Road Positioning

At bikesafe on Tuesday night, the guy doing the presentation that evening was talking about positioning. I asked him his thoughts on using the whole of the road, which he said I shouldn’t do. Don’t bike cops do it? Yes, but we won’t suggest you do it. So we got into a bit of a discussion about it.
Using the whole road is something I do a lot, I’m very confident doing it- obviously I’m not talking about going round blind bends on the wrong side of the road to get a better line, but if its safe, using all the road that’s available.
To a lesser extent I also use the other side of the road, i.e just over the white line, when I know that when a car comes into view I’ll be back on my side of the road again.
The bike cop argued against all of these, saying “what if there’s a police car coming towards you doing exactly the same thing, what happens then?” and went on to say bike cops are perfectly safe doing this because they have radios and know if there’s a police car coming the other way. This seems like a load of bull to me.. I used a few examples of fen roads around here, where you can see for miles ahead- if its clear, what then? Still no…

What thinks you?

I didn’t like him, he was very elitist.. At least next week we have the nice one again

[Ch00]

I move about quite a bit in my own lane in the nationals and if I can see it to be clear and in my benifit then I will also use the other side too. No probs there.

If there was a police car coming then you would see it and move over.

Ch00

[darylB]

If i were you i'd believe what you were told. Having just done the IAM course and now training to be an observer i have to agree with him. Why put yourself in danger which is what you're doing. Roads are not racetracks where using the whole width is there for using. Having said that i was taught to straighten a series of bends and use the whole road as long as you can see through them. Otherwise keep it safe by staying on your own side of the road. I bet he would be as fast if not faster than you on a given stretch of road keeping to the correct line and the safe side of the road.

Daryl.

I passed my test the other week , there was a free DVD that I got from my training school that featured a guy from Honda , Chris Walker and a Despatch rider . The guy from Honda was doing the section on driving in country areas and he showed that using all of your side of the road was a perfectly safe thing to do , especially where there are junctions with the emphasis on moving over in case you need to take evasive or a car sneaks it`s nose out in front of you . Whilst cornering I tend to position myself so that I can see as far around the corner as I can then I move back to my normal position on the straights , the only time I stray over the white line is on overtake manouevers .

Its not about whos faster than me, I'm fully aware the bike cop will **** all over me.

If I can see around the corner, or across the bends, there's a clear road, or enough room for me to, why shouldn't I use the whole road? Seems like you contradicted yourself a bit daryl.

Originally Posted by Sean_C

Its not about whos faster than me, I'm fully aware the bike cop will **** all over me.

What makes you say that?? ... if you are riding like a c**t and he is riding safely, by its very virtue, he isn't going to be able to touch you is he if he wants to remain 'safe' is he!

Anyway, it is obviously on a case by case basis, but going on the other side of the road might actually increase your visibility, which has to be a good thing right?!!?

Bearing in mind he can't even use the brakes whilst going into a bend coz he things that is unsafe, an IAM guy is not going to turn round and say its a good idea to ride on the other side of the road is he

At the end of the day the IAM way is an established method and should see you with your best chances of arriving at point B in one piece. But it is not the only way to ride and just coz you are not following IAM to the letter doesn't mean you are being reckless or likely to get splatted!!!

Buy a copy of road craft and read it, everything that the police do is based around and IAM is based on that as well. One of the most important things is attitude, after that road postion and advanced vison.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by darylB

Having said that i was taught to straighten a series of bends and use the whole road as long as you can see through them.

Thats pretty much what I do. But I'll only do it on a road I know really well.

I also tend to make the most of the room I have in the lane I'm in as well. i.e take a position on the road that gives me the best view through the corner.

But you have to make sure that when you do this, you dont compromise your own safety, I suspect this is what the bike cop was trying to get across to you, its just he didnt IMHO explain himself very well.

I have roadcraft, I've not read it properly yet but read sections of it.

Using the whole of the road (both sides incase there is confusion) makes sense to me, if it is safe to do so. There is a road going into my village, its roughly 80 degrees left. When you come up to it, you can see 300 metres to the start of the houses and slightly further beyond that. When I see there's nothing coming, I go over to the right of the road and enter the corner that way. I'm making the corner less tight, easier to go through, it seems the right thing to do to me. I used this example and he just said no. "What if there's a police car flying towards that corner?" Flipping police car!! Load of crap, wouldn't affect me- if it was in view, I would be on my side of the road, if it wasn't, it'd be safe to use the other side, surely? Grrr.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Thats pretty much what I do. But I'll only do it on a road I know really well.

I also tend to make the most of the room I have in the lane I'm in as well. i.e take a position on the road that gives me the best view through the corner.

But you have to make sure that when you do this, you dont compromise your own safety, I suspect this is what the bike cop was trying to get across to you, its just he didnt IMHO explain himself very well.

Fair point. He obviously knew what he was on about, but didn't really do much more than read out the presentation to us, a bit rusty on bikesafe apparently.

My argument is I'm doing this to improve my safety.