Nope. This “flip over the handebars” risk is greatly overstated. The front brake is where the power is. To stop as quickly as is possible I need to apply it 3 times as hard as the rear (less-so in the wet - more evenly then, perhaps 1.5:1). It provides 3-times the stopping force that the rear can. Because physics. I want to control and modulate my most powerful brake with my dominant hand.
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If one must have flashy gloves, then no arrow at all is needed. The side of the bike that the indicator is on says it all. Just like indicators on cars (those sequenced ones on Mustangs notwithstanding).
“Nightmarish delay” made me laugh. A find the cognitive dissonance breathtaking. If motorists would look up from their phones long enough to look out of the windscreen, then they would see that they are overwhelmingly being delayed by other motorists. How they can’t understand this continues to baffle me.
Some truisms regarding motoring and cycling in Vancouver:
- All motorists break the speed limit, all the time, unless being impeded by others or by a corner/turn. They do not see this as risky.
- Nobody (motorist nor cyclist) ever stops for a stop sign unless to avoid an actual collision. Motorists belive that when cyclists roll through stop signs, they are placing themselves and others at risk. Motorists do not believe that rolling through stop signs is risky when they themselves are doing it.
- The only time that a red light goes “un-run” is when there is no-one there to run it. Motorists believe that cyclists doing this is very risky, but that it is not risky when they do it themselves…
- The reason that so few people use their indicators is because they usually have their hands so full of phones, coffee, makeup, food etc. that to indicate would be to create a safety hazard.
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I agree. This is so damn stupid. They could have completely resolved this issue, and made it unambiguously useful, by simply rotating the chevron 90º so that it points towards the fingers. Then stick your arm straight out to the left, as you should for making a left turn, and it will point in the direction you’re turning.
I’ve never seen anyone confused by it. When I got my driver’s license in MA, I had to demonstrate the hand signals. Do they not do that in every state?
When cycling, I typically use whichever arm is in the center of the road, in front of the driver’s field of vision. If I’m way to the right on the shoulder, I’m not going to assume he’s going to notice my right arm. So “hello” signal.
Conversely, if I’m already pulled up to the center line, preparing to make a left turn, and I’m just waiting for the oncoming traffic to go by, I’ll use my right arm, again the same way. It’s more likely that the cars behind me will see it, and it has the added benefit of not stretching my hand out across incoming traffic, or looking like I’m asking them to stop (which I’m not).
It’s 100% due to old ideas about the rear brake being safer. It’s unfortunate.
Do what I did then, swap brake lines. The added benefit is that should someone steal your bike you’ll likely find them about a hundred feet away, hurled over the front of the handlebars when they just wanted to slow down.
Same in the UK. Makes complete sense to everyone.
I didn’t learn to ride or drive in North America. In Australia where I grew up, the “hello” waving signal isn’t a thing. But isn’t it non-standard to wave with your right arm to signal a left turn? I get what you’re saying about the visibility of the signaling arm, but I still just think it’s easier/clearer to point where you’re going. (Oh, and if oncoming traffic will clip your outstretched hand, you’re in a very bad situation.)
Believe it or not, I have a mix on my bikes. One bike, front brake on the left and the rest on the right. In terms of time spent with each arrangement it’s about 50:50. I always mean to standardise them, but can’t decide which way to go.
My point was I mix up my hand signals depending on the situation. Since most drivers in the US had to learn (?) hand-signals, I believe it’s reasonably well understood that “arm up” means turning the opposite direction from the arm. (Or possibly this is just in bike-accustomed cities like Boston, and perhaps not so much in the midwest.)
Obviously sticking rigidly to the “left arm up to signal a right turn” rule would be stupid if, for example, you are in the left lane of a road and you want to merge into the right lane. In that situation, you are far better off extending your right arm outwards, making the signal as visible as possible to the drivers in the right lane.
In any case, I think everyone is agreed that hijacking a signal in a way that’s wrong for everyone (right arm upwards to signal a right turn) is just dumb, right?
Most motorcycles have the throttle on the right hand grip which also necessitates left handed signaling.
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Excellent list. I basically assume “Deathrace” rules are in effect and I’m just rolling points.
This is going to blow your mind, but the hand signals are not meant for use by cyclists only.
In the North America, at least, these very same signals are also used by motorcycles (throttle is on the right hand side of the handlebars–can’t take your hand off the right to signal. The signals are also for cars that do not have (operational) directional indicators-- the driver is on the left, and so only only the left hand is usable.
If the minute number of cyclists that actually use signals started using some other secret code, it would be completely useless as nobody would know what they’re on about.
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I recall having to show hand signals when I first got my driver’s license, in California.
I remember having to show hand signals during the driving portion of test in California too, however the California DMV handbook specifically mentions that:
Bicyclists may give right turn-signals with their right arm held straight out, pointing right.
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Cyclists here actually signal quite a bit, albeit with the “hi-there” wavy thing when turning right. Far, far less common are motorcycles and cars without indicators.
Pointing in the direction one is turning is hardly cryptic.
A drone slaved to your GPS armed with air to ground missiles might help. Might.
The Boy Scout manual did an excellent job explaining all these things.
Me too, in New York. And once, when the signals went out on my car, I actually got to use them.
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This. I ride an old Vespa which pre-dates the advent of turn signals on motor scooters, so signaling with my right hand is not an option unless I want to suddenly decelerate in the process.
Also, assuming you’re riding to the right side of automobile traffic (which is the case for cyclists in most of the world) then drivers will be able to see a hand signal made with your left arm more easily than a hand signal made with your right.
As someone who has gone over the handlebars more than once as an adult with caliper brakes, I don’t know if it is particularly overstated.
Well, now that we’re clearly moving to a hydraulic disc brake dominated world, I’m not sure they’ll be much of a difference between dominant and non-dominant hands (or fingers considering how light the touch can be for hydraulics disc brakes)
