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Rules of the road
- If at all possible try to stay on the left side of the road. Especially if you are used to ride on the right side of the road, stay away from the middle of the road, because in case of oncoming traffic, which most likely is also in the middle of the road, your automatic reflex will be to go to the right side of the road, which in this case is the wrong side because the oncoming Tata-truck will reflex to his left which will only crush your bicycle if you are lucky.
- Wearing a safety belt is not required for drivers and passengers of cars, and neither are helmets for cyclists. However, better be safe than sorry.
- A dashed white line in the middle of the road is meant to guide Bhutanese drivers at night, and Tata trucks all the time. Do not make the mistake to think that the piece of road to the left of this line is yours.
- A continuous white line in the middle of the road is the same as above for stretches where visibility may at times be poor.
- Lights on vehicles, especially those in the back are decorations, which can easily be done away with. Thus, stay away from the roads after dark if you can.
- In Thimphu, bicycle lights used to be an unknown commodity and cycling after 6 p.m. (5 p.m. in winter) was prohibited. Some low IQ police may not have noticed that the application of this rule has been done away with.
- BBS announced in 2001, that cycling was prohibited between Simtokha and Dechhenchholing. Some unsuspecting cyclists have been stopped by police who had heard the same announcement and declared that the City Corporation had issued the new rule. Funny enough one of the stopped riders happened to work for this outfit and had never heard of it. Later in 2001 this unwritten rule was adjusted and only the centre of Thimphu was declared off limits for bicycles. Don't think that if there is not a sign that a road is prohibited for cyclist that that means that you can cycle there. Just tie an engine on your carrier and call it a motorbike and you will be fine.
- In Paro cycling along the main street in town is prohibited for reasons only known to historians. Three approaches could be followed:
1. Walk all the way through town;
2. Cycle until stopped by a policeman and explain in your best Italian that you did not understand the sign, and walk the rest;
3. Do as in 2., but check if the policeman has a motorcycle and in case he does not, get back on your bike and sprint out of town.
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