Taking the Lane
Originally Posted by
KraneXL
You proceed from an incorrect premise if you feel taking the lane is not a safety measure. Taking the lane doesn't make you invincible nor is that the intention. The intent is to be seen, and more importantly, to notify motorists that the road is too narrow to pass safely.
The idea that people may hit you is always a reality but never an absolute....
Originally Posted by
Gresp15C
Do motorists know that? Is it specifically part of their training? Or do they believe that you're just being a rude, erratic daredevil by weaving in and out of traffic where you don't belong in the first place?
Naturally, that's not my view, because I'm a cyclist, and I've ridden in traffic. But communication between two people requires both of them understand the message in the same way. If drivers don't understand what you're communicating, then "taking the lane" is not achieving the purpose that you expect.
The perceptions and behavior of motorists determines whether "taking the lane" is a safety measure or not. This is what seems to be in doubt.
Originally Posted by
wphamilton
I don't like being directly in front of cars moving much faster than me, so I don't take the lane - the tire track - very often unless I have to. But when I do, communication is the last thing I want from it.
Turn signals, brake lights and horn are communications. When I'm there, it is purely so that a car driver cannot pass me completely within the lane, and that is a safety measure regardless of what the motorist thinks about it. The only thing communicated is "I am not yielding way here".
I'm pressing this point because it looks like you've assigned "communication" as the sole purpose of taking the lane. It's better IMO, driving OR riding, that we don't communicate at all with other drivers other than by standard signals and legal yields and so on.
Those communications are generally extra or outside of normal traffic parameters and disruptive more often than not. I'll wave a hesitant driver by sometimes but that's when they've become disruptive already, and that's about it for "extra" communicating.
I'm not talking about waving to a friend or that sort of thing, but I AM talking about directing traffic or instructing someone, outside of the normal rules of traffic.
I don’t direct motorists either, e.g by waving around, except perhaps for those “niceholes” who yield to cyclists, often disregarding the surrounding traffic.
FWIW. I have posted my position on taking the lane(especially as a form of “non-directing’ communication”),:
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
Just yesterday I posted about my new “position” on lane strategy, after decades of urban commuting, as suggested by @Paul Barnard, on a current thread,”Being part of the problem!!” It sounds just like "control and release."
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
I was intrigued by your turn of phase, “a cocktail of risk mitigation strategies,” because that sounds similar to my survival strategy honed over four decades of a cycling lifestyle...
Regarding the question of taking the lane, I’ve always felt it is a question of pragmatism,though I probably too obsequiously favor keeping the drivers happy by staying FRAP...
My usual routes are pretty safe…early morning or after rush hour in the evening, in the reverse commuting direction, on residential (though somewhat busy) and light commercial thoroughfares.
On a few rides over the past few days I have tried out the more aggressive position, in the right tire track, with very good results. I can easily monitor the driver's responses in my rearview mirror...so far no aggressive maneuvers or honking
I also like your strategy of gently nudging towards the center, then relenting towards the right. And I always give a wave to the cooperative driver, either before or after their pass.
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 02-02-19 at 04:15 AM.