Commuting - Traffic Etiquette

[Maty]

OK so I dug the old bike out about a month ago, instantly fell in love with cycling again and subsequently bought a CUBE Attention through my business. I am now doing a mixture of commuting, when I'm in the office and weekend rides round the local canal paths/parks etc.

Question is, there have been a few instances on my commute where I have not really had a clue what I should be doing. For example, coming up to traffic lights that are on red, if there is a gap down the left hand side should I use it to get to the front of the que, or do I go to the middle of the road and make my way to the front that way, or, stay behind which ever car I'm near??

Also, there is a section with 2 lanes coming upto a set of lights (both lanes go straight ahead) that is always chocka with traffic, do I go down the left, the middle (in between the cars), or down the middle of the road??

Are there any websites for this, or are there any courses I can go on??

Its strange how you just know what to do in a car but then it totally changes when you get on a bike.

[henrycrun]

recommend you read Cyclecraft by John Franklin. (Similar to Roadcraft for Drivers)
Ride as though you were driving and never ride down the LHS of HGVs and buses

Edited by henrycrun on Thursday 8th October 13:00

[anonymous-user]

as a rule of thumb, always have a car on your left.... 99% of the time, if a car turns left in traffic (eg to go down a side road) they do not look in their left hand mirror and will hit you. also, if a car pulls out of a junction, invariably, htey are looking left, then crucially, the last place they look is right, to see the gap htey intend to pull out into so they may miss you if traffic is crawling and you are going up the inside on the left hand sid eof the road.

[Chris71]

I think it's a case of decide on your own etiquette, but I'd say:

• Filter wherever easiest - I tend to prefer to be on the right hand side as people are more likely to expect you to overtake on the right. If you're likely to stop and then be out accelerated afterwards (for example approaching lights) I reckon you're best off moving to the left, so people can overtake you legitimately as they pull away.
• Likewise, if you're going straight on at a cross roads I'd stay to the left of cars going straight on, because people are reasonably happy to overtake with you on their left, but it looks rude if they want to turn right and you're in their way.
• Providing there's a certain amount of traffic flow (rather than full on London gridlock) try to merge back into the main stream of traffic as cars move away. Personally I find that you can out accelerate one casually driven car off the line, or a couple if you have a rolling start, but once they get into second gear you'll be holding them up rather than vice versa.
• Assume everyone else on the road (and the pavement) is an idiot
• Be very careful of HGVs, buses and panel vans. Only go past if you can get by in one hit (before the traffic speeds up again) and never if they're about to go round a corner or turn off at a junction.
• Don't run reds, it's just not worth perpetuating the cyclist myths for 6ft of extra tarmac!
• Adhere to all the rules above normally, but feel free to lapse into all the stereotypes if the car in front happens to be a Prius - if they're that worried about the environment they can fookin cycle.

In a nutshell, if you're likely to be overtaking them, be on the right to go past. If the overwhelming likelyhood is that they'll be overtaking you you want to be on the left. This also brings up the issue of spacing, you want to be far enough out to maintain some presence (i.e. visibility) and saty clear of painted lines/drain covers etc. but not so far that you end up taking the piss.

I found that I was very nervous about the prospect of commuting before I tried it. Now, a couple of months down the line, I'm having to reign in my enthusiasm and make sure I don't take too many risks. It's not worth getting squashed by a bus for the sake of getting to work 5 seconds earlier.

Edited by Chris71 on Thursday 8th October 13:13

[Maty]

Cheers Chris, that sounds exactly like what I was thinking I should be doing, but when your not quite sure it's better to have someone else explain it to you!

I have also ordered that book!

[sjg]

What Chris says is good, and all of the roadcraft books (cycle, motorcycle, car) will help improve your awareness of hazards.

The goal with filtering is to make it to the front because that's where you're most visible and safest. So if the lights have been sat on red for ages as you hit the back of the queue, hanging back and letting the traffic pick up again is probably preferable to being stuck in the middle of two moving lanes. Be especially aware of any side junctions in the queue of traffic - whether you're going inside, outside or down the middle cars may emerge or turn into the sideroads and they can be well hidden by the stationary traffic (and equally, not have a good view of you).

The principles of motorcycle riding apply just as well to cycling too - before changing road position (including moving out to overtake stationary traffic), you check what's going on behind you. I see way too many near-misses where cyclists just assume that nothing else will be filtering too.

Find the best gear for you to get from a standing start up to 12-15mph without changing. Remember it, and always change down to it when you get to the front of the queue. If you can match or beat the pace of the traffic off the line it stops you being a moving roadblock right from the off. By the same token, I always (on cycle or motorbike) move into the way of the car at the front of the queue, even if it's just turning across their front slightly. If something happens (chain slips, wobble, pothole, etc) I'd rather hold them up than have it happen when they're accelerating off, inches away.

In the same vein, protect your road space and ride confidently. If somewhere is too narrow for you to ride AND cars to pass, move out a bit so the driver isn't tempted to give it a go - don't get squeezed to the pavement.

[Maty]

Thanks for that, I must admit I have been caught out a few times being in the wrong gear waiting to pull off. I always try to pull away as fast as possible, that way, as you said your up to speed before the cars come tearing past!

[pdV6]

The main rule to remember is that everybody else (pedestrians included) is out to kill you.

Regarding filtering, there's no right or wrong. Or, to explain further - whichever side you do choose to filter, guaranteed somebody isn't going to like it.

[cjs]

For me the rule is 'take control of the road'. Make yourself visible, at roundabouts get into the middle of the road and keep the traffic behind you, let them wait until you have got round and taken your exit. Same at traffic lights, get up the front and sit there, very visible, make them wait until you have go across junction and then pull in and let them past.

Be assertive, if you're timid and hide in the kerb, you will get knocked off.

[Maty]

Great advice there gus, certainly helped on my way home last night! To be honest I have been pretty "aggressive" so far, in that I will make my presence known by being in the middle of the road if I need to be. So far so good, no beeps or gestures from car drivers but I suppose its only a matter of time.

[angusc43]

cjs said:

For me the rule is 'take control of the road'. Make yourself visible, at roundabouts get into the middle of the road and keep the traffic behind you, let them wait until you have got round and taken your exit. Same at traffic lights, get up the front and sit there, very visible, make them wait until you have go across junction and then pull in and let them past.

Be assertive, if you're timid and hide in the kerb, you will get knocked off.

Yep - my approach exactly

[angusc43]

Maty said:

Great advice there gus, certainly helped on my way home last night! To be honest I have been pretty "aggressive" so far, in that I will make my presence known by being in the middle of the road if I need to be. So far so good, no beeps or gestures from car drivers but I suppose its only a matter of time.

Well, there's always someone. If that happens to me I sometimes suddenly find a problem and have to slow down a little. This sometimes make them go really ape. What I like about cycling in London these days is that the drivers who really start leaning on the horn are very much in the minority and most other road users (drivers included) think they are t**ts.

It was different back in the early 90's - it could be pretty scary back then....

[croyde]

I have to say that the very rare times that I take the car into London these days, it looks like Calcutta or Bombay out there on the roads.

[Salgar]

croyde said:

I have to say that the very rare times that I take the car into London these days, it looks like Calcutta or Bombay out there on the roads.

The only time I've driven into London in the last 6 months was to pick up a new bicycle last week. I've also just started commuting to work, so this thread has helped me a bunch too, thanks guys