4 ms·

> if it feels too dangerous taking it out on the roads sharing lanes with these reckless/distracted/intoxicated drivers As a motorcyclist and former electric s

by Swizec 5y ago

> if it feels too dangerous taking it out on the roads sharing lanes with these reckless/distracted/intoxicated drivers As a motorcyclist and former electric skateboard rider, welcome! Everyone is trying to kill you and it's always your fault. Cemeteries are full of people who had right of way.

mikepurvis 5y ago
Am a current cyclist and eskate rider, and I also bike on (not busy) roads with my young kids. Nothing I hate more than being honked- or yelled-at to "just go" when I have the right of way but am exercising an abundance of caution to make absolutely certain I'm not about to get ploughed by a car which may or may not come to a stop.
- deathanatos 5y ago
  Yeah, an awful lot of drivers seem to forget that¹ I have the right to the entire lane, even as a cyclist. If you don't like it, you can use the other lane, if there is one, to go around me. If there isn't — tough! Am if I am occupying the entire lane, there is almost certainly a reason for it — like an upcoming left or because there isn't sufficient room for you to pass. Because if there weren't, fighting with a car is not high on my list of priorities: I'd much rather scootch over, give you room to get by so you can speed of into the sunset and I can have an empty road to myself. ¹IANAL; in the jurisdiction I'm in, but my understanding is that this is common
  - nicoburns 5y ago
    That's definitely the law here in the UK, although FWIW most of the time I don't feel the need to occupy the whole lane. Cars generally pass reasonably safely here, plus there generally isn't another lane on the kind of road I'd be cycling on.
    - deathanatos 5y ago
      > although FWIW most of the time I don't feel the need to occupy the whole lane. Yeah, I perhaps should have made it clear that occupying a full lane is something I do probably <2% of the time. Not very often, and for similar reasons to the rest of the comment: I don't really want to have to deal with cars, and if I can stay right and let them by, I will. I'm in America, so it depends on the road; where we have unprotected bike lanes, then I'm in that & there's passing room, but too often there are "sharrows" where there really isn't a good deal of room for passing. Then it's very situational. (Usually the car taking up part of an oncoming lane as they pass.)
    - aix1 5y ago
      In the UK you're not only allowed to take the whole lane, the Department for Transport (through Bikeability) calls this the primary road position for cyclists. The guidance is that this should be the default, with the secondary position (~1m to the left) only used when the road is wide and the rider is certain that keeping to the left wouldn't compromise their safety. https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/cycletraining/article/ct20110110-cycletraining-Bitesize-Bikeability--Part-4--On-Road-Positioning-0 https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/cycletraining/article/ct20...
    - steerablesafe 5y ago
      I go into roundabouts while occupying a full lane, unless I use the first exit/turn left.
  - mikepurvis 5y ago
    Yeah. I was on my eskate on a 4-lane road recently, riding 1m out from the curb due to gravel and debris (killer for those tiny wheels), and I had a car honking at me to get out of the way even when there was a whole other lane to change into! He eventually did a half lane change, buzzing me as he went by, then got stuck at the next red light while I caught up. Ridiculous.
- II2II 5y ago
  My area has the opposite problem: motorists offering to let cyclists go when they have the right of way. It's generous of them to make such an offer, but they don't seem to realize that the safest thing for a cyclist to do is follow the same rules as motorists when they are cycling in traffic. (Of course my area also has reckless motorists who don't respect the rules of the road, but they seem to believe they are above the law whether they are interacting with cyclists or other motorists.)
  - jamil7 5y ago
    This also drives me crazy, it’s nice of them but ends up complicating an already tricky turn or crossing or something else. The worst is when they do it in a situation where there’s more than one lane and I literally can’t see or expect cars in the other lane to also stop / slow down for me.
    - aix1 5y ago
      Any good strategies for these types of encounters (esp. when visibility is poor), other than thanking them but insistently waving them on?
      - jamil7 5y ago
        > other than thanking them but insistently waving them on? Unfortunately not, that's basically my strategy.
      - II2II 5y ago
        On left turns, I do a shoulder check right as the light turns green. People seem to be less inclined to wave cyclists through and less inclined to hesitate thinking the cyclist is going to dart through if the cyclist isn't looking in their direction.
ian-g 5y ago
Hilariously, sometimes I feel most comfortable on a bike in the road when I'm being a slight bit unsafe. If I keep to the edge of the lane folks pass by me really close. If I'm going back and forth a bit and taking a whole lane up, cars give me the entire lane. It's wonderful
- walshemj 5y ago
  Exactly don't ride in the Gutter and also don't under take stopped traffic aggressively
  - vanattab 5y ago
    What does under take stopped traffic mean?
    - NickNameNick 5y ago
      Overtaking, but on the outside lane instead of the inside lane.
    - Haegin 5y ago
      If you're zooming past cars in traffic and the driver can open the door and hit you, you're overtaking. If the passenger can hit you, you're undertaking.
- cataphract 5y ago
  IMO the best is to occupy the center of the line to improve your visibility (especially when the road bends right) and to give the cars some incentive to slow down and overtake more on the left and then move closer to the right edge when they're actually overtaking you. This breaks down if the traffic is too heavy though. The exception is on left bends. There it's best to stay on the right, for three reasons: better visibility, you can have a straighter trajectory with a higher speed and if there is only one lane in each direction, cars going too fast in the opposite direction may cross into your lane.
- PebblesRox 5y ago

by Swizec 5y ago

mikepurvis 5y ago

Am a current cyclist and eskate rider, and I also bike on (not busy) roads with my young kids. Nothing I hate more than being honked- or yelled-at to "just go" when I have the right of way but am exercising an abundance of caution to make absolutely certain I'm not about to get ploughed by a car which may or may not come to a stop.

