how to get ahead of traffic stuck at lights

[reohn2]

If I understand there's two lanes of traffic going in your direction, one for left filter one for straight on. Can't you fit between these two lanes? Normally cars leave a lot a space between them and the next lane and I find that unless the wing mirrors are in the place you can weave your between them.

Err,not recomended,drivers have an uncanny knack of changing lanes abrubtly,whereas down the outside(where you should overtake) is the safest place to be, even with oncoming traffic you can wait between cars in needs be,and see when the road ahead is clear to overtake.

I'm sure google street view would do wonders

It would,but I doubt it would change things.

[kwackers]

Err,not recomended,drivers have an uncanny knack of changing lanes abrubtly,whereas down the outside(where you should overtake) is the safest place to be, even with oncoming traffic you can wait between cars in needs be,and see when the road ahead is clear to overtake.

With the proviso that you're not overtaking a taxi - which will almost certainly suddenly swing out to do a u-turn.
(Not that other cars don't occasionally do that - I've even know then look! But taxis just 'assume')

[reohn2]

Err,not recomended,drivers have an uncanny knack of changing lanes abrubtly,whereas down the outside(where you should overtake) is the safest place to be, even with oncoming traffic you can wait between cars in needs be,and see when the road ahead is clear to overtake.

With the proviso that you're not overtaking a taxi - which will almost certainly suddenly swing out to do a u-turn.
(Not that other cars don't occasionally do that - I've even know then look! But taxis just 'assume')

Agreed,but if you overtake down the outside atleast, whilst lying in a hospital bed in traction,you'll have the full knowledge you were in the right

[garage-dweller]

Right hand side please (as cyclist AND relatively big mileage motorist).

Cycle perspective:
- car (or more specifically Range Rover Sport) drivers less likely to try a pin you against the kerb manoeuvre
- can generally see further ahead on that side as you have an oncoming lane to look up
- more visible to HGV's
- less chance of being in a car, van or truck blind spot
- won't get accidentally pinned by someone making room for a motorbike
- can see into drivers' window and see what they're up to and in extreme cases tap on it if they're about to pull away into you.

Car perspective
- other than just before passing the B (middle door) pillar you're less likely to disappear in the blind spot
- you have more room to pass so won't accidentally clobber the passenger side mirror and scratch it / knock it out of alignment
- you are more distinct from pedestrians and glow of street lights as a separate moving vehicle
- less chance of being in a car, van or truck blind spot (yes I know it's a repeat but it really does matter to both)

When I am passing traffic I always keep in mind that if a car's blind spot can at some angles hide most of a transit van (and a lot of jelly mould, small wing mirrored modern hatchbacks really can) then I need to think where it might be for each vehicle and make allowances for that (applies bike and car).

I also make sure I have only a steady state (non flashing) light on both ends of the bike. The reason being that it's much harder to judge the speed of a flashing light (as there's no constant point of reference) and also flashes get lost behind door pillars / street furniture / wing mirrors etc. No research on this but a practical view from inside and outside the metal box.

[jawaka]

It is the Grove Lane approach to the junction of Shaw lane and the Otley road going straight on up st Annes Road in Leeds 6. I also see cyclists stuck way back on Ledgard Way wanting to turn right onto Stanningley road in Leeds 12 in evening rush hour, which is another junction preceded by a left bend hiding the lights. I don't cycle that way but am sometimes in a car.

[thirdcrank]

Somebody mentioned streetview:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 31.25,,0,5

jawaka

You have my sympathy. It's a very busy junction, made worse by your having ridden uphill from Meanwood. It's a while since I've had to come that way, but I've been familiar with that junction since we moved to Bramley in 1961 and it has just got steadily worse. Because I have only ever been riding through Headingley, I've always had the choice of going ahead or turning left. I can see what you mean about riding up the outside because iirc, right turners from Otley Road will be coming in the opposite direction when the left turn lane is moving and the ahead lane is stationary. Working purely from a combination of memory and imagination, I'd suggest riding up the nearside lane in a real primary position - not easy unless you are a strong rider, both physically and mentally. If this annoys following drivers, which is almost inevitable, remember that if you used the straight ahead lane and rode in primary, you would be in a queue that much longer and as well as annoying even more drivers, I think you would be exposed to danger for even longer. Aim to use the left turn lane to get to the front of the ahead lane, moving out into it if it gets a green before you get there. That would leave you with the emergency option of going with the flow and turning left at Otley Road if something went wrong.

(For those unfamiliar with Headingley, except as the name of a cricket and rugby ground, this junction is slap bang in the middle of the university area of Leeds. I did read somewhere that Leeds City Council was keen to encourage students to cycle, LOL.)

[reohn2]

Having looked at TC's link to streetview I still think its safe to ride down the outside of the right line of traffic to get to the ASL.There seems to be lots of room down the outside if traffic going the same way is stationary,even with oncoming traffic and certainly a lot wider than some I negotiate regularly,the link is is to a junction ride through regularly,it looks deserted in the link but can be heavy and stacked back upto 800m and usually about 500m. :-

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 11.63,,0,5

[thirdcrank]

Somewhere higher up I mentioned the value of local knowledge about driver behaviour. I suppose my own impression of this particular junction is that I've generally arrived after a long ride feeling tired, and it's a long uphill drag on the approach. Since a long time before I can remember, Shaw Lane has been used as a sort of intermediate ring road. At one time the authorities used to facilitate it, now I think they wish they hadn't. There has been a lot of controversy about traffic going ahead here as many people doing so are rat-running. I remember it was raised at a consultation meeting in the 1990's that they were considering closing the through route - leaving it open for cyclists - to prevent the rat-running, but while the residents wanted to stop through traffic, they objected to being prevented from entering the area at both ends. I think the result has been that the straight ahead phase is short to act as a discouragement. (I no longer keep up-to-date on the antics of Leeds City Council.)

Another factor has been that this would have been on the first route of the ill-fated Leeds Supertram, which would have run down Otley Road across this junction. The long-term, on-off nature of that project has affected (they hate the word blighted) anything in the way of new infrastructure along the route (except for off-balance sheet preparation for the train set.) They were desperate to do everything they could to make sure there were no bikes anywhere near the planned trams. This meant for example, that when I investigated the loony alternative cycling provision, the were talking about a purpose-built cycle route at the back of the Arndale Centre, which is just round the corner from this junction. Purpose built as in having three flights of stairs totalling 23 steps for cyclists to climb or descend. You might have a good laugh, if it didn't make you cry.