AlanW
Maximum Pace
- Jan 30, 2007
- 1,215
- 440
Not just the signals
I try not to be in the firing line for cars cutting across me to turn left and will adjust my speed so that I am either approaching or past the junction when a car arrives, so far as I can.
Given the late signalling problem it pays to look for all the signs that a car may be turning....is it slowing down....has it moved to the extreme left of the lane....can you see the driver's head turned to the left....is it a Taxi (!).....keep scanning back and forth along the road and glance at the front wheels for the first sign of a turn. Also try to drift right in the lane on approach to discourage drivers from passing me just before a junction, and to signal my intention to go straight on (this also helps discourage cars from the other direction turning right across my path). Likewise if there is a filter lane to turn left, and I'm going straight on, I move out early into the correct lane. And if traffic is stopped, I try to position my bike in the centre of the lane or on the right of a car that is actually signalling left.
"Let's be careful out there!"
I try not to be in the firing line for cars cutting across me to turn left and will adjust my speed so that I am either approaching or past the junction when a car arrives, so far as I can.
Given the late signalling problem it pays to look for all the signs that a car may be turning....is it slowing down....has it moved to the extreme left of the lane....can you see the driver's head turned to the left....is it a Taxi (!).....keep scanning back and forth along the road and glance at the front wheels for the first sign of a turn. Also try to drift right in the lane on approach to discourage drivers from passing me just before a junction, and to signal my intention to go straight on (this also helps discourage cars from the other direction turning right across my path). Likewise if there is a filter lane to turn left, and I'm going straight on, I move out early into the correct lane. And if traffic is stopped, I try to position my bike in the centre of the lane or on the right of a car that is actually signalling left.
"Let's be careful out there!"