Cycling on extreme right lane

[Sudhir Pai]

I have seen many cyclists riding along the extream right side. Today saw a fellow shifting from extream left to extream right at the big S stretch along inner ring road before EGL. He still needed to ride atleast 200mtrs (assuming he wanted get into EGL campus). That part of the road cars descend with highest speeds.

I find this an extremely dangerous practice specially when right side has dividers/walls or no space to get off the road.

Is this just my preference to ride on left side making me feel safe or the risks are indeed more on right side. Might be he was a left handed who feels safe on right side ;-)

[Karthick Gururaj]

I don't have a preference, by itself. I ride extreme left, middle of the road or extreme right - whichever is the safest under the circumstances.

I disagree that riding extreme right is always the safest option.

--
Biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
bangalorebikersclub.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bangalore Bikers Club" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bike...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Praveen M]

In my last visit, I saw that few times and was astonished. Cyclists were so coolly and slowly riding on right most lane and there were cars, bikes and other vehicles buzzing past them from the left side.

And once I had to go to the extreme right at heavy traffic and almost night. I was riding from Mejestic bus station after my last short tour, oh, it was already such a nightmare to get out of Mejestic after 7pm via Chamarajpet and then I was forced to go to extreme right near Basavangudi as I had to make a right on a major road (cant remember the crossing), it was so unnerving to move to the right most lane and I thought it was not worth riding home anymore like that. Luckily, next to me came an empty Tempo. And while the signal was red, I talked to the tempo guys if they could drop me to J.P.Nagar and I would pay them. Thanks to eternal wait at Bengaluru signals:-)), we negotiated and settled for 200rs. And once the light turned green, I turned right and rode very fast on to the next main road and the Tempo followed me. And after that I just put the bike and myself on to the back of the Tempo and reached home.

By the way, I dont think he is saying riding extreme right is always the safest option. Rather, he is saying quite the opposite.

[Ali Poonawala]

I think if you are tired and not feeling confident, either taki g a break and resuming, or what you did, call it a day, are safer options, for sure.

Live to fight for another day !!

Ali Poonawala
Bangalore

--

Biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
bangalorebikersclub.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bangalore Bikers Club" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bikers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Chidambaran Subramanian]

I have a simple rule, I ride in the lane that matches my speed.

*Never* on the extreme left. I always leave some buffer. 

I used to commute to EGL on that road , in the stretch that you mention. After the 1st speed breaker I used to move to the right , at a good speed, ride fast till the EGL entrance , climb over cross to the other side on foot and enter. 

The biggest safety feature is being clearly visible and predictable. Riding on the extreme left is very counter productive -- nails , debris, random mud mounds, potholes. You have to veer to the right at times, and that is very dangerous

Regards

Chiddu

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bikers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

Biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
bangalorebikersclub.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bangalore Bikers Club" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bikers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Karthick Gururaj]

(my earlier post had a typo that Praveen noticed. I meant to say: "I disagree that riding extreme left is always the safest option." and not "I disagree that riding extreme right is always the safest option.")

Chiddu, yes - exactly. Speed also helps with safety - if you can cycle fast (close to the speeds of other vehicles in your lane), it improves safety considerably. Of course, at higher speeds the cyclist must be very aware of vehicles ahead breaking.

I'm not advocating that we cycle at 40 kmph on the right side constantly - but it does help to put a burst of speed while changing lanes (for example, if the cyclist needs to take a right turn ahead).

- Karthick

[Sudhir Pai]

Quite a good list of points coming out from seasoned folks who have found a method to the madness!

[vivek]

I have seen the same practice on the Hosur road. Some slow riding bikers ride to the rightmost lane to utilize the shade from the flyover. In my 3-4 years experience riding on this stretch (Bommanahalli-Electronics city) I would say it is not recommended on this road. I've seen vehicles zig-zagging to overtake. And encountering a cyclist on right lane would be the last thing they'd expect. Even when the traffic is sparse it is not recommended.

Regards,

Vivek

[Sudhir Pai]

From my experience of riding Car, Motorcycle and cycle on various City sections I would categorize the traffic flow into 3 kinds and follow below strategy:

1. Extremely slow moving traffic: Cyclists and Motorbikes rule here, left right & centre. Majjaa maadi here.

2. Decently moving traffic with regular signals/stoppages: Motorbikes rule, cyclists can ride any side provided they are visible to others. Even if cyclists stop or cross, the vehicles are forced to stop/give way.
Generally the speed of traffic flow is more on right side compared to left, so the patience/anticipation level of drivers is minimum at RHS than folks LHS.

