Cyclist safety starts with being predictable
The League of American Bicyclists teaches predictability is key to safe cycling.
The league’s website explains, briefly, that as a cyclist you should “make your intentions clear to everyone on the road. Ride in a straight line and don’t swerve between parked cars. Signal turns, and check behind you well before turning or changing lanes.”
This is the CliffsNotes of safe cycling. But it is worth exploring the details a bit.
“Make your intentions clear,” means that you shouldn’t surprise other road users. Don’t dart out of a driveway or off a sidewalk without warning. Don’t make a left turn across traffic unexpectedly. Don’t switch lanes unexpectedly.
I’ve been in Italy for several months, and it is unnerving as a motorist to have a cyclist come from the right at a crossroad or driveway and not stop but simply make a right turn without looking. The cyclist used their peripheral vision to judge the speed of the oncoming vehicle from their left and proceeded to roll through the turn. The motorist expects this to happen and moves slightly left to avoid a crash, making this behavior predictable for both parties.
“Ride in a straight line,” sounds straightforward. But our automobile culture has taught cyclists over the decades to stay as far to the right as possible or, as the laws in many states still require, as far to the right as “practicable.” Many novice cyclists understand this to mean that if they swerve left to pass a parked car they need to get back as far to the right as they can and ride on the shoulder or in the parking strip.
The problem with this behavior is that it can be dangerous with cyclists swerving from the shoulder or edge of the road, back onto the road then back again so they become invisible to cars from behind.
As a cyclist, you should pick an imaginary straight line and follow it. If you have a parking strip, even with just a few cars in it, ride far enough into the street so cars coming from behind or pulling out of a parking space can see you.
“Signal turns, and check behind you well before turning or changing lanes” is self-explanatory but the devil is in the details. The recommendation of the league is for you to signal 100 feet before your turn by extending your arm in the direction of your turn for two seconds. You may use the motorists’ signal of a raised left arm for a right turn if you prefer.
If you arrive at an intersection with other road users, you should stop, signal once more, then place two hands on the handlebar and proceed as appropriate.
It is important for cyclists to signal before a turn and not in the turn. For safety, a cyclist should always have both hands on the handlebar when executing a turn.
Rick Price, Ph.D., Rick@ExperiencePlus.com, is a co-founder of Bike Fort Collins, the Fort Collins Bike Library and a League of American Bicyclists cycling instructor.