primary and secondary?

[jim55]

iv heard these terms and iv realised theyr too do with road position ,,can anybody explain some more ,,i rode a motorbike for yrs and never thought about this ,,i just tend to sit a bit further out from the kerb than a lot of nervous commuters i see ,,iv always thought that that if u rode pretty close to the pavement cars will try and squeeze by ,,whereas if u take up more road they will hold back until they can get by properly (if they move faster ),,is this right ?

comments??

 

[HJ]

The primary position is in the middle of the lane in which you are travelling, you take up the primary position to control the lane. The secondary position is about 1 m out from the curb (equivalent to the left hand wheel track of a motor vehicle), which where you would ride to allow overtaking. See cyclecraft by John Franklin for further details. Hope that helps.

 

[gaz]

Primary is your main position.
Its to the centre or right of the lane you are in, taking that position to control vehicles behind you and preventing them from overtaking. It's used when you stop, when passing parked cars and when going through pinch points.

Secondary is your second position.
Its towards the gutter but far enough out that you are out of debris and drains. Roughly 3rd from the curb.
It is used to allow other vehicles to pass you.

 

[jim55]

thanks guys ,,iv always been told to sit in the middle ,,that clears it up

 

[blockend]

The disagreement about primary position centres (sic) around the idea of whether there's a good reason to be there, or a good reason not to be - this boils down to how safe one feels on a road.

Some believe cycling centre lane is a response to parked cars, narrow roads, roundabouts, etc, others feel the presence alone of motor vehicles is sufficient motivation to control the lane, as all are potentially dangerous to the rider. In areas where cycling is common, especially urban situations, primary position will be familiar to all road users. In situations where cycling is uncommon, habitual primary will result in confrontation.

My own response is to ride in such a way as to suggest drivers should not predict anything about my line in the road. This is done by frequent rear observations, a willingness to take the lane early in advance of obstacles, giving clear hand signals including signalling when it is safe to pass and generally interacting with motorists positively where possible. It doesn't preclude idiots of course but I find habitual or default primary users either welcome confrontation or see it as regular part of parcel of cycling life. Whether this makes cycling safer is difficult to say.

 

[lulubel]

I hadn't heard about primary and secondary when I started cycling, but I had been a driving instructor, and I was a bus driver at the time, and I was very much aware of times when you need to take control of the road, and other times when you need to let other road users have priority. I was very surprised when I discovered there was a whole system of cycling built around those things.

Secondary, for me, is normal riding position when there are no hazards - about 1m from the edge of the road (or the white line that marks the edge of the road). I never cycle in a position where cars can squeeze past me without crossing the centre line, unless the lane is wide enough for them to pass me safely rather than squeeze past. Primary is whatever position I need to be in to safely negotiate potentially dangerous situations. Sometimes that's the middle of my lane. Other times it's much closer to the middle of the road. It depends on the situation and the place/time.

 

[Hip Priest]

I had someone try to pass me whilst in primary for the first time this morning. Approaching a roundabout (at which I take 3rd exit), I looked over my shoulder, checked there was sufficient distance between myself and the following vehicle, then took primary. The car behind was in 'must pass cyclist' mode and came up on my right trying to squeeze past. I just stook my hand out in a 'stay behind' motion and they did. Was expecting a volley of abuse when they eventually passed me, but they never even looked at me and made a good pass. I felt proper assertive!

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Secondary, for me, is normal riding position when there are no hazards - about 1m from the edge of the road (or the white line that marks the edge of the road). I never cycle in a position where cars can squeeze past me without crossing the centre line, unless the lane is wide enough for them to pass me safely rather than squeeze past. Primary is whatever position I need to be in to safely negotiate potentially dangerous situations. Sometimes that's the middle of my lane. Other times it's much closer to the middle of the road. It depends on the situation and the place/time.

Ditto.

 

[coffeejo]

Secondary, for me, is normal riding position when there are no hazards - about 1m from the edge of the road (or the white line that marks the edge of the road). I never cycle in a position where cars can squeeze past me without crossing the centre line, unless the lane is wide enough for them to pass me safely rather than squeeze past. Primary is whatever position I need to be in to safely negotiate potentially dangerous situations. Sometimes that's the middle of my lane. Other times it's much closer to the middle of the road. It depends on the situation and the place/time.

+2

 

[blockend]

+3

Primary will always suggest preferred, default, normal and secondary, second best. If road positioning has to be described in a simplistic way I'd say primary was proactive-defensive and secondary was neutral.

In reality correct positioning is completely fluid. The correct position might be just left of the centre white line if it provides the best sight line and escape position. If you're in front of a escapee from a bank robbery it might be the much maligned gutter. The best habitual position is one that allows freedom of movement for yourself and other traffic and knowing which is which is subject to constant reassessment.

 

[Origamist]

A vid illustrating primary (at the start) and then secondary:

A narrow bus lane and an impatient cabbie - a recipe for trouble. Watch the bonnet of the taxi hove into view at 5 secs when I'm in the centre of the lane to deter such passes (he's about a foot from me and gets closer as he bails out) . The driver had been tailgating me for a few seconds before that. I instinctively move into secondary and watch him closely from over my shoulder as he comes alongside. Note how the other cab driver in the offside lane tries to make room for the cabbie attempting to overtake me as a pedestrian island and bend approaches. It goes without saying that the pedestrian island narrows both lanes. This meant that the taxi driver had to abort his attempted overtake as the other cabbie moved left. As you can see, further down the road I wave him through when the road widens and we pass the red van indicating right. The overtake at this juncture was close(ish), but not that bad. I saw little point in persisting with primary when dealing with this driver as I felt it would be counterproductive and just wanted him ahead of me, but on my terms.

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m030uFpV14E