Q: Tasmanian helmet laws? - Page 2

G'day Brad,

I basically agree with Flyingdutch. I commute 3 or 4 days a week on the treadly, about 95ks in melb peak traffic. The safest way to do a right hand turn (with arrows) is as Flyingdutch described. As for cyclists having the same legal standing as cars.........you're right!....but you'll be telling it to the judge in a full body cast (if you live) if you try to assert those rights to a 1.5 tonne car (& driver) who wants you out of his way....NOW,

cheers,

Hitchy

Yes, youre right re the cars occasionally wanting to merge right but having cars on your left consciuosly isnt a wise move as you are then surrounded cos on your right there is oncoming traffic.

Hence no baleout option!

Sitting in the middle to start is probably the best as on paper you do have equal standing but the further you get across that intersection the more likely the car wants/needs to pass you

when in doubt, go left young man. that's what the driver will be anticipating/assuming you will do
(for eg. if you are walking along a footpath and are heading straight at someone else, which way are you and the other most likely going to go to avoid collision?)

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'ungrounded' Dutch...

"Hitchy" <usenet-forum@cyclingforums.com> wrote in message
news:43S1c.33960$qt3.20614@fe06.usenetserver.com...
> I basically agree with Flyingdutch. I commute 3 or 4 days a week on
the
> treadly, about 95ks in melb peak traffic. The safest way to do a right hand turn (with arrows) is
> as Flyingdutch described. As for cyclists having the same legal standing as cars.........you're
> right!....but you'll be telling it to the judge in a full body cast (if you live) if you try to
> assert those rights to a 1.5 tonne car (& driver) who wants you out of his way....NOW,

Obeying laws is nice, being alive is better.

My driving instructor told me to obey the law, but, if it's a matter of your own or someone else's
safety - law be damned! Pay the fine, enjoy your life kinda motto.

I make right hand turns from as far left as possible. Some turns, if I'm going to miss the lights, I
will ride through the intersection and pull into the cross road - sort of like a hook turn. It is
often safer to do this than move across 3 lanes of highway...

hippy

nice one. been doing this more and more recently.
makes life so much easier.
And drivers seem less likley to want to zoom past as they dont get that childish retribution gland swelling that makes them feel stiffed athat you got to roll up on their left and pass them...

__________________
'ungrounded' Dutch...

flyingdutch wrote:

> Hippy wrote:
> > " if I'm going to miss the lights, I will ride through the intersection and pull into the
> > cross road - sort of like a hook turn. It is often safer to do this than move across 3 lanes
> > of highway... hippy
>
>
>
> nice one. been doing this more and more recently. makes life so much easier. And drivers seem less
> likley to want to zoom past as they dont get that childish retribution gland swelling that makes
> them feel stiffed athat you got to roll up on their left and pass them...
>
>
>
> --

Thanks everyone for your comments.

I will be hanging left from now on.

The comment about having nowhere to go and that drivers will expect you to bail left in a pinch has
totally sold me. I was always hanging left when underway - it was just an issue with right hand
turns. Its just such a pain to make a right hand turn from so far left when traffic is underway! How
do you guys do it? As today I have found myself having to swap to pedestrian at right hand turns and
waiting for the crossing as when I have tried to merge when the lane can go right or straight ahead
most cars don't seem to happy about it.

Cheers, Brad

PS. And yes I do take the laws of physics a bit more seriously than any traffic rules!

"Bradley C. Goldsmith" <brad@black_spam_sheep_spam_software.com.au>
wrote in message news:SRT1c.87635$Wa.47823@news-
> I will be hanging left from now on.

Good lad ;-)

> The comment about having nowhere to go and that drivers will expect
you to
> bail left in a pinch has totally sold me. I was always hanging left
when
> underway - it was just an issue with right hand turns. Its just such a
pain
> to make a right hand turn from so far left when traffic is underway!
How do
> you guys do it? As today I have found myself having to swap to
pedestrian
> at right hand turns and waiting for the crossing as when I have tried
to
> merge when the lane can go right or straight ahead most cars don't
seem to
> happy about it.

I used to do that. Cross at ped crossing and suchlike. It's a confidence and skill thing. Practice
looking over your shoulder while riding while riding in a straight line. Practice this with your
inside hand off the bars, i.e. signalling a RH turn. Check for traffic and when clear, signal and
move across. Sometimes I just give up and continue on waiting for a different gap or waiting to do
the cheeky "safety" turn I described earlier. Depending on the light cycle, it is sometimes quicker
to do the safety turn, rather than change across to the RH turning lanes. It is generally safer too.

hippy

I figure that helmets are so good these days (or good helmets are so good) that its not such a hassle to wear them. I regard my helmet as just another piece of my cycling outfit, like knicks, shoes, etc. helps. And if you have a nice helmet, you're going to be happier to wear it then a big orange stackhat. My helmet is one of the nicest (Selev Atom fdjeux.com edition)... I'd never go without it, laws or not. Also, the fact that the last helmet I had saved me from almost certain brain damage is a powerful reminder... on top of that, I'm a law-abider by nature; I try not to rock the boat and basically do what I'm told. A combination of these 3 reasons is why I wear a helmet.

But thats just me. As for the average Aussie, most of them seem to wear helmets from what I've seen. Oh, they might occasionally grumble, but on the whole...

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"I loved the feeling of riding downhill-
admiring the scenery then running
over it at high speed"