Do right-handed people look right/left-handed people look left?

[gibby]

My latest fascination is watching where drivers/pedestrians look as they enter an intersection or cross a street (which is also an act of self-preservation).
A large majority of people in my most unscientific survey barely look to the left even tho that is the first lane of traffic that is crossed. Most everyone stares to the right and then get the shock of their life when there is someone actually on the left. So, I’m thinking, is there a right-handed, left-handed trait at work here?
Since left-handed people are a minority of the population and the percent of people who look left first is miniscule, can this be attributed to genetics?
..now back to my regularly-scheduled obsession…

Topic

[Steve O]

@MFC 147422 wrote:

There is one school of thought that says to stay clipped in with your dominant foot because you have more power when you push off to start.

When I teach adult Learn to Ride classes, I teach new riders to use their right foot to start in what we call the Power Pedal Position (that is, they pull the pedal up to about 2:00 o’clock while leaning on their left foot and use their right foot to start the bike). I recommend this regardless of whether they are right or left handed.

The reason for this is two fold:
– Roads tend to be humped in the middle. Having the left foot down means you are leaning more into the hump rather than away from it, which should be more comfortable.
– You are leaning towards the traffic rather than away, which I like to believe will make drivers more likely to give a little more room as you get going.

Both of these are relatively minor. If after trying this way a student prefers the left foot and that helps them learn to ride, then NBD. But all else being equal, I recommend left foot down/right foot start.

Personally, I do it the opposite way, even though I am right-handed. I guess that’s because that’s how I learned when I was a little kid and I find it hard to switch.

[AFHokie]

I’m right handed, but do most everything else lefty. I’m a left foot down rider and I find tight turns to the right more difficult than to the left.

In fact, unclipping and coming to a stop on my right foot feels very unnatural.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930AZ using Tapatalk

[vvill]

Righty, left foot down rider, goofy foot, find tight right turns more difficult than left. I do wonder if some of that could be attributed to the fact I’ve had surgery on my right shoulder (pre-dates my “serious” cycling) – I subconsciously avoid danger more on the right side and take it slower, but take more risks and crash more on the left but learn how to turn better that way. I’ve brought up the question with other mountain bikers before and heard it’s fairly common to be better at turning in one direction than the other.

And yeah it’s left-right-left here, because I remember the jingle that taught me right-left-right when growing up in Australia.

[Sunyata]

I am a right-y also. But I am a left foot down and left switchbacks are easier type of person. I know why the left foot goes down, I have nerve deficiencies on my right side due to a pretty nasty MTB crash when I was in college. But I am not sure why I find right handed turns so hard. :confused:

[Vicegrip]

Lefty. (AKA In my Right mind) Left foot down, left turn given the choice but no big deal. Always look into oncoming traffic first then the other way then back again at oncoming traffic before crossing.

[LeprosyStudyGroup]

seems to be a correlation between which foot you put down and turning preference

[DrP]

@LeprosyStudyGroup 147463 wrote:

seems to be a correlation between which foot you put down and turning preference

Hmmm, I guess that makes sense. Sometimes I prefer to put my left down and other times my right. Some days the left turns are easier than the right and vice versa. I do not attach my feet to my pedals – they become extra brakes and allow for tight turns.

One might then think that I am ambidextrous, but I am VERY right handed.

Street crossing is definitely left-right-left looks. Except in the UK, where it starts out as left-right-left-right (usually with a few statements like “crap, I keep forgetting” in the middle) becoming right-left-right. And upon return to the US, it is right-left-right-left and sometimes a few more looks (with related statements) before I settle back to normal.

[Vicegrip]

I would give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

[Author]

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