Nice things car-drivers have done for bikers

We are sometimes quick to tell the tales of what stupid things some car-drivers have said or done, and yeah some of them can be idiots sometimes. But how about telling some of the nice things car or truck drivers have done for us?

A while back I was just heading out of town and saw this real old family stationwagon cruising ahead of me, just below the speedlimit. I started to open the throttle to zip past him and just as I was coming up behind him, I saw the driver put his hand out the window and indicated I should slow down. It was then I saw way ahead the cop car on the side of the road with the radar gun out. I immediately slowed down and gave the driver of the stationwagon a friendly thank you wave. Drove past the cop car at a very civilized pace. Thank you Mr Car-driver for saving me from a expensive ticket!

I get at least one driver pulling over for me to let me by on my favorite twisty road every time I ride it -- all I need is for them to put on their signal and hit the shoulder a bit while still rolling -- they don't even have to stop. A few folks will do this and I always give them a very big thank you wave in return.

Any car that doesn't tailgate me in heavy traffic and doesn't stop right up my pipes is appreciated.

Once, at the top of the start of a twisty section, I pulled up to the road to make a right turn onto it, and another car and just made a left from farther back to go the same direction. I didn't have enough time to go safely in front of him, so I resigned to let him pass before pulling out and be stuck behind him down the twisties. Amazingly, he didn't accelerate and flashed his lights at me giving me the signal to go in front of him instead. Gave him a big wave too.

Couple of cop/speed trap warnings from cagers that have saved my ass too

I greatly appreciate when riding down a two lane road, drivers who are making a left turn into a driveway, when there is no traffic coming the opposite way, safely pull into the left lane so as to not make me come to a complete stop as they initiate their turn.

I had some asshole truck driver needlessly pull into the left lane right in front of me once. Then I realized that he was slowing me down on purpose because there was a trooper pulling out of the rest stop we were going by.

Love love LOVE drivers who do this. If I could put them on my Christmas card list, I would!

I'm a big fan of the ones that are generally aware of their surroundings and don't try to run me over.

I've had car drivers warn me of speed traps many times which is good to know about no matter how fast or slow you’re going.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Just a one off good deed from 80s when I had a Yamaha Radian with a tiny tank, I had a woman follow me off the highway and pull up behind me on the off ramp as I'd run out of gas miles from a station. She flagged me back, somehow knowing I was out of gas, and said "get in; I'm going to buy you a gallon of gas."
So this kind middle aged (hahaha probably 30s) woman took me to a station, paid for a gallon of gas along with the deposit and brought me back to my bike. She never asked for a thing and at 18 years old I wasn't going to turn down a bucks worth of gas. She did tell me before she left that someone had helped her out once and she'd been just waiting to repay that favor.<o></o>

I really should have done a better job of thanking the kind stranger in Eden Prairie MN, but she did her job and it's been paid forward many times so her good deed continues on 25 years later.<o></o>

I stopped at a gas station a few months back to avoid getting soaked/shocked by a huge thunderstorm rumbling through town. I just took my helmet off and sat on the seat to wait it out. A guy in an old truck pulls up to get gas, and immediately comes over to make sure the bike is ok. Would have stayed to fix it if something was wrong. I was very appreciative of that gesture.

Often times when a car/truck driver does something nice for me when riding I realize many of them may be riders too.

Or their husband/wife/son/daughter/father/grandfather,ect are riders and they would like to think not everyone is out to kill their loved one.

When I'm "caging it" I fall into both catagories.

I was stranded on the southbound side of I-95 a couple of months back (Hall Effect sensor failure on my BMW). A guy in a delivery truck pulls in behind me and tells me he was headed the opposite direction when he saw me, so drove about 4 miles to the next exit, got off, and drove back the 4 miles to reach me. He had a lift gate on his truck and offered to give me a ride to the next exit. I thanked him profusely, but declined because my wife was only about 15 minutes away with a trailer in tow.

Talk about going out of your way -- literally -- to help someone! Very cool guy. I'll pay that forward.

I was riding in Italy several years ago and the unwritten rule was take it easy through the small towns and have fun in the hilly countryside. Coming out of a little town we were behind a police car thinking we were stuck riding slow just as the roads were getting good.
Next thing you know, he put two wheels on the shoulder to let us get by.

I've had this happen before... but I'm used to cops attempting to set me up. Just because I was young with a nice car I must be dealing drugs... so I generally turn at the next random intersection.


On topic- I like it when people try not to kill me... like the ones that slow down @ a passing zone for the extra safety margin.

In the hills, they usually pull over to let me pass. Closer to town, not so much..

When filtering, about 1/3 of the traffic moves over a bit to give me more room. (California) The other 2/3rds are playing with the phone.

Pretty much every time I ride the twisty roads around here the car drivers pull over to let me pass.

I also had a car driver at a stop light roll down his window to tell me how much he liked my high-viz jacket and helmet.

In rural area of Texas a lot of cages will move over on the shoulder to let you by, even though I can usually pass them without help, but I am sure to give them a big wave.

In the city (DFW), they move over the other direction, to try and prevent you from passing. I give them the ADV salute.

Out here in rural MO., most folks will slow way down and get way over when you meet them on a gravel road.
On my last couple of Colorado trips, I've noticed a good many folks going out of my way to let me by, pavement and gravel. I always pass them at a sensible speed and give a big wave.

I've noticed that the most courtesy is extended when riding alone.

Cars pulling over on twisties to let me pass.

I am not used to this, and on my recent ride in Northern Vermont a huge amount of people did this!


Also, cars not running over or into me.
Haven't even had a close call in a long time (I'm rich: I pay a lot of attention) but I still appreciate it.

On my way home the other night and I turn off on to one of my "Long-cuts" (as my wife calls them) . It's a nice ride, not particularly fast but with some nice twisties. Just a fun, relaxing ride home at the end of the day. So, anyway, about a mile along, I catch up to a driver education car . I just hang back, figure that I'll just cruise along, not be an azz, and hopefully leave them with some confidence and the idea that bikers are not bad people. Go another couple miles and as we approach the twisties, I hang back a little further so that they don't think that I'm getting ready to drop it down a couple and smoke them (now I'm kinda wishing that I had passed when I had the chance) and the car pulls over! Thought that they might be pulling over to switch drivers, but no, as I check my rear view, they pull back out and continue on behind me . Seems that the instructor knew what he was doing too.

Is this on a two-lane paved road? :huh

Cagers consistently pull over in the twisties up here if they are locals.

Always get a wave and a thumbs up as I go by.