These are all very interesting points. I really had no idea there was such a
movement away from the traditional hand signals, since I never really see the
newer style in practice, but i can hear that there are two sides of the coin.
I, myself, will stick to the old-school all-left hand signals. My main
argument
is that when you're riding in traffic, you are riding on the right side of all
traffic, and therefore your left side is more visible. Since 70% of the
distance I ride throughout the year is commuting, this is often in heavy
traffic
where visibility is my main concern. Plus, it would be a hard habit to break
after 30 years.
I agree, of course, that THE most important thing for any rider is awareness of
and communicating with other drivers and riders. But I also believe hand
signals are an important courtesy and an important element of bike-car traffic
engineering. Things just flow better when those behind you know where you're
heading, so I'll take even the new age style over no signaling.
thanks for the great discussion,
kris
________________________________
From: Robbie Webber <[email protected]>
To: Kristine M. Niemann <[email protected]>
Cc: Bikies <[email protected]>
Sent: Mon, April 18, 2011 2:46:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Bikies] Bike Hand Signals
As someone who has taught bicycle safety to both kids and adults, here are a
couple of thoughts on hand signals.
1. Kids sometimes have a hard time remembering right from left, especially when
they are doing something else - like learning to control their bikes in
traffic.
It is much easier to teach them to "point the direction you want to turn."
2. Drivers seem to intuitively understand the idea of bicyclists pointing the
direction they want to go. It always works for me.
3. The last time I used a bent-arm right-turn signal, the driver thought I was
offering the one-finger salute, despite the fact that I used my whole hand.
4. Using hand signals is much less important than riding predictably and
communicating with drivers. Looking over my shoulder to indicate I want to make
a lateral move is actually far more successful, in my experience. Also, hand
signals are only required if you can take your hand off the handlebars safely.
In some traffic environments or pavement conditions (potholes), that can be
tough.
5. Teaching kids to look over their shoulder without veering from a straight
line is a much tougher and also much more important skill than using hand
signals. After all, even if you signal, that doesn't mean it's safe to turn.
For more information about how to teach kids safe bicycling, and why they get
into the types of crashes they do (it's not the same reasons or same crash
types
as adults) there is a free class being offered in Fitchburg by the DOT,
Saturday, May 7:
http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/safety/vehicle/bicycle/docs/tsb-brochure.pdf
Robbie Webber
On Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 1:32 PM, Kristine M. Niemann <[email protected]>
wrote:
But, I still think the kids should be taught the correct way, just for safety
reasons.
>
>
>
_______________________________________________
Bikies mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
