Right-Turns, and Cab Drivers

Highway code says you can pass on the left if:

1. traffic is moving very slowly in queues
   
2. traffic on the right is turning right.
   
   

Blue Quinn says you can pass on the left if:

1. you are on the left or there is a gap on the left
   
2. you are going faster
   
3. you feel like it.
   

Highway code says you can pass on the left if:

1. traffic is moving very slowly in queues
   
2. traffic on the right is turning right.
   
   

Blue Quinn says you can pass on the left if:
1. you are on the left or there is a gap on the left
2. you are going faster
3. you feel like it.

You can pass on the left if:

1. there is a gap on the left barely wider than your handlebars
   
2. you are going fast enough to pull a skid
   
3. you feel like pissing off some cabbies
   

This is important. Barely narrower is not good.

^^^ sounds like the voice of experience?

This is important. Barely narrower is not good.

Depends how much you want to piss the cabbies off, really.

[FONT=Verdana]cabbies are ok, it is the licensed mini cabbers who are the new enemy and they need to be totally avoided, either on the left or right[/FONT]

Resurrecting this thread in the hopes of getting some advice about right hand turns and road positioning.

Cycling home this afternoon going past Oval station, I moved across from the left to the right lane in order turn right onto Brixton Rd. Nice gap in the traffic to do so, no probs. Except I'm not the fastest cyclist in the world and obviously traffic heading in the same direction catches up to me. I position myself leftish in the lane, which means that a couple of cars can get past me who are travelling in the right hand lane but heading straight towards Camberwell New Road.

Keeping an eye over my shoulder I then move over right in order to get in the box to make the right turn. Again, there was a healthy gap... but my being there obviously means vehicles have to slow down for a couple of seconds while I make this final move.

So I get an almighty blast of horn of a fecking huge HGV that wants to head straight. There was NO WAY that he a) couldn't see me the whole time b) that I made any move that could be construed as "coming from nowhere".

As I finally turn I get a load of shit out of the window like, "Nice fucking turn, my gel..." and another blast of the horn.

I'm baffled as to what I could have done differently, and can only assume that my only mistake was slowing the fucker down/being in the right lane at all/being a cyclist/breathing.

Either than, or my road positioning is faulty and needs work. Aside from speeding like lightning from the left lane to the right, at the very last minute, what could I have done differently?

I probably would've positioned myself to the right if the turn was in view, otherwise there is a possibility that you have to maneuver rather quickly and risk getting hassled by cars flowing through too quickly (whilst not leaving adequate space between each other).

Wave and smile at him like he's your best mate.

naatm, it's not a bad thing to get a reaction from a driver. It means that they've seen you. Don't worry too much about it. I construe from your description that you were coming down Harleyford Road, positioned yourself way ahead of the turn, and actually executed the turn without any problems.

If you could have done anything different, it might have been better not to ride 'between lanes', but to take the right turn lane fully--this is clearer. Perhaps the HGV driver expected you to let him past after he'd seen you let a couple of other vehicles past. Again, it's fine to get a reaction there--just, if you take the lane, make sure you look back (not just furtively, but steadily, ideally making eye contact with a following driver) and communicate. If you look back well, they'll see you as a person as opposed to as an obstacle (and of course the same goes for you). Only relatively few drivers take umbrage at such clear communication.

I say it's OK to get a reaction, but of course the sexist undertone is unpleasant. I suppose it's the equivalent for women of when drivers trash talk to men. There's only so much you can do about that. However, it's still better than being seen as a slalom pole or Frogger.

ride your bike as you would drive a car - check whats behind you - indicate that you are going to move into the correct lane - when you have a clear gap make the move into the lane and turn etc...
if some fucker has to lift their foot off the pedal because you need to get out of the gutter to turn right fuck them. its not your fault. they just dont like the presence of bikes on the roads slowing them down - it would be the same for a horse drawn cart, or a bus pulling out from a bus stop whatever.

@Oliver - yep, I think you're absolutely right. I think I should have been more assertive and been fully in the right-hand lane, rather than hedging by being slightly between the two lanes. Will give that a go Monday and see how it works - it's an annoying junction to turn right at, because you've got the junction of Harleyford Road and Clapham Road right before it, and with the light phases... I'm never fully confident that the positioning choice I make is the correct one. (Being over as 'right' as possible is bad, because it encourages people to undertake you on the turn...)

And this sums up my sentiments exactly -

if some fucker has to lift their foot off the pedal because you need to get out of the gutter to turn right fuck them.

Thanks for the advice guys.

ride your bike as you would drive a car - check whats behind you - indicate that you are going to move into the correct lane - when you have a clear gap make the move into the lane and turn etc...
if some fucker has to lift their foot off the pedal because you need to get out of the gutter to turn right fuck them. its not your fault. they just dont like the presence of bikes on the roads slowing them down - it would be the same for a horse drawn cart, or a bus pulling out from a bus stop whatever.

I also find this bizarre, if I'm turning right down a side street and there is traffic coming the other way I naturally have to wait in the road for the traffic to clear so I can turn right. Exactly the same as what a car would do turning right, but it provokes anger from cars behind me.

Wave and smile at him like he's your best mate.

Honk your horn at him too, they get really pissed off when you're not pissed off.

+1 on taking the right turn lane fully.

I also find this bizarre, if I'm turning right down a side street and there is traffic coming the other way I naturally have to wait in the road for the traffic to clear so I can turn right. Exactly the same as what a car would do turning right, but it provokes anger from cars behind me.

i once saw a lad couldnt have been more then 12 or 13 crossing a road on foot at traffic lights - he started to cross just before the lights went green for the cars and some twat blew his horn in a "get out of the f***ing road and let me drive on" kind of way - the boy casually as anything and without even looking up flicked the driver a v as he carried on walking - was the coolest thing i think i've ever seen anyone do.

I think I should have been more assertive and been fully in the right-hand lane, rather than hedging by being slightly between the two lanes.

Back when I lived in London I used to do this junction a lot and I agree, you need to be well over on this one. If the prevailing flow of traffic is straight on then you don't need to be assertive as much as you need to be clear on where you're going. Hedging it between the lanes gives a very confused signal on what it is you want to do. As a road user, one of the most important things that you can do is to communicate clearly on what it is you want to do.

In this instance I would probably get over to the far side of the lane (I have no qualms about traffic passing to the left of me if I have space to be stationary) and indicated as much as possible. You may feel like a fool with your arms stuck in the air for ages but there can be almost no doubt on where you're going.