Discussion
On a long wide a-road on the way home there's a right turn off the a-road on to a minor road. To turn right you move in to a middle bit letting the rest of the traffic carry on. Hopefully you can see this in this picture (I'm talking about coming from right to left)...
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&ge...
Now if you're on your bike and there's traffic ahead of you would you use this right turn area to overtake all the cars? This is assuming that you are going straight on and as no one is indicating you believe everyone else will too.
It strikes me that this is pretty dangerous and someone could simply pull out in front of you to turn right so I've never done it but the vast majority of bikers I come across on the road do go for it.
Anyone done a course or something where advice is given on this sort of thing? If so, what did they say?
Ta,
Mark
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&ge...
Now if you're on your bike and there's traffic ahead of you would you use this right turn area to overtake all the cars? This is assuming that you are going straight on and as no one is indicating you believe everyone else will too.
It strikes me that this is pretty dangerous and someone could simply pull out in front of you to turn right so I've never done it but the vast majority of bikers I come across on the road do go for it.
Anyone done a course or something where advice is given on this sort of thing? If so, what did they say?
Ta,
Mark
Edited by dern on Thursday 10th April 11:32
These thoughts echo mine... I just wanted to check that I wasn't being overly cautious. I normally overtake before and after the dangerous bit and not through the junction which seems safest but most people seem to carry on through the lot at high speed regardless of the risks I perceive. Still personal choice and all that. The only problem I've ever had with it is when the guy behind me presumably expects me to do carry on through the junction and nearly collects me when I slow down and rejoin the traffic for the junction.
Cheers.
Cheers.
Here's another one for you...
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&ge...
Coming right to left on this map takes you along the a4 towards Thatcham. As you can hopefully see it's hatched all the way down the middle heading west towards a roundabout heading in to Thatcham. There's a turn off to the right in to a hotel on the right (the big place with the big carpark) and this turn is surrounded by islands. Past that the road opens up so you gas it in to the bike lane (
) which goes all the way to the roundabout. However, there's a turn right in to Cox's lane. I normally pull in before this junction and last night did the same thing as normal as another bike came past me doing about a ton straight through the junction and on to the roundabout. It looked pretty cool but I think by the way he came past me he hadn't anticipated me slowing and pulling in to the traffic. I was going 'quite quickly' on the hatched bit before the junction so do you think I'm giving the wrong impression by doing that and then pulling in before the junction and that if I'm not going to go all the way I should stay in with the traffic or am I doing the right thing.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&ge...
Coming right to left on this map takes you along the a4 towards Thatcham. As you can hopefully see it's hatched all the way down the middle heading west towards a roundabout heading in to Thatcham. There's a turn off to the right in to a hotel on the right (the big place with the big carpark) and this turn is surrounded by islands. Past that the road opens up so you gas it in to the bike lane (
) which goes all the way to the roundabout. However, there's a turn right in to Cox's lane. I normally pull in before this junction and last night did the same thing as normal as another bike came past me doing about a ton straight through the junction and on to the roundabout. It looked pretty cool but I think by the way he came past me he hadn't anticipated me slowing and pulling in to the traffic. I was going 'quite quickly' on the hatched bit before the junction so do you think I'm giving the wrong impression by doing that and then pulling in before the junction and that if I'm not going to go all the way I should stay in with the traffic or am I doing the right thing. black-k1 said:
I think I'd probably do the same and stop the overtake before Cox Lane although it would depend on the speed of the traffic heading west. If it were slow and assuming there is good visibility of the Cox Lane junction then I may be tempted to 'stay out' going past the junction but my speed differential with the west moving traffic would be small and there would need to be no on-coming traffic and space to handle the 'late indicators/right turns' into Cox Lane.
While I totally agree that anyone coming up behind on the overtake would be totally in the wrong, you do have to balance the risk of them either ploughing into the rear of your bike or loosing it on a panic brake against the risk on continuing the overtake past the junction. The 'lesser of the evils' is not always the same as the technically correct way to proceed.
Completely understand what you're saying but I didn't even know he was there until he came past. He hadn't been behind me along the A4 at any point and wasn't visible when I pulled out on to the hatched bit. I looked over my shoulder too and indicated but it was within feet of passing an island on the middle of the road so it would have been impossible to have collected him at that point. I oculdn't see him at any point while I was on the hatched bit because the mirrors go haywire on the painted lines (and it was at 8pm/dusk) so while he must have been behind me on the hatches I couldn't see him and didn't know he was there as I slowed and pulled in.While I totally agree that anyone coming up behind on the overtake would be totally in the wrong, you do have to balance the risk of them either ploughing into the rear of your bike or loosing it on a panic brake against the risk on continuing the overtake past the junction. The 'lesser of the evils' is not always the same as the technically correct way to proceed.
I don't want to point fingers at the guy by the way, we all have these choices to make... I was more concerned that I was being a bit of a gaylord for not simply continuing to overtake through these examples and that because of this I was getting in the way which I'd be mortified at
.Busamav said:
As for the junction shown , i wouldnt pull an overtakke through that section of road .
We have lived here for 8 months and there is a serious accident along that stretch every month .
The first 2 weekends we saw a road closure and ambulance to an accident , then a death just a bit further along .
There are traffic islands to a lot of those junctions now.
I've been commuting off and on down that road since we moved here about 9 years ago and it can get a bit hairy. I've never seen it closed but don't tend to use the bike much at the weekends.We have lived here for 8 months and there is a serious accident along that stretch every month .
The first 2 weekends we saw a road closure and ambulance to an accident , then a death just a bit further along .
There are traffic islands to a lot of those junctions now.
Busamav said:
ps , if you are the fukker that speeds past with a noisy can , your days are numbered , there will be a grey Volvo V70 waiting for you one day 
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