trombone

In the situation in the photo, I'd prceed cautiously up the shoulder, keeping as far right as poss and looking out for doors etc. This assumes the surface is in good condition, and there's not too much debris. If the traffic started moving, I'd move back into the lane as a space opens up between two cars. If I reached the front before the lights changed, I'd move back into the lane in front of the first car if thre was space without being too far over the line, else slot in somewhere near the front of the queue where there was space. Hey - I'm on a bike. I'm going to take advantage of that.

In the earlier graphic, I'd ride to the front of the bike lane, and then if necessary move forward a little over the line to ensure I was a little way ahead of the first car, and look round to catch the drivers eye. In this situation I usually wait until the pedestrian phase on the lights is over, then move onto the crosswalk prior to the traffic phase. There's a situation exactly like this on my ride home:



Approaching from the bottom of the image, the shaded area is a bike lane. It runs in between the turning left lane and the straight ahead lane. It's a spectacularly bad bit of road design for cyclists; if you're going left it puts you outside of the left-turning traffic, and if you're going straight on you have to merge with the traffic whilst going over the intersection, as the lane doesn't continue ahead. I normally go straight on at this point; if there's no traffic I ignore the bike lane and take the normal straight on lane, waiting at the lights in the middle of the lane. But in heavy traffic, the bike lane is too much of a temptation to skip ahead of a long queue of cars, so I invariably ride up the lane. then proceed as I described earlier. I also know the phase of the lights well, so can usually pull away and get ahead of the cars, getting accross into the lane proper at the start of the intersection.

(For Sydneysiders wondering, it's the Miller St / Pacific Hwy intersection. South is at the top of the diagram.)

fordfasterr

I always > try < to split the lanes instead of squeeze between the curb and the cages...

My logic is that even though there may be more variables while splitting, I also have more escape options than just me vs. the curb !

=)

Bicure

Wow.

You all are VERY thoughtful & law-abiding.

This may - in part - be an urban (high-density) vs not-so-urban (lower-density) kind of thing.

My experience is very much as Buzzman describes: it's every wheeled device for itself, and just be careful you aren't injured/killed by a motorist who "didn't see you."

littlewaywelt

Ride the shoulder to the front, without question

Anytime the backup is more than a light cycle or really long I filter, sidewalk or find an alternate route. I view it as a benefit of riding a small maneuverable vehicle.

ghettocruiser

If I've been taking the lane I line up, unless I am making a right turn.

If I've been sharing the lane I keep sharing it.

Dchiefransom

Bike lanes painted on almost every road around here that isn't residential. Ride up in the bike lane and either stop behind any cars over to the curb to turn right, or go into the crosswalk near the right front of the first car and wait for the light.

aMull

Are you seriously debating this one? Waiting would the most moronic thing you can do.

Bicure

I'm starting to think I should move to Canada...

Mr. Underbridge

I think the question wasn't whether you squeeze through a gap, but what you do once you've done so.

rwp

Why would you squeeze in at the light? The only issue at the light is possible right turns and that's easy to handle without moving left into the lane.

v6v6v6

Well, I think the issue here is what happens when you're at the front? The picture shows an extreme example.

From what I understand, California law states you must exit the bike lane so you don't block right turning traffic.

21208. (a) (4) says you must stay in the bike lane except "When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized."

DickyJ

Well, while you guys are deciding what on earth to do in such an awfully tricky predicament, I'll be riding into the distance. & a little bit of

As for filtering to the front, getting out ahead then staying to the left (UK) and having cars subsequently repass you, means I know for sure that I've been seen.
Works for me anyway.

joejack951

The law in California states that you may leave a bike lane where a right turn is authorized but does not say that you must. It also says that you may leave a bike lane when there is no faster same direction traffic but again, does not say that you must.

The issue with filtering, as you state, is what you do when you get near the front of the line where motorists are likely to cross your path if you intend to go straight or right or where you need to get across their path if you are making a left. If you are in line with the other vehicles, you are much less likely to be overlooked going through the intersection than if you are passing on the right where traffic is not expected. For this reason, it's prudent to get back into the line before the intersection. Leaving and reentering the line can be a hassle which why some cyclists, such as myself, don't bother filtering unless they will be delayed for a significant amount of time (more than one or two whole light cycles in my case).

Whatever you do, remember that you are doing something that is generally not expected of traffic and don't be surprised when someone does not notice you doing it.

gcottay

I do not filter but can easily imagine riding in areas where it could become first a temptation and then a habit for me.

