To Auckland drivers who wonder...
...What those mechanical things are that they see on the road. Each with a person balanced on, with only two wheels.
Bad news, they are bicycles and they have a right to be there. They are not something for you to ignore.
Sometimes we will take the left side of the lane, when it is safe to do so. You shouldn't edge out of a side road bit by bit until you stop traffic. We'll run into you to avoid pulling in front of a car coming behind us.
Sometimes we will take the middle of the lane. We do this only when we need to stay safe. This is to discourage you trying to squeeze past us, clipping us, and making us fall. Sometimes we do this because the lane will turn left and we need to go straight ahead, or the road divides. Be patient for two seconds, you will get to make your turn easily. You don't need to accelerate to pull in front of us and brake suddenly. When you try passing us don’t think of us as a stationary object. Realise that if you pass us doing 50km/h when we’re doing 35 and you need to slow down to 25 to do a turn we’ll still be doing 35.
You'll see us looking over our shoulders at a line of traffic behind us. This is so we can safely gauge the flow to merge with. When we are going reasonably fast and looking you can trust that we are trying to be safe. We'll slow down when necessary to merge. Don't abruptly slow or stop, we're probably looking at the gap behind you. We do this when we need to make a right turn at the next intersection. If we can't do it before we get there we'll stop, safely, and walk.
When we are in a 50km/h zone and going downhill doing 50, we'll be in the middle of the road. There is no need to toot at us to tell us to get out of your way, even when you naturally speed going down the same hill. Yes, sometimes we can even pass cars.
Note that the green painted roads are not shortcuts. They are not there for you to get ahead of a slow lane of cars.
When approaching your intersection we appreciate that you indicate. Please don’t indicate too soon, such as before the side road between you and your intersection.
Remember that braking distances are increased in wet weather. This applies to bikes as well as cars.
Give us courtesy on the road, and pass us as you would a motorbike or a slow car, and we'll try to avoid scratching your car or getting blood on it. Better to delay your journey a couple of seconds than risk the delays by hitting us.
