Comments on: Don’t be left confused

By: J Cooper

J Cooper — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 12:52:33 +0000

As a motorist who has been overtaken on the left when signalling a left turn on numerous occasions I wish more cyclists understood these rules. The motorist is in a difficult situation where he or she is required to watch in front to guide the vehicle around the corner, avoid pedestrians (many of whom also fail to stop when the flashing red starts) and simultaneously watch the left mirror (or over the left shoulder) to spot cyclists coming up from behind on the inside. We simply can’t watch out the front and behind at the same time! Some cyclists also show minimal caution in these situations, coming up quite quickly on the inside as if they were in the Tour de France, giving the motorist minimal warning of their approach. I haven’t worn one on my passenger side door yet, but I’ve had to brake fairly sharply to stop my turn for a few individuals to avoid putting my front mudguard in their way. Please, folks, have a little care, this really is a difficult situation. I’m not in the habit of overtaking cyclists and jamming on the brakes (having been nearly cleaned up myself on a bicycle in just such a situation many years ago) but with the intorduction of these bike lanes I am seeing more and more cyclists acting as if that white line was somehow going to protect them from injury….

Coop

By: Andrew Priest (Aushiker)

Andrew Priest (Aushiker) — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 01:44:17 +0000

Excellent point crunchysteve.

By: crunchysteve

crunchysteve — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 22:28:12 +0000

Nitpick with the wording. Nobody has a “right” to overtake, be it a cyclist’s “unique right to overtake on the left” or a motorist’s “right” to overtake a slower vehicle. Overtaking is NOT a right, it may only be done when it is safe _FOR_ALL_ to do so. So lets stop talking about “right”s on the road, because motoring is licenced, a grant of conditional privilege which can be revoked, is not a right. The only rights on the road are freedom of movement in public space and only walking, and to some extent, cycling are guaranteed under that.

By: jthooker

jthooker — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 03:36:35 +0000

I ride a motorbike when I’m not riding my pushy and have nearly collected a number of cyclists when i have taken off after giving way to pedestrians. Cyclists need to be more aware of this rule and of the general principle that they don’t always have the right of way in every single situation (which seems to be the common perspective…).

By: Stuart

Stuart — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 07:48:42 +0000

So, when a driver races past a bunch of riders occupying an entire lane and then proceeds to cut in front, brake hard and turn left causing the bunch to have to emergency stop, that’s dangerous driving? This situation happens repeatedly in Sydney. We’ve even had cars turn into the bunch itself as they couldn’t make it past before the street they wanted to turn into. Sydney drivers suck.

I understand that cars have right of way when they’re turning left I would agree with you that the cyclist should pull out into the lane as the cars start to move forward and ride through as the front car turns left.

By: rideonmag

rideonmag — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:24:28 +0000

Excellent point Guido. Riders shouldn’t play on their vulnerability and oblige drivers to give way. Common courtesy and a bit of reasonable turn-taking is required. Having said that, I wish communication with car drivers wasn’t so difficult in that situation. Drivers are severely hampered by having to look over their shoulder and by not being able to hear or make themselves heard ver y well. Better understanding of the road regulations by both riders and drivers should minimise stand-offs because both parties are clearer who has right of way.

By: rideonmag

rideonmag — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:54:45 +0000

Our verification found negligible variation in any state road regulations from the national guidelines in this case. With the aim of the article being to clarify the issue, we have used plain language to explain the situation and address the questions that arise. Although quite simply expressed, however, we’re confident after thorough fact-checking that the article is accurate and easily comprehensible.

By: Guido Tresoldi

Guido Tresoldi — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:43:46 +0000

This must be the most mis-understood rule both for motorists and bicycle riders. One is that many bicycle riders are unaware, thinking that just being on the bike lane means that left turning cars have to give way to them, so they ride through. And drivers also are unaware and often stop and wait for bikes to go through before turning left (which of course adds to the confusion).

Many times I stopped behind a left turning car and the car stopped as well waiting for me to go through which causes a mexican stand-off. I wonder that because many bike riders are unaware of this road rule and just cycle through, car drivers understandingly wanting to avoid a collision ‘play safe’ and stop.

By: aushiker

aushiker — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:56:45 +0000

Great write-up on the rule but unfortunately those national rules referred to are not so national. WA's version of this regulation is different it from that quoted above. The relevant regulation is 122 of the Western Australian Road Traffic Code 2000 and it states in sub-regulation (4): The rider of a bicycle shall not ride past, or overtake, to the left of a vehicle that is making, or apparently about to make, a left turn, or is signalling a left turn. The key term here is "apparently about to make,". I have discussed this a bit more here. I would aslo suggest that before writing these sorts of posts, that verification is made of the regulations to pick-up on any variations. Those so-called "Australian Road Rules" have no legal status and are varied by the States as they deem fit to do so.