Waiting in traffic lines.

On Apr 17, 4:16 pm, (Roger Merriman) wrote:
Marz wrote:
On Apr 17, 4:05 am, "J. Chisholm" wrote:
Simon Mason wrote:

"Marz" wrote in message
...
When driving to work the other day (sorry, yes driving, cycling is not
really an option right now) I noticed the one cycling commuter ( a
very rare sight in Houston) and was surprised to see him wait in line
with traffic at the lights. For me, one of the reasons I did ride to
work is to avoid getting stuck in traffic lines and my question is, do
other folks wait in line or do you ride through stationary traffic?

laters,

Marz

9/10 I will ride to the head of the queue/line or past slow moving
vehicles. Sometimes if there is a bus or lorry in front and there is a
chance the lights will change before I can get past then it's not worth
the risk. Keeping in the queue just negates the advantage of being on a
bike.

My advice is NEVER go in front of the first vehicle unless there is a
good ASL.
Take primary position behind first vehicle. The driver of the first
vehicle will be looking at the lights to see when they change, and even
if you think he should see you he may not. In addition an increasing
proportion of drivers don't realise that 'indicators' should be used in
advance of a manoeuvre to indicate intentions rather that show "I'm now
turning left", as if it isn't bloddy obvious by that stage. At a
junction I use almost daily I recon only half vehicles that are first in
Q indicate in advance that they're turn left, with the other half either
not indicating at all or only indicating as they move off to make the turn.

Similar applies to R'abouts, don't undertake first vehicle in Q but move
off behind him. In Cambridge a cyclist was killed when an HGV moved off
at a R'about when cyclist in front didn't.

Jim Chisholm- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Never seen an ASL in Houston and I doubt I ever will, but I agree with
not getting ahead of the first car. He's just watching for the light
to go green and has assumed that nothing is going to pull in front of
him after he's stopped for the red light.

not sure i really see the problem, as such very few cars etc move off
from the lights with any great speed, i certinaly don't have much
problems leaving the traffic behind at least across the junction.

roger
--www.rogermerriman.com

Not always getting ahead of the lead car is something I've done to
moderate my cycling here in Texas. Back in the UK I'd almost always
get to the head of the queue and be gone and away once the light
changed. Because drivers are allowed to turn right on red, they'll
very often stop at the light across the whole lane waiting, not for
the light to change, but for a gap in on coming traffic.And so their
attention is never on what may be filtering on their right, bikes on
the road or peds on the pavement/sidewalk. Plus the last person you
want to **** off is a Texan driver, that gun rack in the back of that
pick up is there for a reason and I've already had one gun pointed at
me. One of the funnier and witty bumper stickers says, " Keep honking
buddy, I'm reloadin". http://www.lakecitygraphics.com/imag...s/Honking1.jpg




laters,

Marz

On Apr 17, 4:16*pm, (Roger Merriman) wrote:
Marz wrote:
On Apr 17, 4:05 am, "J. Chisholm" wrote:
Simon Mason wrote:

"Marz" wrote in message
....
When driving to work the other day (sorry, yes driving, cycling is not
really an option right now) I noticed the one cycling commuter ( a
very rare sight in Houston) and was surprised to see him wait in line
with traffic at the lights. For me, one of the reasons I did ride to
work is to avoid getting stuck in traffic lines and my question is, do
other folks wait in line or do you ride through stationary traffic?

laters,

Marz

9/10 I will ride to the head of the queue/line or past slow moving
vehicles. Sometimes if there is a bus or lorry in front and there is a
chance the lights will change before I can get past then it's not worth
the risk. Keeping in the queue just negates the advantage of being on a
bike.

My advice is NEVER go in front of the first vehicle unless there is a
good ASL.
Take primary position behind first vehicle. The driver of the first
vehicle will be looking at the lights to see when they change, and even
if you think he should see you he may not. In addition an increasing
proportion of drivers don't realise that 'indicators' should be used in
advance of a manoeuvre to indicate intentions rather that show "I'm now
turning left", as if it isn't bloddy obvious by that stage. At a
junction I use almost daily I recon only half vehicles that are first in
Q indicate in advance that they're turn left, with the other half either
not indicating at all or only indicating as they move off to make the turn.

Similar applies to R'abouts, don't undertake first vehicle in Q but move
off behind him. In Cambridge a cyclist was killed when an HGV moved off
at a R'about when cyclist in front didn't.

Jim Chisholm- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Never seen an ASL in Houston and I doubt I ever will, but I agree with
not getting ahead of the first car. He's just watching for the light
to go green and has assumed that nothing is going to pull in front of
him after he's stopped for the red light.

not sure i really see the problem, as such very few cars etc move off
from the lights with any great speed, i certinaly don't have much
problems leaving the traffic behind at least across the junction.

roger
--www.rogermerriman.com- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Not always getting ahead of the lead car is something I've done to
moderate my cycling here in Texas. Back in the UK, I'd almost always
get to the head of the queue and be gone and away once the light
changed. Here, because drivers are allowed to turn right on red,
they'll very often stop at the light across the whole lane waiting,
not for the light to change, but for a gap in on coming traffic.And so
their attention is never on what may be filtering on their right,
bikes on the road or peds on the pavement/sidewalk. Plus the last
person you want to **** off is a Texan driver, that gun rack in the
back of that pick up is there for a reason and I've already had one
gun pointed at me. One of the funnier and witty bumper stickers says,
" Keep honking buddy, I'm reloadin". http://www.lakecitygraphics.com/imag...s/Honking1.jpg




laters,

"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...
Rob Morley wrote:
In article , Adam Lea
says...
"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...
Adam Lea wrote:
[...]
I often wonder what to do in Central London where I can't pass on the
left because it is too dangerous, can't pass on the right because I
would be in the path of oncoming traffic, can't filter between lanes
because the gap is too small, yet I often hear of people managing
12+mph averages in this area. I wonder how.

See http://digave.com/videos/london06-digave_com.mpg for advice on
riding in London.

Ah so that's the answer - use the "full width" of the road.
No, just any bit you can squeeze through by tucking in your knees and
elbows. :-)
Seriously though, what a bunch of ****s.

Watching said video leaves me torn between admiration for the cyclists'
skill and thinking they would be earning their just desserts if run over
by a lorry/truck or bus.

By the way, are those motorized rickshaws in the video?


They can't be that skilful, one of them fell off in the car park at the
beginning :-)