Bike left....

[BianchiBhoy]

Riding on my own, just turning the legs over. Melville Beach Road, just dropped onto the road after the footpath through Tompkins Park.
7:30am on a Saturday morning. Plenty of groups around. Just been passed by the Garland group. Car parked on left so I move out towards middle of lane to pass it. Doing about 28kmh. Hear call from behind "bike left".
What would you expect to happen next???

Some bloke trying to pass me on the inside?

Is it ever acceptable to overtake on the inside? Let alone as we come round parked cars?

Unless I am clearly indicating to turn right (there was no possible right hand turn offs where this happened).,..then please DO NOT TRY AND PASS ON THE INSIDE regardless of what you meant by calling Bike Left...

You may not have heard me blurting out expletives with your headphones in, but please don't do it again!

[jeffh]

I'm with you BB.

I can't think of a situation here it's justified or acceptable. It's only happened to me once and that was without a call as well.

Most disconcerting.

[wexford]

Ditto for me. I had a lycra warrior blast past without notice on my left when I was commuting home on the MTB for a change of pace. This was past the City West train station with peds everywhere, so it was already dicey enough without this idiot trying to beast his Strava PR or something.

Bring on the traffic calming!

[redned]

And if for no other reason, it is contrary to the Road Traffic Code.

[bianchi928]

Inside suicide...

[Big_Red]

Inside suicide...

+1 to that, it's stupid thing to do

[Troy C]

No its not ok to pass on the LEFT (don't use inside/outside - the inside you refer to its actually outside of the road)
Some points about this thread
1> Bike Left is a common call from a group coming up from behind to tell the riders there is a bike on the left hand side.
2> Great example of a road with lots of groups and congestion with parked cars and islands in the middle. A good idea (not Law) is to signal that a car (or another rider is approaching on your left) even if you are not in a group, as it helps riders approaching from behind.
3> Lycra Clad Warrior was said in offense, how about I refer to you lot as Bunters.... you are just dragging this forum into the gutter with comments like that.
Regards
Troy

[dougalh]

No its not ok to pass on the LEFT (don't use inside/outside - the inside you refer to its actually outside of the road)

Some guy in the Santos GBR was calling "on your inside" and "outside" and when cornering which frankly was just confusing. Left ride is much simpler I agree.

[elStado]

I saw some guy pass a lady with a pram on the left. No reason at all the right lane was completely open..

[wexford]

3> Lycra Clad Warrior was said in offense, how about I refer to you lot as Bunters.... you are just dragging this forum into the gutter with comments like that.
Regards
Troy

The guy was an idiot and deserved to be belittled accordingly, and done so deliberately. If he wants to defend himself he's welcome to speak up on the forum, otherwise I see little point to commenting.

[Troy C]

no, your are discriminating between bike riders, I don't care if the guy was right or wrong. I am not defending him.
You are insulting all people that wear lycra, are you not?

[Marty Moose]

no, your are discriminating between bike riders, I don't care if the guy was right or wrong. I am not defending him.
You are insulting all people that wear lycra, are you not?

That's the way I read it........

[RonK]

no, your are discriminating between bike riders, I don't care if the guy was right or wrong. I am not defending him.
You are insulting all people that wear lycra, are you not?

Yes, that's how I read it too.

[Thoglette]

As a lycra clad person, some of the other lycra clad people need to stop being whiney primadonnas. Otherwise the moderators will intervene. Nuff said.

[cray-]

no, your are discriminating between bike riders, I don't care if the guy was right or wrong. I am not defending him.
You are insulting all people that wear lycra, are you not?

That's the way I read it........

That's not how I read it. It was a description of a particular rider involved in a specific incident.

If it was "some hipster with a basket" instead would that be an attack on all hipsters or people with baskets?

[twizzle]

Meh... I've passed people on the left.

But it's when they are riding the white line of an on-road cycle lane doing 15km with headphones in and can't hear a bloody thing.

[Easy rider]

You are insulting all people that wear lycra, are you not?

You could also read it as criticism of the "warriors" in particular (who usually wear lycra) rather than all lycra clad cyclists. But it's easy to read over the word "warrior" because it's slang without a clear meaning, so the eye can focus on the "lycra clad" part if it chooses to.