deathanatos 5y ago
Yeah, an awful lot of drivers seem to forget that¹ I have the right to the entire lane, even as a cyclist. If you don't like it, you can use the other lane, if there is one, to go around me. If there isn't — tough! Am if I am occupying the entire lane, there is almost certainly a reason for it — like an upcoming left or because there isn't sufficient room for you to pass. Because if there weren't, fighting with a car is not high on my list of priorities: I'd much rather scootch over, give you room to get by so you can speed of into the sunset and I can have an empty road to myself. ¹IANAL; in the jurisdiction I'm in, but my understanding is that this is common
- nicoburns 5y ago
  That's definitely the law here in the UK, although FWIW most of the time I don't feel the need to occupy the whole lane. Cars generally pass reasonably safely here, plus there generally isn't another lane on the kind of road I'd be cycling on.
  - deathanatos 5y ago
    > although FWIW most of the time I don't feel the need to occupy the whole lane. Yeah, I perhaps should have made it clear that occupying a full lane is something I do probably <2% of the time. Not very often, and for similar reasons to the rest of the comment: I don't really want to have to deal with cars, and if I can stay right and let them by, I will. I'm in America, so it depends on the road; where we have unprotected bike lanes, then I'm in that & there's passing room, but too often there are "sharrows" where there really isn't a good deal of room for passing. Then it's very situational. (Usually the car taking up part of an oncoming lane as they pass.)
  - aix1 5y ago
    In the UK you're not only allowed to take the whole lane, the Department for Transport (through Bikeability) calls this the primary road position for cyclists. The guidance is that this should be the default, with the secondary position (~1m to the left) only used when the road is wide and the rider is certain that keeping to the left wouldn't compromise their safety. https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/cycletraining/article/ct20110110-cycletraining-Bitesize-Bikeability--Part-4--On-Road-Positioning-0 https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/cycletraining/article/ct20...
  - steerablesafe 5y ago
    I go into roundabouts while occupying a full lane, unless I use the first exit/turn left.
- mikepurvis 5y ago
  Yeah. I was on my eskate on a 4-lane road recently, riding 1m out from the curb due to gravel and debris (killer for those tiny wheels), and I had a car honking at me to get out of the way even when there was a whole other lane to change into! He eventually did a half lane change, buzzing me as he went by, then got stuck at the next red light while I caught up. Ridiculous.
II2II 5y ago
My area has the opposite problem: motorists offering to let cyclists go when they have the right of way. It's generous of them to make such an offer, but they don't seem to realize that the safest thing for a cyclist to do is follow the same rules as motorists when they are cycling in traffic. (Of course my area also has reckless motorists who don't respect the rules of the road, but they seem to believe they are above the law whether they are interacting with cyclists or other motorists.)
- jamil7 5y ago
  This also drives me crazy, it’s nice of them but ends up complicating an already tricky turn or crossing or something else. The worst is when they do it in a situation where there’s more than one lane and I literally can’t see or expect cars in the other lane to also stop / slow down for me.
  - aix1 5y ago
    Any good strategies for these types of encounters (esp. when visibility is poor), other than thanking them but insistently waving them on?
    - jamil7 5y ago
      > other than thanking them but insistently waving them on? Unfortunately not, that's basically my strategy.
    - II2II 5y ago
      On left turns, I do a shoulder check right as the light turns green. People seem to be less inclined to wave cyclists through and less inclined to hesitate thinking the cyclist is going to dart through if the cyclist isn't looking in their direction.

ian-g 5y ago

Hilariously, sometimes I feel most comfortable on a bike in the road when I'm being a slight bit unsafe. If I keep to the edge of the lane folks pass by me really close. If I'm going back and forth a bit and taking a whole lane up, cars give me the entire lane. It's wonderful

walshemj 5y ago
Exactly don't ride in the Gutter and also don't under take stopped traffic aggressively
- vanattab 5y ago
  What does under take stopped traffic mean?
  - NickNameNick 5y ago
    Overtaking, but on the outside lane instead of the inside lane.
  - Haegin 5y ago
    If you're zooming past cars in traffic and the driver can open the door and hit you, you're overtaking. If the passenger can hit you, you're undertaking.
cataphract 5y ago
IMO the best is to occupy the center of the line to improve your visibility (especially when the road bends right) and to give the cars some incentive to slow down and overtake more on the left and then move closer to the right edge when they're actually overtaking you. This breaks down if the traffic is too heavy though. The exception is on left bends. There it's best to stay on the right, for three reasons: better visibility, you can have a straighter trajectory with a higher speed and if there is only one lane in each direction, cars going too fast in the opposite direction may cross into your lane.
PebblesRox 5y ago