Sorry mate it's not safe for me to signal.

[Mr_Kipling]

Cycling home from work, a section of the of road I ride down has a left turn only lane, witch also has it's own left turn filter at the traffic lights. This makes it a bad option to use the left turn only lane to go straight ahead. (If I know a road and it's layout, it's sometimes safer to use the left turn only lane to go straight ahead when cycling, in my opinion) due to the school holidays the traffic was lighter than I am use to on this section of road witch is slightly down hill. I was in the left turn lane so I knew I needed to change up lane to go straight ahead at the traffic lights. I was doing 25mph whitch I can't manage often & am not use to, as I ride a slow fat-tire mountain bike (Cube Attention 29) I did not feel it was safe to signal my lane change even tho there was cars in both lanes behind me.

After looking over my right shoulder the good drivers behind me worked out that I wanted to move to the right lane & slowed and let me in. Thanks good drivers (if there was no gap I would have stayed in the left lane and turned left, then stop in a safe place to re-route)

Sorry to babble on, but do road bike cyclists ever find themselves in this situation? Road bike cyclists are almost always faster than me and 25 mph is the norm to them. Can you still signal at that speed? If so, can you look over your shoulder at 25mph and signal at the same time?

Edit = adding 25 second video of my lane change

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybprsRKNXgI&feature=youtu.be

 

[Banjo]

I make signals very brief (or not at all if that is safer in some circumstances). Only takes a crack in the tarmac or small pothole to chuck you off the bike especially when going fast.

 

[summerdays]

I ride a hybrid and don't generally do those sort of speeds either but I find that I can get away without a lot of signalling by careful use of my road position and making eye contact with drivers. Not saying I don't signal, just that it isn't always needed. (Can't actually watch your video ... because my computer has a nanny mode that blocks most things on the grounds of safety!!!)

 

[RedRider]

There's plenty of times wheen it's safer not to use arm signals, like if the surface is particularly poor for example. As in your example, road positioning and eye contact can signal intent as well as your arm.

 

[Turbo Rider]

Signal when you need to really. I find a quick check behind is the best way to find out. If I can't make the signal when I feel I need to, I slow it down a bit until I either don't need to signal anymore or it's safe to do so.

 

[Cuchilo]

If I check behind and there are no cars then I still signal very briefly just incase I have missed something . Sharp turns are the worst but I try to signal as much as possible . I ride in London btw so car drivers very rarely look out of the front window

 

[Cyclist33]

Slow down!

 

[Cyclist33]

Or get in lane.

 

[Mr_Kipling]

Slow down!

Oh sorry, was my 25mph too fast on the 30 mph road?

 

[Cyclist33]

Oh sorry, was my 25mph too fast on the 30 mph road?

On a bike, yes.

 

[Mr_Kipling]

On a bike, yes.

lol, so they say.

 

[Cyclist33]

It sounds like a residential area and by your own admission you didn't feel confident to safely signal, so slow down!

 

[Profpointy]

near my road, there's a steep downhill right turn. Can't brake and signal so have to rely on road position only.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I always signal if it's safe to take my hands off the bars,but if it's not due to poor road surfaces, strong winds.high speed etc i wont do. Why should i risk coming off when many motorists can't be bothered to flick a switch while sitting comfortably. Sometimes it's better to not show motorists your intentions, turning left at traffic lights for example. When there's a vehicle facing you waiting to turn right,i find that signalling my intent to turn left lets them know i'm slowing down. Therefore they jump the gun and turn right, right in front of me!

 

[si_c]

I often rely on road position, seems to work most of the time, most drivers realise what I intend to do if I move across my own lane to the right to change. I'll signal if I feel it necessary, usually if the vehicle behind is closer.