Stop signal at a roundabout?

[ChristopherV]

Hello all. This is my first post here.

This morning on the way to work, I was cycling down a city street, approaching a roundabout. Traffic was moving slowly and there were many bicycles in front of me and behind me. As I got to the roundabout, there was a car which had already entered the roundabout to the right of the oncoming cycles. The cyclist in front of me was cheecky and zipped through ahead of the car, but I stopped. A cyclist behind me ran into me and was upset that I hadn't used a hand single to say I was stopping. Is he right? Should you use a hand signal to indicate you're going to stop at a roundabout?

 

[BentMikey]

No, he's an idiot for following too closely and being unable to stop. It's entirely his fault for running into the back of you.

 

[ianrauk]

What Mikey said above....

 

[jugglingphil]

How can you use a hand signal while breaking? Your hands are on the breaks!
Sounds like the cyclist behind you should have been paying better attention.

 

[BSRU]

If you had signalled you were stopping you probably would have smacked them in the face as they sped past.

 

[martint235]

Yep to what everyone else said. Including the smacking them in the face but in an entirely different way!!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I hadn't seen one of those one-winged-bird-in-flight hand signals for ages so I tried one the other day and it felt all wrong, waving my arm about in the air in front of traffic. Besides, I don't think any drivers under 50 would have known what it meant. Taking your hand off the front brake is not the ideal way of stopping anyway.

If you've got a cyclist on your tail, calling out a loud ''Stopping!'' can be effective.

(I've no experience of chain gang riding but I believe group cyclists will call ''Easy'' to communicate the same thing. ''Stopping,'' though is more easily understood by the general day-to-day cyclist.)

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The evidence of the idiocy of the fellow who complained is contained in the part of your post which reads "A cyclist behind me ran into me"

Easy = I'm slowing down, braking, possibly quite hard, but I do not yet intend to stop
Stopping = I'm doing what is says on the can

Not sure city cycling lends itself to the mores and memes of a club ride.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

The evidence of the idiocy of the fellow who complained is contained in the part of your post which reads "A cyclist behind me ran into me"

Easy = I'm slowing down, braking, possibly quite hard, but I do not yet intend to stop
Stopping = I'm doing what is says on the can

Not sure city cycling lends itself to the mores and memes of a club ride.

Thanks for clarifying that, Greg. I've used ''stopping'' and it's worked for me - as you say, it does what it says on the can.

 

[blazed]

How can you use a hand signal while breaking? Your hands are on the breaks!
Sounds like the cyclist behind you should have been paying better attention.

Why would you be using two hands to brake?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Why would you be using two hands to brake?

Because that is the most effective way to do it on a conventional all lever operated two brake bike.. Right hand away from the brake lever/bars flapping like a loon means back brake only which means extended stopping distance and potential weight shift leading to loss of control.

 

[Tynan]

serious?

good practice to use both brakes

anyway, I might consider a hand to signal 'don't pass', ie there's something dangerous ahead and that's why I'm slowing, very now and than the same thing but more imperative to a car thinking about trying to pass when I don't want to. I wouldn't ever signal stopping unless it was in an area for no apparent reason, someone running into you at a red light or a give way line is an idiot, to try and blame you makes them a cretin

 

[GrasB]

The guy is an idiot from following to closely &/or not reading the road.

With regard to braking, there's a reason my front brake is on my LEFT hand. I can brake & signal at the same time, not that the stopping signal is actually useful these days, people at best will think you're turning right.

 

[gambatte]

Response:
"Why weren't you riding with a safe braking distance and paying attention?"

 

[HovR]

Because that is the most effective way to do it on a conventional all lever operated two brake bike..

I would disagree there. As we know, the front brake has the most stopping power, and when used to its utmost effect there is such little weight on the back wheel that the rear brake becomes useless, only causing the wheel to lock up and skid (and yes, it is possible to do this safely in a controlled manner). Admitedly you do need both hands on the bars, but not both for operating the brake levers.

Refer to Sheldon Brown on braking.