NaBlade

Filtering on the right is common practice where I live (it's a big city with a huge bike community). At the light, cyclists straddle the crosswalk or even slightly past it in full view of the car at the head of the line.

JoeyBike

The OP never mentioned if he had to re-pass the cyclist.

What we do while cycling depends on so many variables including the speed you cycle, how far apart the lights or stop signs are, what is the speed limit, how wide are the lanes, cultural aspect of respect for cyclists or lack thereof, that it is hard to answer the question of the OP.

I live and ride mostly in New Orleans, LA USA. I can not imagine a worse place to ride slowly and obey all the traffic laws. Streets are really NARROW, road surfaces terrible, and at least half of our motorist are legally drunk at any given moment in time. Now, there are cell phones thrown into the mix. And if you stop at a signal, you run the risk of getting your brains knocked out by a ped wanting to steal your bike.

So at home, I ride like Satan and his army are on my heels. I keep my speed above 20 mph when at all possible and stop only when death is my only other choice. And guess what? I split lanes and run reds without regard for traffic in my lane because they will likely never pass me in the first place, much less get a SECOND shot.

If I bike somewhere else, I would probably be forced to do things differently depending on circumstance. I would love to be able to just stop at a red light and take a break once in a while. Or wait behind a line of cars and SUVs on some pristine road surface fifteen feet wide. Where I bike every day, I stay the hell out of motorists way and do whatever it takes.

EnigManiac

I will generally stop behind other traffic. However! And this is a big however. If it is an intersection that I know many motorists will make unsignalled right turns, I will filter to the front on the right to ensure I am seen by all the motorists and have the advantage of skipping through the green light first and avoid a right hook. At other intersections that I am not as familiar with, I have often (almost always) sacrificed my time OR filtered on the right when I was reasonably certain right turning motorists would either fail to check their right-hand side mirror or disresppect my right of way even if they saw me. It's a judgement call.

Saying that, I know many cyclists who will filter to the front no matter what simply to avoid the potential of a right hook. To tell the truth, I can't blame them. It's selfish, maybe, but pragmatic.

atbman

Please feel free to ignore this post. I've already made broadly the same point earlier on in the thread. Assume incipient senility-induced amnesia

I'm puzzled Bikepacker. How do you "make those cars re-pass you"? If I'm riding along and a car passes me when there's a queue ahead and there's room for me to go past (on either side), isn't he [B]making[B] me re-pass him?

Where is the element of compulsion? In traffic, whether heavy or light, there will be occasions where each type of vehicle is superior, i.e. on open stretches, the motor vehicle will pass me and when it's more crowded, I will pass it.

So what, exactly, is the problem? If I ride up alongside a car at a junction, he will, almost invariably, set off more quickly, as will the car in second place that I have over/undertaken. How has anyone suffered?

In the UK, it is accepted practice to filter thro' on the kerbside and only a few drivers are childish enough to complain.

I suspect that it is merely annoyance(caused by envy?) on the part of the drivers who complain about this rather than any theoretical inconvenience caused

JoeyBike

Excellent post! I find that motorists react to cyclists based on cultural experience in traffic. If your city is permissive and/or understands that you are responsible for your own safety on a bike, and that it is generally silly for a bike to sit behind a line of traffic just waiting for an onslaught of rumbling engines in a rush-hour frenzy to tear away from the signal upon going green, then motorists know what to expect.

Many who post here would be horrified at how I ride in city traffic, yet I don't think more than three motorists a year (i commute daily) complain to me or seem put out in the least. And of those three, two of them would have complained anyway.

I think New Orleans where I live is probably the most European-like city in the USofA. Our laws for cyclists conform to the norm for US cities, but law enforcement seems to understand how the traffic flows best and/or does not care or even notice what cyclists do. Therefore, we are free to do what is safe, not what is correct by some defective standard.

v6v6v6

Yeah, we passed him immediately since we were both at the light. I didn't bother to look back and see how the other drivers were dealing with him (whether they squeezed by or got in line behind him).

While it's my opinion that your riding style is excessively aggressive (at least from the video you posted), I do feel it's acceptable to make common sense decisions based on your situation. At the time I felt I made a point to respect his right-of-way yet he squeezed into an area which I would've thought was too tight and may slow down traffic once we got going. Maybe I felt slighted as I explained to my wife how we should all respect each other out there... But now I'm just thinking no harm, no foul.

Herman47

"She questioned whether this should be allowed and why he didn't just line up behind the other cars."

Well, maybe the guy just didn't want to get behind the stupid tailpipe of a car, didn't want to inhale auto exhaust.