NYC cab driver tonight

Tonight I was waiting to cross a difficult intersection where I always take the lane because cars behave very unpredictably there.

As often happens, a driver who was right behind me honked at me because bikers taking a lane is unusual in Manhattan. I ignored him as we waited for the light to change, so he pulled into the turn lane on my right to tell me that I was blocking traffic.

I almost fell off my bike laughing. I did explain to him that I'm a legal vehicle behaving in a legal manner. He was flummoxed. "But you're in the vehicular lane." he said, with his cab completely blocking the right turn lane all the while (he was going straight). The sad thing is -- the guy was sincere. He wasn't trying to be obnoxious.

By the way, I'm not knocking cab drivers in general. Public perception to the contrary, I think most of them are perfectly good drivers and they are often very helpful. But this fellow gave me quite a chuckle.

Pam

Get a State of NY drivers handbook, photocopy the appropriate page and start handing them out.

Make many, many copies :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PamNY

By the way, I'm not knocking cab drivers in general. Public perception to the contrary, I think most of them are perfectly good drivers and they are often very helpful. But this fellow gave me quite a chuckle.

Pam

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Good drivers..albeit moderately scary. Was in Manhattan Canadian Thanksgiving- it was my first exposure to NY cab drivers..OMG!!!:D:D I eventually stopped looking - I have to say was feeling moderately pukey exiting most rides...It's like going to an amusement park:D

Ain't that the truth? But how come in movies when you see people in cabs their heads aren't bouncing around and doing the extreme lean like in real life?? :P

My scariest cab ride was in Chicago, though.

Karen

Heh, that's funny.

I have a cab story from this morning, too:
I was driving into work and I came up to an intersection as the light turned red. I was turning right, but I stopped because some cars were on the cross street waiting for a green. I let them go and then when the lane was clear about 15 seconds later, I turned right. What was odd was that the cab across the intersection from me in the left turn lane also took that opportunity to go left!!! He had a full on red light - and must have seen it because he also waited for the cars to pass like I did. Seriously - this guy just turned left on red - fully conscious of what he did. Amazing!

Luckily, the road we were turning onto was three lanes wide so there was no danger of us colliding. Of course, I kept my distance from him after that!

It's been a while, but I don't really remember crazy cab rides from when I lived in NYC and Chicago. There were some crazy cab drivers, like the woman who was clearly mentally ill. And then there was the one in DC who asked me how often I "wash" my teeth, because he does not wash his every day.

But the rides themselves did not make me queasy. Maybe because I was usually annoyed that they weren't taking the route I preferred.

[QUOTE=ny biker;481066]It's been a while, but I don't really remember crazy cab rides from when I lived in NYC and Chicago.QUOTE]

ah yes..spoken like a native New Yorker...:D You probably grew up with them..have a different sense of crazy:D:D

The scariest (fun) thing is the top deck of double-decker busses flying along the narrow cobblestone streets of Aberdeen, Scotland. What a thrill! I'm betting those drivers are more accustomed to cyclists, too.