other cyclists, that's a good thing.

I wave.

I'm with Mayhew and abrenner.

I think of biking as a better form of transportation. One way bikes are better is the higher quality of interaction with other people. (But then, anything better than your middle finger is an improvement of much driver interaction.)

Also, I often can get through 4-way stops faster and safer by waving drivers through.

Mick

ditto all the above.

I wave thanks at cars all the time. If the car window is down I say thanks. I smile at everyone I make eye contact with. I figure there's always a chance some other cyclist did something stupid in front of them before and if I smile and wave and say thanks, I might build back some good will. They'll think "Hey, some of these guys are all right."

I think it surprises drivers (in a good way) when a biker passing close to his window says "Thanks" in a soft, conversational tone.

I like to think it might remind them of how close to a person you are when you get close to a bike of the road.

Mick

I do a lot of waving, usually in thanks, occasionally to make clear I want them to go first. This might be accompanied by a big arm sweep, too.

Sometimes it's less a wave and a c'mon-hurry-up-and-get-past-me motion.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I wave when someone does something seriously wrong and illegal, like coming within 2 inches of me when they have a whole extra lane. My natural inclination is to throw the middle finger, so the forced wave gets out some of my frustration without the middle finger escalation. As I've never seen anything good come from throwing up the middle finger, I think this is a bit of a better direction to take.

I wave with a nod for good things and I wave, mumble under my breath, and shake my head for about a min with angry eyebrows for wrong things. It tells people they have either done something nice, or something really stupid. And, like jeff said, it makes people aware that all (most) bikers are not stupid.

i'm a waver. i think it spreads good will between cars and bikes and shows the drivers you appreciate them thinking about your safety. if they have a good experience with a cyclist they're less apt to be grumpy about having to slow down or yield to the next one they encounter. you could argue they should be thinking about your safety anyway & we shouldn't have to reward them for it, but i'll spread the love however i can & for whatever reason. i also wave to passing cyclists which is a behavior i love seeing reciprocated.

I generally wave if I feel someone in a car is doing me a favor or just being nice to me generally. Sometimes when I'm asserting my right of way, I'll hold out my hand at a driver, "stop in the name of the law"-style, or wag my finger at him or her when he or she fails to yield right of way. Left turners not yielding to straight-through traffic is especially prone to this.

I don't often wave at cyclists passing the other way, though I usually do a brief nod of the head, or a quick "ding ding" on my bell. Is there a consensus on greeting other cyclists?

that's funny, i just read this article out of philly that says: Even though the gamut of cyclists is broad, a lot of riders agree that more solidarity could be established among them. Winn suggested a wave when cyclists encounter each other. Liang said this kind of greeting is almost customary in his hometown of Pittsburgh.

I wave to cars if they do something nice, or at least give a head nod. Cyclists get a head nod too, if we happen to make eye contact.