dgalati

Hey all,

I'm fairly new to road cycling and I have a pressing question.

Firstly, this question pertains to Ontario traffic laws.

Let me lay out a scenario:

I'm approaching a red light with several cars stopped and lined up on a single lane roadway. Would it be legal for me to "skirt" the right hand side of the lane and move up to the front of the intersection? Or do I need to treat this situation as a motorist would and wait at the back of the line?

Thanks,

Dan

Seattle Forrest

I don't know the laws in Ontario, but it's standard practice for most cyclists to move to the front of the line, as you've described.

I'm going to predict that this thread will bring up a healthy amount of debate over a handful of issues, from legality to politeness. That was the result when I asked people how they approach the same situation.

If you do it, slow down, watch out for people opening doors ( including from the traffic lane; if people are stopped and near their destination, sometimes passengers will leave ), make sure you've got a wide enough space, and so on.

Paul Barnard

If you want cars to give you 3 feet, just make sure you give them the same 3 feet too.

apricissimus 

The danger a motorist faces when his car is brushed by a cyclist is nothing compared to the reverse situation.

mustachiod

oops, i give cars 3cm and expect them to give me 3ft

i pull to the front, the cars all pass me and stop at the next light where I will also ride to the front. it's fun when drivers start to recognize me at each stop and i hear them hitting the gas harder to get ahead of me.

powers2b

If there is a bike lane pull up to the front
If there is not, wait your turn.
If you want to be respected as someone that has a right to the road follow the same rules as the other users. Ask yourself "What would I do on a motorcycle/scooter?"

Enjoy

Paul Barnard

I am well aware of that. What are the cars supposed to do when they take off if the road is congested and lane width isn't sufficient for a 3 foot pass?

dgalati

But say I was hit while moving up to the front by being doored etc or someone switching lanes (without a bike lane). Would I legally be in the wrong?

powers2b

It's called lane splitting and is illegal in most of the US.
I don't know the law in Newfieland but I bet there is a website that list the vehicle code for your area.
Google would be a better source for legal questions than BF.

Enjoy

apricissimus 

Yeah, you're right. The filterer assumes the risk. I do filter when the situation warrants and I try to avoid the situation you describe. (Though depending on the situation, I'm also more forgiving of a less than 3 foot pass). But I feel like I'm savvy enough to know when to do it an when not to.

But someone newer to cycling like the OP should exercise greater caution, I suppose.

mustachiod

umm, i pull to the front on my motorcycle too. :/

good question. i don't know.

Seattle Forrest

Right, because it would be a terrible shame if you lost control of your bike, crashed into a car, and killed somebody.

On the other hand, you want your 3 feet when the car is doing 30 mph up a hill and you're doing 10; if you move to the front of the line, the car is at a dead stop while you're doing about 4 mph. So this idea of parity is a bit silly. But drivers may not understand that and get annoyed while they take advantage of their internal combustion engines and pass you following the light - if traffic isn't backed up to a standstill, in which case you'll never see them again.

Paul Barnard

We think very much alike. There are places I will filter up and places I won't. It's situational. I cycle for recreation almost exclusively. As a consequence I avoid areas with much traffic. When I do operate in traffic, my goals are to stay alive, blend as harmoniously with traffic as possible and to not piss anyone off.

Paul Barnard

You missed my point. Are the cars going to be able to give you your 3 feet when they need to go around you again. As a proactive cyclist, I try to think beyond "right now."

Doohickie

No, it's not standard practice. In fact it is illegal in 49 states (assuming there is no bike lane at the intersection). I don't have a clue about Canadian motor law.

apricissimus 

Depends on your locale. Filtering is very common around here.

SCROUDS

I think its pretty black and white in my eyes.. If there's room to lane split after the light, feel free. If you would need to control the lane, be one with the traffic and get in line.

If you don't care about getting buzzed and would rather get there 5 seconds sooner, filter up and hug the curb.

