how to handle left turns...

[e0richt]

Hi,

Lets make a couple of assumptions....

you are on a 2 lane road / highway.
there is a fair amount of traffic usually going about 45-50 mph but not "urban" in scope..
you want to make a left turn into a parking lot of a business and it is in the
middle of the road (in other words not at a traffic intersection...)

now, because Im a chicken, I would stay in the right lane up to where the
parking lot is across from me, I would dismount from the bike and walk it
across when able...

Does anyone really try to make a left turn as a "vehicle" would?

any thoughts?

 

[fishrider314]

depending on the flow of traffic, i sometimes ride past the turn and do a u-turn a little further down the road and end up making a right into the intended target. this maybe my general unwillingness to stop and dismount and it may be somewhat unsafe, but if i have the space between cars, it works. keep your head on a swivel.

 

[mikesbytes]

99.9% of drivers out there are good safe drivers. Unfortentuly 0.1% is a hell of a lot of dangerous drivers.

It really depends on the local conditions, so you will probably get a number of different suggestions;
1. Is there an easy way to make it to the footpath prior to your turn? (is there a footpath???)
2. Go past and use the next intersection to do a hook turn. Basically you stop infront of the car thats waiting at the lights in the opposite direction, turn your bike and go when the light goes green for them.
3. Continue doing what you are doing. It sounds like the safest option? No point in been a hero if you get hit by a car.

Ride safe, cheers Michael

 

[e0richt]

99.9% of drivers out there are good safe drivers. Unfortentuly 0.1% is a hell of a lot of dangerous drivers.

It really depends on the local conditions, so you will probably get a number of different suggestions;
1. Is there an easy way to make it to the footpath prior to your turn? (is there a footpath???)
2. Go past and use the next intersection to do a hook turn. Basically you stop infront of the car thats waiting at the lights in the opposite direction, turn your bike and go when the light goes green for them.
3. Continue doing what you are doing. It sounds like the safest option? No point in been a hero if you get hit by a car.

Ride safe, cheers Michael

well to flesh out the situation some more...
nope there is no real footpath and there is not alot of shoulder to the road and its got quite a bit of gravel on what shoulder it does have...

the next light is miles out of the way so it adds quite a bit to the commute, so I really don't like that idea... there is a light about .5 mile before it but I don't like the idea of driving against traffic...

 

[bomber]

99.9% of drivers out there are good safe drivers. Unfortentuly 0.1% is a hell of a lot of dangerous drivers.

Think you might have your percentages wrong there! Always ride as though every driver is asleep at the wheel. Never take it for granted that you have been seen or even if drivers know the size of their cars. If something happens you will always come off worst!!

 

[e0richt]

Think you might have your percentages wrong there! Always ride as though every driver is asleep at the wheel. Never take it for granted that you have been seen or even if drivers know the size of their cars. If something happens you will always come off worst!!

I agree with you... even if the percentages were correct. You certainly don't want to get in the habit of depending on there being a good driver...

 

[danaarazi]

I am an aggressive biker in the city but I am also very aware of my surroundings. I assume no car can see me and I assume they really dont care if they hit me or not. I am an advocate of taking the lane as opposed to sharing it with cars. by doing this I make myself more visable and a greater nusiance to the cars. I get a lot of honks and yells when i do this but each one makes me smile.

If they are taking the time to honk and yell at me while driving that means they are also spending a lot of time focusing on me and are therefore less likely to hit me unintentionally. The converse of this situation is I have been intentional stuck on a few occations but never anything more than a love tap and no injuries to speak of. Must be that .01% of the population they are talking about.

I take one of three approaches when faced with this situation.

1. If there is another route to get to the business where I am not stuck on the offending road, I take it. I hate to back track or ride against traffic so i would not do that, but I am in favor of taking an alternate route even if it adds a mile or two to my commute.

2. if there is a light .5 miles before the turn then I would get in front of the car at the red light heading in the same direction as me. I would "take control" of the lane make it immpossible for the car to get arround me. then I would make the left turn as a car would do. By doing this you are essentially using the car at the red light as a blocker for you. since you would both be starting at the light together the driver has no choice but to follow behind you starting from a stopped position. the other cars behind are not worried about you because they are focused on the lead car not the cyclist.

3. Sometimes there is no light and no way to use other drivers as interferance. In this situation i ride slightly past the point where i want to turn and stop in the shoulder but do not dismount. In my lower gears i wait for a safe break in traffic and ride, not walk, accross the road. when i reach the other side i have very short distance to back track but at that point i am in the flow of traffic and able to make the (easier) right turn.

Dana

 

[e0richt]

I am an aggressive biker in the city but I am also very aware of my surroundings. I assume no car can see me and I assume they really dont care if they hit me or not. I am an advocate of taking the lane as opposed to sharing it with cars. by doing this I make myself more visable and a greater nusiance to the cars. I get a lot of honks and yells when i do this but each one makes me smile.

If they are taking the time to honk and yell at me while driving that means they are also spending a lot of time focusing on me and are therefore less likely to hit me unintentionally. The converse of this situation is I have been intentional stuck on a few occations but never anything more than a love tap and no injuries to speak of. Must be that .01% of the population they are talking about.

