Look, signal, see them respond, then move

1Watch

The signal into nothing

Everything that rider did was correct except the order. The arm went out and the machine moved at the same instant, and nobody ever checked whether the arm had worked.

2The idea

The four signals

The federal teaching handout gives four, and these are the ones drivers are taught to read.
Left turn — left arm straight out to the side.
Right turn — right arm straight out to the side.
Right turn, the other version — left arm out and bent up at the elbow, palm forward.
Slowing or stopping — an arm out to the side and bent down at the elbow, palm backwards.

Use the straight right arm for a right turn: it is unmistakable and easier to hold. Learn to read the bent-arm version anyway, because adults who learned in a car use it and you need to know what it means when it is in front of you. The slowing signal is described slightly differently from one rule book to the next, so hold it clearly and low where it can be seen.

3The idea

Then the part almost nobody teaches

The national standard writes the routine as four steps, in this order.
Look behind for following vehicles.
Communicate your intentions to anybody ahead or behind who needs to know.
See that they have responded to your signal.
Then perform the manoeuvre.

That third step is missing from almost every American youth resource there is. A signal is not the end of the transaction and it is not permission. It is a message, and a message you have not seen land is just an arm in the air.

4The idea

What responded actually looks like

You are not waiting for a wave. You are waiting for a change: the car slowing, a gap opening where there was not one, the driver’s head turning towards you, the rider behind you easing off. Something out there has to be different because of the signal you gave.

The standard also says communication runs on three channels, not one: arm signals, riding position and eye contact. Where you are on the road is already telling people something before any arm goes out, and eye contact is often the thing that gets you the response you are waiting for.

5Decide

You signal left, and the car behind has not changed speed at all.

The signal was given, so move acrossHold your line, stay where you are, and look againSignal harder and more obviously

6Build it

Run the loop

The version where you signal and move in the same moment is worth running twice, because it is the one nearly everybody actually does.

7Find them

Which of these count as seeing that somebody responded?

Tap the ones that count.

8Say it

The four steps, in order

Say the whole thing out loud on every practice turn. The fourth step is the one that wants to jump the queue, and saying the third one out loud is the thing that stops it.

9Do it

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