Indicating is for wimps and sissies

[ailbhe]

Mind you, cardrivers at least have the excuse that on a lot of cars the indicator lights are all but invisible in daylight anyway, but what's the cyclists' excuse? I really, really hate having to assume that every single vehicle on the road is about to do an unannounced turn into my path. I hate it more when I'm right.

This morning I was often, often right.

What are the rules about indicating when doing a U-turn on a one-way street, anyone?

(Next rant: cycle lanes which force cyclists into narrow, dangerous drains, and drivers who think we should cycle in them).

Comments

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

I don't signal on my bike when signalling seems more dangerous than not doing so (i.e. if it stops me braking or would mean hitting pedestrians). I admit to sometimes not signally when I'm pretty certain that I won't be affecting anyone else's behaviour whether I turn left or go straight on.

Any desire not to signal when turning right was rather squashed when a policeman turned up on the doorstep of my friend's house, holding a very squashed pair of my friend's glasses. (He was thankfully fine, apart from a cracked elbow).

[ailbhe]

I adore pedal brakes. I could, if I wanted to, apply the brakes with both hands off the handlebars.

Many bikes seem designed to be extra wobbly when cycled one-handed. I often see people cycling them on footpaths, knees around their ears, mobile phones in hand.

[ericjarvis.livejournal.com]

There shouldn't often be a problem with both signalling and braking. Certainly not the way I generally deal with a junction. Braking starts with just the back wheel, and I can do a hand signal then. After that it's a quick pass over the gear shift to the main braking using front and rear.

I sometimes don't signal for a left turn if there's really nobody about, but I pretty much alway signal to turn right. I've always assumed that the brakes in the UK are usually set up front/right rear/left precisely to make it easier to indicate a right turn.

IIRC the Cycling Proficiency Test correctly it included instructions that just about everything comes second to safety, so if it's a choice between obeying the rules or staying safe, you have to take the safe option.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

It isn't often a problem - it's generally only if a left turn catches me by surprise for some reason.

On front/right helping signalling: as far as I know (having hired bikes once in France, cycling pretty much on cycle paths the whole time), the brakes are still rear/left front/right in countries where turning left is harder. Does anyone have any further information?

[ailbhe]

I believe a lot of continental bikes have a pedal-operated rear brake. I conjecture that the front brake is on the right specifically so that most people will be operating it with their dominant hand, since it's the one one heaves on in an emergency situation to stop suddenly.

On my Christiania trike, imported from Denmark, the rear brake is pedal-operated, and the front brake is operated using a lever on the left side of the handlebar. Standing on the rear brake hard brings the trike to a pretty good stop.

[rrc.livejournal.com]

And like all hub brakes, they (pedal brakes) work just as well in the rain!

Unlike the callipers on my bike which just about give up when wet.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

I'd been told that a lot of continental bikes brake (presumably the rear) when you pedal backwards, but the bikes we hired just had the usual hand-squeezy caliper or cantilever sort.

When you say 'pedal-operated', do you mean the same pedals that move the bike forward, or are there more? I don't remember having seen different options anywhere, but then I've never ridden a trike, or a recumbent, or anything particularly unusual.

On the other hand, reacting a bit too fast or too heavily with the right brake can be another severe learning experience ...

[sierra-le-oli.livejournal.com]

Dutch bikes tend to have hand brakes. It's the old ones that are more likely to have pedal brakes.

I prefer hand brakes for the simple reason that one's feet can be used as additional brakes in an emergency, e.g., a small child walking onto a cycle path which is covered in wet leaves.

[ailbhe]

I can generally only do this if I drop off the bike. However, I *can* put my foot on the rear tyre to act as a brake if there isn't one. It's not very powerful though.

[sshi.livejournal.com]

It's the pedalling pedals, rather than another one - pedalling backwards has a braking effect, rather than just spinning the gears. I had a rather unexpected stopping experience with a Copenhagen city bike recently, as it had (I thought) no brakes. I'm glad I found that one out on a side road and not anywhere busy...

[baratron.livejournal.com]

I've always assumed that the brakes in the UK are usually set up front/right rear/left precisely to make it easier to indicate a right turn.

Is it really normal for bikes to have a back brake? Weird!

My trike has two front brakes, one on each hand. One of them's a hub brake and the other a calliper brake, though I have no idea which is which. The left brake is better for gradual slowing and the right brake is better for immediate stop, that's all I know :)

[rpdom.livejournal.com]

What are the rules about indicating when doing a U-turn on a one-way street, anyone?

Erm. Don't. Because why would you?

Can I also rant about cyclist who cycle on the pavement *next* to the nice, wide cycle lanes? (when I'm a pedestrian, that is. When I'm a driver I try to give cyclists as much room as possible. I've been a cyclist, I have the scars to prove it)

[ailbhe]

No-one should cycle on the pavement/footpath unless they are a teeny weeny child being supervised by a pedestrian adult. Walking on the footpath while pushing a bike is fine. Feeling that cars make the road too dangerous for cycling is not good reason to make the footpaths too dangerous for walking. There's nowhere else for pedestrians to go, after all.

[ai731.livejournal.com]

We've got a lovely, paved path that is clearly signposted as "multi-use" (footpath, cycles, wheelchairs - both electric and manual - skateboards, roller-blades, etc.), and which causes occasional problems, because a small subset of the cyclists who are convinced that it's a BIKE PATH, and get very annoyed at us for walking on it. Thing is, it's as wide as a single-track road! There is plenty of space for a cyclist to pass 2 people walking abreast perfectly safely. I get so annoyed by inconsiderate cyclists that give the rest of us a bad name.

[ailbhe]

I have occasionally had to explain to Linnea that a shared-use path is just that, look, little pictures of people walking AND cycling on the signs.

Linnea is 3, which is her excuse.

well done

[(Anonymous)]

omg.. good work, guy