Riding on the street questions

[Hal65]

I have a couple questions about riding on the street:

 

Is pointing the left arm left / up a signal of left and right here?

 

I expect to generally keep to the slow side but would it be seen as bad if I ride in the right lanes?

 

 

Thanks

[n210mp]

Typically a Thai on a bike M/C doing a left turn will not signal at all but there are those who do and if say turning left,  will place their left arm  at about 45 degrees and make repetitive movements in a down wards manner.

Same deal  if they are turning right.         

 

The problem is that they seldom assume the correct road position for say turning right and instead of turning right from a position on the right hand side of the road will keep on the left and side until there is a gap in the traffic  and then dart across.

 

After seven years of cycling on both rural areas of Pattaya and central city,  if the road is relatively a small one then I assume the right hand side of the outer lane  with normal right arm extended and the Thai drivers accept this but if on highway 3, I would be very careful of doing that and in fact have more often  than not waited until the highway is clear, maybe a couple of hundred yards before the turning  and adopted a position that is bang next to the kerb on the right hand side, for me this beats trying to cross  a four  lane racetrack.

 

Of course it all depends  on the state of busyness of the road and if the traffic is slow and in a traffic jam then different rules apply, normally resulting a in a free for all, that gives advantage to cyclists and Motor cyclist to take advantage and manoeuvre accordingly

 

Hope this makes sense

[Deserted]

Signalling is never a bad thing, even if others don't then there's no reason why you should follow suit. Regarding where to ride depends on the speed you go at and the width of the road as well as how many junctions or side roads you have to negotiate. In Bangkok I always ride on the outside of the inside lane, many because of the traffic that joins the road and the way they will just pull out. But if I were going less than 25kms an hour, I probably would stick to the inside of the inside lane as losing momentum is much less of an issue obviously. 

 

Where is it you plan to ride and how many kms are we talking per trip?

[el jefe]

It all depends where in Thailand you are riding. Where I am, most Thais signal and you should too. On a bicycle, everyone would understand left hand out for a left turn, right hand out for a right turn. Anything else would confuse me. I have no idea what a Thai would think.

 

You should only be riding in the right lane if you're making a right turn. How far before the turn you move to the right depends on traffic conditions.

[StreetCowboy]

If I’m turning right, generally I’ll move over toward the centre of the road, to allow straight-on traffic to pass on my left.  

 

At traffic lights, I’ll stop centrally in front of the turning lane, to block people going straight ahead from that lane, but making sure that they’ve seen me. Then I’ll move off straight but drifting right in the lane, to allow space for traffic to pass on my right (I take the turn ‘wider’ or ‘squarer’ than they do, heading over to the far kerb before I turn.  This is extremely dangerous if the road you are turning into still shows a green light to through traffic from your left, or if traffic from your left runs the red light.

 

On multi-lane roads, I prefer to hug the right-hand centre kerb than find myself in the middle of the road with fast moving traffic on both sides.

 

But the worst of all is finding yourself approaching the confluence of two multi-lane highways; I’ve stopped, dismounted, and run for the safety of the left-hand kerb on more than one occasion.

 

It’s hard to give general advice; each junction is unique.  On one of my regular routes, I always stop first:  “Right, lads - Safety Briefing.  We’re approaching a busy roundabout and we’ll be turning right.  Hammer it fast as you can, every man for himself”

 

SC