[thwart]

There’s a gesture I make when I’m biking in the United States that, to me, encapsulates the status cyclists have in this country. Whenever I reach an intersection with a car approaching, I slow down to make sure I won’t be hit, and, even when I have the legal right of way—on a bike path, or when the car has a yield sign—I acknowledge a driver’s stopping with a little half-wave. Thank you for obeying the law and not killing me, I am saying.

Sounds awfully familiar.