andys280176 wrote:
What does everyone think about using all available road space when possible? Not dangerously,obviously, but like going straight through a roundabout at the dead of night instead of following the left lane, is this good road practice or a bad habit I wonder?
Andrew
I am a big fan of using the road to help you.
I ride abike as regulars may have picked up. I frequently use the whole width of the road to aid visibility. For example moving well to the right opens up a very good view around a left hander. This means that i am ready and aware to over take a vehicle as soon as I have enough visibility to know its clear. Obviously something may be coming the other way but if my position is correct I have ample opportunity to move back to the left.
Another example is when following a high vehicle (4 x 4's are the worst). Normally a biker can see straight over the top of a car we are seated considerably higher than a driver but with a 4 x 4 or van this advantage is lost. A move to the left can reveal a clear view down the road to watch for hazards or overtaking opportunities, a move to the right shows that view as well. Often this is mistaken for aggresive riding by the driver but I assusre you its not it is good practice.
As for the roundabout I don't see a problem with straightening them out if you need to but please make sure I am not alongside you when you do.
The one bit of driving that is guarentted to get me following you and dragging you from your car is when you cross the white line on a right hander. This happens daily in fact a recent study by one opf the bike mags revealed that 60% of cars "cut" a blind right hand bend.
The trouble with this is that bikers are trained to be towards the middle of the road for observation reasons when going around a left hand bend and this is a major problem for bikers. We can not brake on a bend period. The bike will crash if we try so we have to stand the bike up before we can brake. Any reduction of speed on our part once we are ion the bend will cause an outwards drift, straight into the path of the car.
Now clearly if our observation & positioning is correct we should have time to respond to the car and move to the left. Well yes but we only have to fail to do that once and we are dead. Just think about it 60% of the cars that are coming in the opposite direction to us cut the corner and I can't afford one mistake.
I personally am convinced that a high number of single vehicle M/C accidents on left hand bends have this conflict as a factor. I base that on personal friends who have been killed in such a manner who were not "knobs" as the Govt would have us believe they were.
FWIW I can't do left hand bends hugging the left curb as this makes the corner too tight and forces me to drift towards the middle of the road on exit at which point I would have lost all visibilty.
If the above post doesn't make sense please find your self a quiet bend somewhere. Start on the right hand curb looking towards a left hand ben and walk towards the bend, see how much you can see move into the middle of the right hand lane, then the centre line eventually standing by the left curb. By this time the bend has become blind.
Odds are good that if you do this exercise you had a lot of confidence as you move from the right of the road to the left because you can see round the corner. Now go from the left to the right, I'll bet your ring twitches a bit.
Drive safe all