[octavius]

Hi All,

Cruising on the highway on a bike, would you recommend overtaking slow moving traffic from the shoulder?

I've experienced that when there are two slow vehicles occupying both the lanes next to each other, the traffic gets piled up behind. It makes me nervous so close to the other vehicles and the cars trying to jostle each other to gain that extra inch.

In such cases, i would prefer to quickly overtake from the shoulder to get clear from the pile up.

What does everyone else think?

[Samba]

Technically my copybook reply should be- No you shouldn't.

Then there is always a BUT.

You need to decide it on the spot. Take the way where you feel safer. When you take a calculated risk, make sure if anything goes wrong, you have an escape route ready.

Remember few things before taking the left shoulder -

You may be on the blind spot of the car or truck whom you are overtaking from left.

If the car/truck swerves to its left, you should have enough space or braking distance to save yourself.

Check the road surface thoroughly for loose sand, gravels & stationary vehicles before the overtaking maneuver.

But never go off the road, as getting back on the road can be risky.

[condor]

If riding a bike on the highway, I would say - try stay on the shoulder section even for riding, whenever there is traffic. Especially when there is only 2 lanes each side. Especially if you are not doing similar speeds as the four wheelers. Even otherwise, please be extra aware of the large vehicles and give yourself lot of space.

Overtaking ? Do check traffic and go ahead.

[shancz]

Thanks fellow BHPians for taking the lead

Originally Posted by octavius

- Cruising on the highway on a bike, would you recommend overtaking slow moving traffic from the shoulder?
- It makes me nervous so close to the other vehicles and the cars trying to jostle each other to gain that extra inch.
In such cases, i would prefer to quickly overtake from the shoulder to get clear from the pile up.

- Like mentioned earlier its an on spot decision based on the situation. Unfortunately since most of our traffic doesn't follow any rules whatsoever so it's prudent to exercise the safest option available even if that's the hard shoulder with due checks.

Would only like to add a few pointers in addition to the ones already mentioned

• Make sure that the entire distance till the part you intend to rejoin the road is visible. So don't try this when approaching the crest of an uphill climb, not to forget there are people driving on the wrong side and at speed.
• make sure that the overtake will be easy so you have enough time and distance to either accelerate or more importantly brake before the vehicle in the front swerves in your path.
• make sure that the run-off area is also manageable in case you have to run off the road due to an emergency, especially near the end of the overtake.
• make the overtake quick, select the proper gear to be in the power band before you start the overtake.
• create some buffer distance and rejoin the road as soon as you can since the hard shoulders are notorious for surprise potholes/craters due erosion or human stupidity.
• remember that if overtaking a truck there is always a chance of them swerving/moving into the hard shoulder in case of a puncture/breakdown or to save some idiot who shoved their vehicles in the gap without thinking through.

- Ditto and distinctly recall an instance somewhere between Pune and Kolhapur where a truck was trying to overtake another one for ages, blocking 2/3 lanes and whatever space was left was used by our famed "SUV/MUV" drivers to play zig zag and getting dangerously close. Most two wheelers were anyway pushed to the hard shoulder by these idiots and the only option to get out of this mess was to get on the hard shoulder, overtake the trucks, join back on the mid lane and accelerate away.
You're right all it would take is one of them to brake at half their braking power to cause a massive pile up and humans aren't GNCAP rated

[Simhi]

As pointed out by condor and Samba, ideally we should not use the shoulder for overtaking. Outside India, it is mainly used for emergencies. But in India, I feel, driving on shoulder keeps the bike rider safe from high-speed traffic. Seen multiple accident videos wherein cars have brushed bikes riding on the left most lane too. If you are using shoulder to overtake better to honk and make the vehicles aware of your presence.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by octavius

What does everyone else think?

Though we're all guilty of it, given how trucks/HCVs are notorious of blocking the right/middle lanes block most our highways, overtaking or using the shoulder of the highway is incredibly risky.

1) Given a lack of service / bye-lanes, trucks are often parked on the shoulder - without any advance warning in place
2) Indians have a habit to park on the shoulder - be it to chat with another motorist they magically met on the highway or to take a leak, or to grab a smoke - again, without any warning
3) The shoulder almost always has a lot of debris and loose sand / gravel
4) The mere existence / width of the shoulder is not guaranteed - there can be illegal occupation- or no shoulder at all. The Pune - Mumbai highway has a lot of stretches where the main road is extended from four to six lanes but bridges - flyovers are still four lane.

The list is actually endless.

The Pune - Mumbai EW is notorious for a LOT of accidents due to vehicles colliding on the shoulder - esp since truck breakdowns are common in the ghat section.

[octavius]

Making sure you have a clear runway for a quick overtake and re-merge is essential for shoulder overtaking.

