Colin wrote:Move out early when passing parked cars. This signals your intentions to other traffic.

Staying left and darting out to pass in the final metres is dangerous.

Agreed.

Anticipate obstacles and move into the lane as early as possible. Be confident and take the whole lane even if that means other vehicles have to wait until you pass the obstacle. They won't die. Check over your shoulder before moving out and if required, physically indicate to vehicles to stay behind you (I use a "wait"-type hand signal).

EoinC wrote:

wpp1 wrote:As a general rule you have to manage traffic around yourself. If it is not safe for a car to pass you, especially on multi-lane roads, then you have to ride out far enough to remove the temptation for the motorist to think that they can just squeeze past, instead of waiting until it is safe to overtake properly.

I'm with this. I ride to the left until I approach an area (roundabout, traffic islands etc) where I don't want any vehicle trying to overtake. Approaching those areas, I make a clear move into the middle of the lane, and a clear move back to the left when exiting. To overtake would require going straight over the top of me, risking damage to paintwork and radiator grill.

The cyclist's road code explicitly states that you should always take the whole lane when negotiating a roundabout. A fact lost of the cop in J'ville who close-passed me late last year.

happybaboon wrote:Suggestion - could us vorb folk create a newbie "how to survive as a beginner cycle commuter/road rider" guide?

Because what actually keeps you safe is often the complete opposite of what the road code says to do.

It is actually pretty sensible, IMO.

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/roadc ... ities.html

wolffman1 wrote:EVERYTHING

just about covers it i think

wpp1 wrote:As a general rule you have to manage traffic around yourself. If it is not safe for a car to pass you, especially on multi-lane roads, then you have to ride out far enough to remove the temptation for the motorist to think that they can just squeeze past, instead of waiting until it is safe to overtake properly.

as a guide to how soon you should move out to pass a parked car; if the road is full no later than when there are 3 moving cars between you and the parked car.

p
. c

. c

. c
b

That's a great way to put it. Cyclists very often move out too late, and far too sharply.
A small car door opens 90cm, half a flat bar is 30cm, you wobble at least 10cm each way without any wind, and your distance estimation needs a good 30cm spare to be sure. That's 1.5m total from your centre line, in ideal conditions.

If you are riding fast it is often not possible to be sure if many cars are occupied so you just stay out all the time.

To Wolffman's excellent list I'd add a fluoro yellow jacket or vest.

All of the above are good for staying alive !

Wolfman has covered everything but what to do if that door opens and there no room for you ,I know is sounds the wrong thing to do but steer in towards the door hinges, yup you could hurt your self but its better than falling out into the fast /moving traffic ,if you get your wheel into the hinges you stand a good chance of going over your bars and passing between the door and A pillar onto the hood of the car then the ground away from moving traffic .If your luck is in you could be in for a damage free soft landing ,Driver get out of the car quickly you hit him/her or fall into the car .Last time I got doored some years ago the driver ended up in hospital with a smashed knee ,I rode on home no damage to me or the bike I was shaken up though ....How it happened .....he overtook me then pull left and parked a threw his door open and tried to get out the car quickly .

Instant karma!

His Insurence tried to do me for damage to the door ! Told them I wasn't the fool who opened it into oncomming traffic , they went quite after sending me a few letters demanding money , to which I didn't reply .

Post those letters on here and let the hatred toward them fly. A cyclist or fifty will have policies with them which they might be willing to make the point of cancelling

Crashed wrote:His Insurence tried to do me for damage to the door ! Told them I wasn't the fool who opened it into oncomming traffic , they went quite after sending me a few letters demanding money , to which I didn't reply .

I thought it was a traffic offense to open or close a car door in a way that will endanger others. If you could dredge the official wording up the insurance company would be paying to polish your bike back to pre-collision condition.

The only time I got car-doored it just got my handlebars and just missed my fingers. The bike spun but I stayed on it and only got a door frame to the shoulder. No real damage to me or the bogans old falcon.

I dont have the letters bined them when they came ,can't remember which insurance co it was ,it was the late 70s ,will never forget the two tone 68 Holden Kingswood though.

uhhm yeah +++ to everything said so far and all that, can't see any bad advice there all good stuff.

The only thing I would add here and apologies if mentioned already, is don't be afraid to thank drivers for being courteous toward you on the bike. If I have to move out into the driving lane to navigate a double parked car, or some dumbass with their driver door wide open, I will always give a quick wave or thumbs up to the driver behind who has to slow down to accommodate me. No point being an asshole about it, being nice goes a long way and helps to change driver perceptions of cyclists, even if it is only one driver at a time.

Crashed wrote:His Insurence tried to do me for damage to the door ! Told them I wasn't the fool who opened it into oncomming traffic , they went quite after sending me a few letters demanding money , to which I didn't reply .

Yeah, you're not supposed to ride in the door zone so why would a driver need to check for a cyclist?