There are unsafe riders of all types wearing all kinds of material, but the ones who pose the most danger on shared paths are not the slow wobbly beginners, it's the ones who are trying to maintain high speeds in places where it's inappropriate and unsafe to do so, and who refuse to wait until it's safe/clear to pass, or keep a reasonable distance from the unpredictable cyclists/peds they are passing.

It's just a fact that many like myself don't see nearly as many casual bikers or commuters (some also wearing lycra) doing these things, and at anywhere near the same speeds. It's not what anyone is wearing that is causing problems, it has more to do with selfish and aggressive cycling, and trying to maintain car-like speeds on a footpath-like environment, where I would have thought the road was the obvious place to do that with a greater chance of success - and less risk to others.

Whatever the "warriors" are wearing (or might generally tend to wear to assist with speed), they all make me feel increasingly unsafe on PSPs that are meant to improve safety for peds and bikes. Why was it necessary for someone to knock my elbow while passing me this morning within the same PSP lane instead of moving into the totally clear oncoming lane? How does anyone feel entitled to ride like a pro on a completely unpredictable amateur circuit, with added tourists and kids wandering all over it?

[Tandem]

Meh... I've passed people on the left.

But it's when they are riding the white line of an on-road cycle lane doing 15km with headphones in and can't hear a bloody thing.

Still no excuse to pass on the left.

[twizzle]

Meh... I've passed people on the left.

But it's when they are riding the white line of an on-road cycle lane doing 15km with headphones in and can't hear a bloody thing.

Still no excuse to pass on the left.

I do believe car drivers say the same thing. The ARR's say otherwise.


Sent from my iThingy...

[Tandem]

Meh... I've passed people on the left.

But it's when they are riding the white line of an on-road cycle lane doing 15km with headphones in and can't hear a bloody thing.

Still no excuse to pass on the left.

I do believe car drivers say the same thing. The ARR's say otherwise.


Sent from my iThingy...

We are not talking about car drivers in this treat. It is about cyclist overtaking on the left / inside, which I find is never justified or acceptable no matter what the excuses are.

[twizzle]

We are not talking about car drivers in this treat. It is about cyclist overtaking on the left / inside, which I find is never justified or acceptable no matter what the excuses are.

Why?

Sent from my iThingy...

[Mulger bill]

We are not talking about car drivers in this treat. It is about cyclist overtaking on the left / inside, which I find is never justified or acceptable no matter what the excuses are.

Why?

Yep. Please enlighten us as to the appropriate section of the legislation that forbids such.

[winstonw]

I'll hazard a guess BianchiBoy is either English or Canadian, where they refer to a road lane furthest from the centreline as the "inside" lane.
I've never been able to work out what it is inside of though.

[fixed]

We are not talking about car drivers in this treat. It is about cyclist overtaking on the left / inside, which I find is never justified or acceptable no matter what the excuses are.

Why?

Yep. Please enlighten us as to the appropriate section of the legislation that forbids such.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/wa/c ... tc2000113/
Section 122
ROAD TRAFFIC CODE 2000 - REG 122
122 . Overtaking
(1) When overtaking a moving vehicle, a driver of a vehicle (other than a bicycle) shall, except as provided in subregulations (2) and (3), pass to the right of that vehicle, at a safe distance.
Points: 2 Modified penalty: 2 PU
(2) Where a carriageway is a one‑way carriageway, or has 2 or more marked lanes for vehicles travelling in the same direction, a driver may overtake and pass in another marked lane to the left of a vehicle, if conditions permit him or her to do so with safety.
(3) A driver overtaking a vehicle making, or apparently about to make, a right turn or U turn from the middle of the carriageway and giving a right change of direction signal, shall pass to the left of it and of any vehicle that may be stationary behind it, but only if it is safe to do so.
Points: 2 Modified penalty: 2 PU
(4) The rider of a bicycle shall not ride past, or overtake, to the left of a vehicle that is making, or apparently about to make, a left turn, or is signalling a left turn.
Modified penalty: 2 PU

[Regulation 122 amended in Gazette 13 Nov 2009 p. 4589‑90.]

These regulations also apply to principal shared paths.

[twizzle]

Yes, I know what the law is. And it allows bicycles to overtake on the left.