As others pointed out, most cars/SUVs will bully the bikes off the lane.

[aargee]

This happened in the year 2007, not in India, so leaving the judgement to mods whether this post is technically qualified a violation of law in Indian soil or not

I was sedately cruising at 70 Mph, I think, on a Mustang on I75 at left most lane during a cold month of November from Troy towards Detroit to meet my friends.

Got jolted all of a sudden because that is when I realized a 18 wheeler started swerving in my lane & most importantly that is also when I realized I was half way overtaking the 18 wheeler. For a milli or micro second, I was frozen not knowing what to do & those micro seconds are still like a picture on my mind, a huge black 18 wheeler, I'm seated ultra low on the car as if I'll scrape the road in few 100 meters, the radio that's garbling something, the road is curving towards right & I could only see the mid section of the 18 wheeler.

Thanks to Indian driving habits that kicked in!! Swerved my car to left, jumped into shoulder, floored the pedal, Mustang being Mustang, just whizzed off like a rocket, got past the 18 wheeler & I immediately switched to right & joined once again back to left most lane. All this happened in matter of seconds although I could vividly remember each & every move as if they're like frame per second of a video!!

So to answer - Is driving on shoulder wrong? Yes; Is overtaking from the shoulder on the highway wrong? Yes

But had I not done that, TBhp wouldn't be missing this ID & this post today!!

[cryptarchy]

You should never do that. I see following practical issues relevant to our traffic pattern -

• Habit of people to park their vehicle in left most lane / shoulder.
• You are in blind spot of the vehicle you are overtaking.
• When you merge back you will be in blind spot of vehicle overtaking from right and merging at the same time.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by cryptarchy

You should never do that. I see following practical issues relevant to our traffic pattern -

• Habit of people to park their vehicle in left most lane / shoulder.
• You are in blind spot of the vehicle you are overtaking.
• When you merge back you will be in blind spot of vehicle overtaking from right and merging at the same time.

Kindly add one more pertinent point in India - Some of them have adapted to riding/driving culture of US!! Didn't get? Drive on right side aka wrong side driving!!

[shancz]

Originally Posted by shancz

only option to get out of this mess was to get on the hard shoulder, overtake the trucks, join back on the mid lane and accelerate away.

Just to emphasize further that this option is to be used only in a sticky situation, don't make a habit of it just because it seems easy. Not being able to see whats on your right is a big disadvantage and very risky, hence its not allowed.

In the situations mentioned earlier we're basically choosing the lesser of the two evils which is safer.

In the highway drives try to keep in the leftmost or middle lanes depending on the speeds you're carrying relative to traffic. I usually keep the rightmost lane vacant for anyone who wants to pass faster for whatever reason and only venture out to overtake slower traffic.

[Latheesh]

Bangalore NICE road is the best example for this. Slow moving trucks occupy both the lanes and you have no other option to overtake. It is a very common sight on this road.

[Durango Dude]

It's dangerous to use the shoulder on our highways, it can throw up nasty surprises; if someone swerves left you had it.

[RedTerrano]

Originally Posted by octavius

Cruising on the highway on a bike, would you recommend overtaking slow moving traffic from the shoulder?

Absolutely no.
I have done this mistake once. Unfortunately for me, it was at a T junction and the truck (Tata 407) turned left. I was thrown off my bike but was saved any serious injury because I always wear a helmet on a bike and seat belts in a car.

Moral of the story: Rules exist for a reason. The reason is your safety and well being. Follow the rules.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

Absolutely no.
I have done this mistake once...Moral of the story: Rules exist for a reason. The reason is your safety and well being. Follow the rules.

Thank you for reminding me of an incident & I hope it helps to avoid or learn from my dangerous situation for members here

Once my CBR got stranded at Mollem, GA; and I was incharge of getting my friend's C250R ABS back to Chennai. So I rode his C250R instead of mine back to GA. Having lost a significant 2-3 hours in the morning, I was riding frantic to reach home on time.

Somewhere after Belgaum I was overtaking a bus on left side; that guy severed into the service road all of a sudden. Only then my senses kicked in that, it was a city bus & he was entering into city. Without a blink, I too severed along with the bus into the service road avoiding the accident, all the while applying the brakes as well & in the process let the bus go-ahead & then I turned back from service road to NH4. Had my CBR not acted upon or had a chance to ride my friend's C250R or my friend's C250R not had ABS, I would've landed up in hospital or lost a part of body or even given up riding as well.

Lesson learnt - no vision, no ride!! period!! no second thoughts, no guesses!! Better avoid riding/driving on shoulder/overtaking from left; it comes with extreme risk. If traffic is a concern, then choose night drive/ride which is much safer than overtaking/driving through shoulder.