Indicators on bikes

[Deleted member 1258]

Exactly, motorists aren't looking for indicators. The Gadget show had a helmet with indicators, and the cyclist said it was good, no it's not !!!

There's an awful lot of drivers who don't understand hand signals either, they just think you're waving your hand about, they don't understand why.

 

[Markymark]

There was a story in the evening standard a few weeks ago about a taxi inventing an indicator cos he nearly hit a cyclist who didn't indicate to move across as there were parked cars. The taxi was overtaking at the time. The fact the a cyclist should indicate to not crash into parked cars when moving within the lane and the taxi nearly hit him because he was overtaking so close and didn't anticipate the cyclist may not want to smash into stationary cars tells you the mentality behind cyclists and indicators. It's usually about fecking appalling driving.

 

[r04DiE]

The only trouble with my arms is they dont show up very well in the dark

Paint them, do whatever, but use them

 

[classic33]

There's an awful lot of drivers who don't understand hand signals either, they just think you're waving your hand about, they don't understand why.

Last time I used "I intend to slow down or stop" the driver of the police car behind wanted to know why I didn't turn left.

 

[winjim]

Paint them, do whatever, but use them

But please do it properly. Arm straight out parallel to the road and keep it there for a decent length of time. None of this vague 45° flapping just as you turn. You're signalling intent, not pointing out potholes. And keep your hand flat. No pointing, that just draws attention away from you and towards whatever you're pointing at.

Or don't bother. It's a should, not a must, after all.

 

[MontyVeda]

The only trouble with my arms is they dont show up very well in the dark

No matter how hard i try , i have seen some gloves with a flashing arrow on not sure if they came across to the uk though

These are not the ones i saw but worth a look ? http://icglove.com/

put some reflective tape on yer gloves.

 

[ufkacbln]

Last time I used "I intend to slow down or stop" the driver of the police car behind wanted to know why I didn't turn left.

There is confusion over that one!

Turn left can be the right arm in a small rotation. From behind the up and down movement from behind can look similar


As an old git, I also use the right arm bent at right angles to show I am going straight ahead

One of the people at work asked why I was giving a driver a "Nazi salute"

 

[summerdays]

If you are worried about a signal showing up at night, then as well as the already mentioned gloves with reflective bits, jackets often have some reflective bits on the arm, or you can put those reflective blinds with leds that Aldi sells on your wrist.

 

[MontyVeda]

Regarding reflective bits for gloves... I used something like this on a cheap pair of fleecy thinsulate gloves. The electric iron was likely to melt the gloves so i used the side of my oil filled radiator (the side of a hot kettle will also work to melt the adhesive and make it bond).

I'm confident that most drivers will see my hand signals at night...

...and the tape has been stuck on for a good four years now.

 

[Markymark]

Start in the Arctic Circle (next spring obviously)