3. Roads with high speed of flow:
Cars rules here, generally they don't switch lanes blindly. Motorcyclist abruptly switch lanes which is risk for cyclist riding on either side. I feel left side is safe for cyclists as drivers anticipate blockers/parked vehicles.

Another aspect I feel affects cyclist's safety is the combination of road tarmac's quality and the cyclist's awareness of it.
A cyclist on a bad road which he/she is aware of is safer than the same cyclist on a good road riding first time. The vehicles are forced to slow down on bad roads which goes in favour of cyclists.

Any ride on a new route must be conservative to assess the risky stretches and adopt best strategy to cover it safely.

I recall a cyclist Doctor rode all way from Kerala to Bangalore and was tragically run over at Attibele flyover just 20/30kms from his destination. Such incidents makes me think how can cyclists become idiot proof safe.

[berkeleydb]

I generally stick to the left lane, leaving 2-3ft buffer on the left, as Chiddu said. I avoid going into the right side lanes, unless traffic is blocked or particularly slow in the left lane for some reason. (bus or some other vehicle has stopped in the left lane, or vehicles are waiting to turn left.)

Wherever reasonably possible, I do give signs with my right hand, to indicate to trailing/passing vehicles to keep some distance while passing me, or not try to pass me when I feel there isn't enough space. At times, rather than manage with hand signals, I just "take the lane", to use a term used in various countries. More so if I sense that despite my hand signals, some vehicle behind me is being aggressive in try to pass me.

Be knowledgeable about some hand signals which you can use to indicate to traffic behind/around you, to slow down, or be a little patient (basically saying, give me a few moments). (Yup, there is a hand signal for the latter.)

All said & done, if you are looking for something idiot proof, then I don't think there can be such a thing. Beyond a certain point (different for each person), you just have to accept the risks, & decide whether you are OK to taking those risks.

Btw, while I have seen all kinds of folks displaying various behaviours, I will say that the specific behaviour of riding bicycles on the right lane, or swerving from left to right or vice versa, is something I have seen overwhelmingly in folks riding bicycles because that is their only reasonable option of transport. The dynamics of that section of folks, is very different IMO, from those like us who ride a bicycle as a conscious choice. When it comes to discussing safety aspects of cycling, I would say the the discussion we are having, is more or less specific to the "riding bikes by choice" section.

-{db}.

[Chidambaran Subramanian]

One more scenario

Today I had to cycle on the extreme right since the rest of the road was full of sewage water and I did not carry another set of pants. 

[Opendro]

The belief is that it is always safer to overtake from the right. So, if you are overtaking vehicles, it is often better to overtake from your right as the four wheel drivers have a better judgement of the overtaking vehicle.

In that sense, if you are either faster or equal speed to other vehicles, you can ride on any lane on the road. But if you are slow, stick to the left. That is what I recommend.

[Amar]

Left Most lane including Footpath in case of heavy traffic is safe bet for cyclists as per my experience on Bangalore Roads

Move to Middle Lane only for overtaking and when cycling at high speed with great cadence to mantain the speed

Rightmost lane is for fast motorbike,scooter and Cars to play not for slow moving cycles

Helmet,Reflective Flourescent Color Jacket and Red LED Blinkers is a must on Busy roads any time to make us cyclists visible and shall save our life from all faster vehicles

I have loaded Reflective 3M Reflector Strips on my Cycle Front and Back as well for better visibility at all times

[berkeleydb]

Yes, moving to the right due to waterlogging in the left lanes is something I too end up doing during rains. As for overtaking -- if traffic in the left lane is consistently moving at a ~15kmph or more, I usually stick to that lane. I don't usually move to the right in that case, even though I can ride much faster. I think that is an OK pace, rather then getting into the faster lanes, & getting closer to faster traffic.

Note -- passing is different from overtaking. If one is in the left lane which happens to be moving faster, one can pass slower vehicles which are in the right lane, from the left. It's while overtaking, (where you pass and come into the lane of the vehicle you are passing), where one needs to do so from the right.

-{db}.

[Opendro]

Term "passing" is applicable to single lane as well as multi-lane though the "pass on the right" rule is kind of more applicable to single lane roads. There are some laws in some countries/states where "passing" rule must be obeyed even in multi-lanes. I highlighted "(where you pass and come into the lane of the vehicle you are passing)". If the vehicle you want to overtake is on the lane you want to ride, you should always pass on the right.

At 15 kmph, I agree, better stick to the left. I overtake various kinds of vehicles - specially smoking heavy vehicles. I prefer to overtake them by passing on the right as they often push people towards the left.