I take one of three approaches when faced with this situation.

1. If there is another route to get to the business where I am not stuck on the offending road, I take it. I hate to back track or ride against traffic so i would not do that, but I am in favor of taking an alternate route even if it adds a mile or two to my commute.

2. if there is a light .5 miles before the turn then I would get in front of the car at the red light heading in the same direction as me. I would "take control" of the lane make it immpossible for the car to get arround me. then I would make the left turn as a car would do. By doing this you are essentially using the car at the red light as a blocker for you. since you would both be starting at the light together the driver has no choice but to follow behind you starting from a stopped position. the other cars behind are not worried about you because they are focused on the lead car not the cyclist.

3. Sometimes there is no light and no way to use other drivers as interferance. In this situation i ride slightly past the point where i want to turn and stop in the shoulder but do not dismount. In my lower gears i wait for a safe break in traffic and ride, not walk, accross the road. when i reach the other side i have very short distance to back track but at that point i am in the flow of traffic and able to make the (easier) right turn.

Dana

My hat is off to you, and I have to say I do like the second choice...
not sure about #3... so you have actually made a left turn from the right side
of a highway? that seems as bad as riding against traffic for the .5 mile...

which people do on this road, interestingly enough...

so do people pass you on the right then??

if you are stopped to make a left turn in a car in south jersey, expect that
you will be passed on the right... (haven't seen a case where a cyclist was
riding near that position when the person is coming around the stopped vehicle, but I don't think it would be pretty, especially if the cyclist was going against traffic).

and how do you NOT freak out when getting a "love tap" from an angry motorist...?

 

[fastcat]

How to handle left turns ?

Move to the UK or Australia, where we cycle on the 'right' side of the road and you'll find left turns much easier.

Good advice above - can't add to it.

 

[danaarazi]

#3... so you have actually made a left turn from the right side
of a highway?

so do people pass you on the right then??

and how do you NOT freak out when getting a "love tap" from an angry motorist...?

#3 feels more like I am at an intersection without a light controlling it. I just wait for a break in traffic and cross the road. it is less of a left turn and more of a quich jaunt accross the street.

yes people pass me on the right but they really have to go out of their way to get arround me as I am in the middle of the lane.

I do get pretty upset with drivers who do that. if it is obviously intentional ie flipping the bird while running me off the road then i get their license and a description and call it into the police. which has resulted in at least one arrest that i know of. but for the most part I am just enjoying the ride and sometimes (rarely) this is part of it. I am uninjured so I laugh it off and move on (with an added ust of speed for a while). I have been doing this for 11 year can count on one hand how many times this has happened so it is no big deal.

One more thought i wanted to add that i realized during my commute yesterday. never underestimate the power of a hand signal. yesterday on busy street as i was crossing the road to get into the left turn lane i signaled (as I always do) and one car not only stopped but pulled diaganol accross two lanes to block other cars for me so I cold change lanes safely. 99.99% of drivers can be nice to you. I am still surprised at reactions like this but they happen very frequently for me (not quite daily but pretty close).

Hope this helps and ride safe out there.

Dana

 

[tumbleweed77]

if there is a business on the side opposite the driveway i'd like to turn left in, i'll turn right into it, make a circle and wait till i can ride directly across the lanes....

for intersections where I can't get over i'll ride through the intersection and make a right immediately into the corner business (on my route it's a gas station) and ride through and out so that i'm now in the right hand lanes of the direction i want to be going.. works well cause i hardly ever have to wait for the light to turn green... though i've noticed that it startles some drivers to see you ride right past them and all of the sudden appear next too/in front of them!

 

[mikesbytes]

Think you might have your percentages wrong there! Always ride as though every driver is asleep at the wheel. Never take it for granted that you have been seen or even if drivers know the size of their cars. If something happens you will always come off worst!!

Agree. Problem is that you don't know who the bad driver is.

 

[e0richt]

if there is a business on the side opposite the driveway i'd like to turn left in, i'll turn right into it, make a circle and wait till i can ride directly across the lanes....

for intersections where I can't get over i'll ride through the intersection and make a right immediately into the corner business (on my route it's a gas station) and ride through and out so that i'm now in the right hand lanes of the direction i want to be going.. works well cause i hardly ever have to wait for the light to turn green... though i've noticed that it startles some drivers to see you ride right past them and all of the sudden appear next too/in front of them!

ok lets change the scenario a bit. Lets suppose that there is 4 lanes of road and its a busy road.

if you were in a motor vehicle, one would get in the left lane and make the
left turn.

Has anyone done that on a bike?
Does anyone really recommend that?

as I understand it, according to the "vehicular cyclist" approach, that would be the correct thing to do, but I have never seen that on that road even though I have seen cyclists using it (the road, I mean). In fact, I have seen cyclists go against traffic in order to avoid having to make a "left turn" (even a box turn...).

as a sideline note, I feel that the cycle is a vehicle and should be allowed to
do the same things that a car would be able to do (assuming it could only go
about 20 mph...) and am bothered because I don't think that is realised on the roads in south jersey yet...