Cycling tip du jour, Tuesday. How to stick out your hand and indicate

Bicycle indication appears to be a dying art. Yet if ever I'm driving a car, I find it incredibly useful to know if:

1) a bike's suddenly going to turn right
2) which exit they're planning on getting off the roundabout on
3) if the cyclist is planning on nipping round a slowing down bus or lorry
4) generally, any information is gold dust in terms of knowing what they're about to do

Well, I was thinking about this quite a bit today as I biked across London, and was again struck by how many cyclists don't bother. It's actually quite easy once you've practiced a bit, so a few ideas:



Looking back and signalling: Source

 - in a car we're told "mirror, signal, manoeuvre". We don't normally have the mirror bit, so I'd generally advocate: "glance back, signal, manoeuvre".
- indicate giving the maximum notice
- stick that arm out boldly and with confidence, don't do it half-heartedly
- if you're sure the car behind you has clocked you and knows what you're about to do, start your turn with confidence
- there's always a tricky bit when you start turning - this is the moment to grab both handle-bars. You DO NOT want to start your manoeuvre with only one hand!

When I'm doing a little nip around a stationary bus or something, I try to incorporate a friendly wave at the driver behind me too - though arguably this is taking things too far. But it's good to acknowledge that a driver has often slowed down to let you pull out.

I'm often also heard to mutter "thanks for not killing me" but I tend to keep that to myself.

Good luck. KC

PS there's a good site Montgomery Bicycle Class which gives some good tips on this