Indicating left...

[Arjimlad]

A friend of mine, motorcyclist, supportive of cycling safety has asked me what he could do differently to avoid coming into conflict with cyclists when turning into his drive, so I thought I would share this & see what everyone else thinks..

"What is the situation with undertaking and left hand turns? Our house drive is on the left just after a mini roundabout and several times I have been indicating left to turn into my drive and have had cyclists either tailgaiting or trying to move to undertake as I slow down to pull in - at the moment I haven't killed anyone as I habitually do a motorbike style check.. The other choice would be to stop and wait for them to undertake - so far I've made sure that it's not dangerous but I have been abused for the left hand turn - as far as I am aware undertaking is illegal, so I'm marginally confused"...

 

[fossyant]

Other than being very careful and indicating, not much. He might want to knock off his indicator early after the roundabout, then brake slowly and put the indicator back on. But if an idiot is going to undertake they will.

 

[ianrauk]

He's doing the right thing but stupid is as stupid does and some cyclists will still undertake.
He just has to be super aware and be a little patient.

 

[Stephenite]

I suppose he could move over to the left to physically hinder any undertaking.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I suppose he could move over to the left to physically hinder any undertaking.

It mostly isn't physically possible to do this, you'd either kerb a tyre or scrape a panel on the corner of a wall.

 

[mjr]

I agree with @fossyant about cancelling and reapplying the indicator, but ultimately:

The other choice would be to stop and wait for them to undertake

is the correct answer.

Meanwhile, this:

as far as I am aware undertaking is illegal, so I'm marginally confused"...

is incorrect and suggests he needs more riding lessons, or at least a thorough reading of the highway code and some of the laws linked from it.

Filtering / left-side overtaking is legal, but if there's a collision, I expect the person overtaking on the left to be judged partly to blame (as well as the turner being to blame for not waiting for their left side to be clear), so it should be done with extreme caution - more than it sounds like those cyclists do!

 

[jarlrmai]

I find it odd that this happens all the time to this guy, generally I am very wary of motorcycles when I'm cycling, they can accelerate quickly and make fast moves that are hard to anticipate so I give them a wide berth, I would suggest they maybe supplement the indicator with a left arm signal like a cyclist would use.

I have a similar problem, I have to turn right of a main road to get to my estate, drivers and motorcyclists often ignore my right hand signal and overtake me sometimes one after the other until I basically have to stop in the road to avoid overshooting the junction.

 

[presta]

I assume the issue here is the proximity of the drive and the roundabout? It's difficult to know what to do if the gap isn't big enough to cancel and then re-apply the indicator.

I have a very similar problem. My estate is a right turn off the main road, with a line of cars parked on the left, so I have to be very careful that a signal to turn right is not mistaken for a signal to overtake the cars. I usually tend to wait until I'm alongside the parked cars before I signal.

 

[steveindenmark]

If he knows a cyclist is approaching from behind he can leave a space between himself and the kerb and give way to the cyclist.

In Denmark that is what he would have to do as cyclists have right of way over motor vehicles.

 

[burntoutbanger]

Drive a little further down the road, find a place to turn around safely and approach his drive from the other direction?

 

[Arjimlad]

I find it odd that this happens all the time to this guy, generally I am very wary of motorcycles when I'm cycling, they can accelerate quickly and make fast moves that are hard to anticipate so I give them a wide berth, I would suggest they maybe supplement the indicator with a left arm signal like a cyclist would use.

I have a similar problem, I have to turn right of a main road to get to my estate, drivers and motorcyclists often ignore my right hand signal and overtake me sometimes one after the other until I basically have to stop in the road to avoid overshooting the junction.

He's referring to driving his car. The proximity of the house to the roundabout means some people think he hasn't cancelled his indicator & filter up on his left.

 

[mjr]

Drive a little further down the road, find a place to turn around safely and approach his drive from the other direction?

I think that trying to turn right across traffic accelerating away from the junction would normally be far riskier. I lived in a house with its parking spaces in a similar position and always did a U turn then left turn in if approaching from that direction.

 

[DaveReading]

Other than being very careful and indicating, not much. He might want to knock off his indicator early after the roundabout, then brake slowly and put the indicator back on. But if an idiot is going to undertake they will.

I'd be tempted not to signal at all when turning left at the mini RAB (at the risk of of upsetting drivers waiting to come out) and then indicate as soon as I was clear of it, so there can't be any doubt that I'm about to turn next left.

 

[Drago]

He could actually do a life saver up the inside immediately prior to executing any left turn. Job done. It's part of the test, so all he need do is cast his mind back.

 

[gavroche]

Simple, just check your left mirror and quick look over your shoulder, this is what you are taught when learning to drive . This is fairly basic and common sense really and fail to understand why this man is asking. It just shows bad habits that drivers develop after a while.