If fact, it’s latest version (from 2000) mentions cyclists using their right arm to signal turning right. The now defunct, US-based National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances, whose members are made up of state governments, strongly encourages the more common sense approach of pointing with the right arm. Both the League of American Bicyclists and the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show two ways for a cyclist to hand signal a right turn. Despite riding for decades, I even get caught off guard, wondering “what are they waving at?” Or if I’m far away or not paying close attention to the rider way up in front of me, questioning “what are they reaching for?” Much to my chagrin, I still see cyclists stick their left arm up to signal right turns. Simple, easy to do, but more importantly, safer and easier to understand for all parties involved. It’s brutally simple: point with your left hand and arm to signal a left turn, point with your right hand and arm to signal a right turn. While there’s been and will continue to be new blinker and taillight solutions for cyclists, for the most part they’ve been gimmicky, too heavy or too fragile. Just like cars with blinkers on either side, cyclists need to point the direction they are going to turn. There’s a safer, easier, more instinctive way to indicate which way you’re going to go. And it pains me to say, but unless a young driver has time to ask Siri or Google search on their smartphone what it means when a bike rider raises their left arm bent at the elbow, there’s a very solid chance they have no idea. When coming up to intersections its great to indicate, using hand. We carry modern LED motorcycle blinkers as well as more. It wasn’t until the mid-1940s that turn signals were commonplace on automobiles.īut now, cars have blinkers (although most drivers don’t know what they are) and are loaded with more screens and distractions than ever. Hand signals are used by bike riders to let people around them know their intentions. Shop aftermarket motorcycle turn signals at RevZilla for the best price, selection, and service. They couldn’t use their right arm because it was inside the car. They come from the earliest days of automobiles before blinkers and taillights were standard.ĭrivers of some of the first cars had to use their left arm to signal turns and stops. Here’s the problem, hand signals used by cyclists weren’t invented by, or intended to be used by, riders. The presenter showed us the answer, left arm bent up at the elbow. I don’t recall all the guesses, but I do remember no one got it right. Obviously, an unplanned stop is different, but that usually doesn't involve signaling, so you have both breaks available in that scenario.The presenter told us that wasn’t right and to try again. If yours doesn't, look into adjusting them. I wear a blinking light on my forearms at night so my signaling is visible then, too.Īs for brakes when signaling a turn, a bicycle should come to a planned stop at an intersection equally well with either front or rear brakes applied alone. I make a lot of right-turns on the way to work and a lot of lefts on the way home, and only one intersection with a traffic light. hahaThe vast majority of my riding is urban and I have the same rules for turning: left arm is for left turn, right arm is for right turn. Riding in our urban areas is something I try to avoid at all costs, but when I find myself there I try to ride predictably (in that I am part of traffic and behave accordingly) and sometimes resort to the air horn. (Much like flying where the priorities are: aviate, navigate and communicate - in that order) No sane person will indicate a stopping procedure instead of avoiding an accident - lolįortunately the vast majority of my riding is rural and the whole issue is minimal. I also adhere to a primary rule that my 1st priority is to ride, so if for whatever reason it is not safe, unwise, or otherwise impractical I do the riding and skip the signalling. If I stop somewhere other than a clearly-understood place (IE: red light, stop sign, etc) I'm off to the side of the road and no longer part of the traffic. Two things I refuse to do because there is a ZERO percent chance of anyone understanding them: signalling a stop with the left upper arm out straight and the left lower arm aimed at the ground & a right turn signaled with the left arm: my right arm indicates a right turn & stopping should be self-evident. I try to use signals as much as possible.
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