wissel.net

Usability - Productivity - Business - The web - Singapore & Twins

Cycle where?


I like to cycle, I do that often and from time to time I have fun with traffic participants. One of the interesting challenges are multi-lane crossings (note to my overseas readers: Singapore follows the British system of driving on the left, so cyclists are supposed to cycle on the left edge of the road - which makes me edgy in some situations. So for right driving countries, just flip the pictures) where the outer lane allows more than one direction. Like these:

Empty road
Road rules do require the bike to stay on the left (I didn't find the cycle symbol in SmartDraw, so I used a motorbike, just picture me on a bike there).
Staying right
What then happens, I've seen that quite often, is a vehicle closing up next to the cyclist. After all the reason why we stay on the left is not to obstruct other traffic. But that's Roadkill waiting to happen. I've been kicked off a motorbike once (got my shoulder dislocated) because a car felt it is ok to turn right when I was right of it. So I'm sensitive to this problem:
Roadkill waiting
As a result, when there's more than one lane in the direction I need to go and there is ambiguity where traffic in the same lane might be going, I make sure, that it won't happen by occupying the same space as "the big boys". I however pick my trajectory in a way that I end up at the left edge once I cleared the crossing:
Learning new Hokkien
Unsurprisingly some of the motorist aren't happy, after all they loose 2-3 seconds on their journey. So I wonder: is there a better way? Is that behaviour compliant with traffic rules? What do all these rude sounding Hokkien terms mean I do hear?

Posted by on 13 July 2014 | Comments (3) | categories: After hours Cycling

Comments

  1. posted by Vitor Pereira on Monday 14 July 2014 AD:
    That looks silly. Last week someone in our circle posted a funny photo on facebook (can't find it now, was it you?) of a cyclist with a "frame" around is bicycle which would make it the size of a car. Well, that is exactly what happens by law in most countries in Europe (not UK/Ireland). Any vehicle allowed on a road is treated the same and is allowed the same space on the road. Cars have to obey by the same rules whether they're overtaking another car or a bicycle. In your diagram the cyclist would have to first move to the right lane and then turn. Same as a car. In the third diagram group the car is committing an infraction.
  2. posted by Stephan H. Wissel on Monday 14 July 2014 AD:
    A challenge here: some of our lanes are wide enough, so the car could keep the legally required 1.5m distance and still stand at the side of the bike.
    Also estimating 1.5m seems a big challenge when in a rush. Furthermore it makes a funny epitaph: "it started with an infraction from the car, R.I.P"
  3. posted by Howard on Monday 14 July 2014 AD:
    I agree, when there is a situation where a car could potentially cut me off (left turn here in the US) I hog the entire lane. The cars can wait...

    Howard