Best practice to avoid car overtaking and turning left?

[Ste T.]

Moving to primary does work and probably is the safest way in most situations, but the difference in speed between you and any over taking vehicles is very important.
In town when the speed difference isn't too great then it's a safe maneuver. I would suggest that on fast A roads etc, where cars are piling up behind you at 60mph it's playing Russian roulette. If the vehicle behind you pulls out late, without indicating, any close following cars ( assuming they aren't reaching for a cd or texting at the time )will be confronted with you in the middle of the lane and have very little time to avoid you.
A while back there was somebody posting on here who said he was so fed up with being left hooked that he was going to ride primary all the time. I don't know if he is still around. :¬(

 

[slowmotion]

Moving to primary does work and probably is the safest way in most situations, but the difference in speed between you and any over taking vehicles is very important.
In town when the speed difference isn't too great then it's a safe maneuver.

Even in towns, the traffic can be moving quite a lot faster than the bike, and there may be quite a few side turnings. If you held primary for all of them, you would be holding up quite a lot of traffic. Some might say that that is their problem, not yours but I'm not that brave.

I rely of life-savers, cover the brakes all the time, and hope for the best.

 

[Ste T.]

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I'm not advocating riding primary all the time in town, just at pinch points etc.
In my experience most drivers don't understand what you are doing and give you a filthy look.

 

[boydj]

+1 for looking behind. But .... you've got to be riding far enough out that you're going to be seen in the first place - i.e. not in the gutter - and moving out a bit wider as you approach the junction will help to make sure that you are noticed. Interesting read here : http://www.tibsnjoan.co.uk/Big.html

 

[661-Pete]

[QUOTE 1286793"]
All I'll say is no it won't and I really have had enough of thse boards. I'm bored and tired of trying to explain a point to someone only for them denounce it without any thought to when you should perform the shoulder check. I've been doing the above since when I began to cycle and have never had any problems.
[/quote]
Lee, don't take it hard! Your contributions to this board are very valuable and well-thought-of, someone is bound to have a disagreement (or is it 'misunderstanding') now and then. For the record, I think both you and SummerDays are right, you just interpreted things differently.

Blimey, me advising a forummer to stay cool?! After this week! The irony...

I was left-hooked only this evening. It caught me on the hop (the road the car turned into is a minor private side road), he didn't signal and I wasn't expecting his turn. Luckily I had enough space to brake. But wrong wrong wrong! I turned and gave chase (something I very rarely do): the road is a dead end. But when I saw him parked further along, getting furtively out of the car and eyeing the road anxiously, I just turned around and went back. Maybe he saw my bike lights and understood. You know, I think I've used up all my 'angry' points for this week .

 

[buggi]

with regards to primary position, you might be more comfortable with a more assertive secondary position, i.e. almost primary. Do, as said, look over your shoulder as you will know what is going on around you but also it does give the driver a sense that you might be moving out or turning right so they will be more cautious. Also, if you look behind a see a car indicating left, hold your hand out, palm towards them, as if instructing them to stay behind until you have passed the junction. Most will comply because it will take them by surprise.

One other trick is to drop a gear so you pedal faster, giving the driver behind the impression that you have sped up. Or, as said, a "controlled wobble" should make them nervous enough not to pass.

 

[summerdays]

[QUOTE 1286793"]
All I'll say is no it won't and I really have had enough of thse boards. I'm bored and tired of trying to explain a point to someone only for them denounce it without any thought to when you should perform the shoulder check. I've been doing the above since when I began to cycle and have never had any problems.
[/quote]

Sorry I didn't mean to make it sound as if you shouldn't do a life-saver - of course you should - especially if you are about to change your position on the road. I meant that doing a lifesaver look and not moving out wouldn't necessarily put them off, whereas forcing them to have to move out to get around you, hopefully does ... it literally happened about 30 mins before my previous post where a white van went to over take and then didn't - and when I did a second look back to see why he had dropped in behind and was turning left, (he wasn't indicating). And as someone said it probably was a very strong secondary rather than a primary position on the road as it was on a wide A road.