Crazy enough, sometimes you cause people to spend an extra few seconds on the road, and sometimes people will cause you to spend a few extra seconds on the road. We tell it to the cars, you don't have to always be moving as fast as you can. Just accept that traffic in other vehicles exist and deal with the very minor delays they cause.

Paul Barnard

Who is at fault if the driver at the front of the line makes a right turn into you when the light turns green?

Pscyclepath

It's not illegal in most places, but...

1) It's not a real bright thing to do (drivers don't expect to be passed on teh right when they're stopped like that, and it puts youit exactly the right spot to be hit by a right-turning vehicle, a "right hook" collision); and

2) It's not good manners. (Think of someone cutting in line ahead of you at the movie theater, cafeteria line, etc.. Same thing.)

desconhecido 

There are several different things going on. If you are several cars back and you don't filter to the front, when the light turns green you're either going to have to take the lane or the cars behind you are going to pass on your left and they'll do it even if there is not sufficient room in the lane for both the car and the bike. In either case, they'll be honking at you and shaking their fists and drooling and, in general, going all Glen Beck on you. Well, maybe not always, but often enough. If you filter to the front, you can figure out whether the car in front is going to turn right or not. If it is, you can either let it turn right in front of you (you can easily stay out of its way), or you can take the lane in front of the car so the driver knows you're there and then when you take off at green, the driver can turn right. Or, as you know the car is turning right, you can take the lane immediately behind that car and when the light turns green, let that car turn right, approach the intersection in the lane and when you enter the intersection, shift somewhat to the right so that the cars behind have plenty of room to get around. There is technique to this because you want to make sure that you're far enough to the left so that when you clear the intersection the cars aren't trying to run you into the curb.

In traffic, there are two goals, in my opinion. First is to be safe. Second is to try to disturb the flow of other vehicle traffic as little as possible. It is safer, in my opinion, to filter to the front and then adjust your behavior to the traffic than it is to hang back in line and deal with the cars inevitably passing you without sufficient room. Also, if you filter to the front, you can adjust your riding to interfere with auto traffic as little as possible.

Another thing, if you filter to the front and can safely cross the intersection before the light turns green, even though illegal, you can get out of the way of the intersection traffic and the autos can do their thing as if you were never there.

Paul Barnard

I agree with this, but you better hold on for the onslaught. Advocating running read lights and stops signs won't play well with this crowd.

If I take my place in line, I take the lane in that line and maintain the lane until I cross the intersection. I can typically accelerate quickly enough not to piss off or inconvenience motorists in the process.

powers2b

Crack is common is some neigborhoods around here, that doesn't make it legal.
Nice reasoning skills there. You should be a judge.

Enjoy

powers2b

Again, Google has more answers than BF.


Lane splitting is riding a bicycle or motorcycle between lanes in the same direction as traffic. It is also sometimes called lane sharing, whitelining,[1] filtering, or stripe-riding.[2] Lane splitting usually refers to moving at a greater speed than traffic, in response to a traffic slowdown,[3][4] a form of filtering forward.

Lane splitting by motorcycles is generally legal in Europe, and in Japan and several other countries, and is illegal in many states in the US, but is considered lawful in California (see list below).

The legal restrictions on lane splitting for bicyclists can be the same, such as in California[5]. In some jurisdictions, such as Nebraska, lane-splitting is prohibited specifically, and only, for motorcyclists [6].

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_splitting

Enjoy

MWPdx

It's generally not legal unless there's a bike lane. That being said, I'll generally pull up to the front (cautiously) if there's no chance those cars are going to have to pass me again, like in dense downtown traffic. If it's gonna turn into a game of leapfrog, I'll usually wait.

desconhecido 

You're a much stronger rider than I am. If I were back just a couple car lengths, I wouldn't stand a prayer of getting across the intersection without holding up traffic sufficiently to get a bunch of drivers peeved with me. And, I'm not really advocating anything -- just making some observations with no harm or malice intended.