caffeinenut

First, if my questions were already asked before, please give link to the appropriate post.

1. In a regular surburban neighborhood on a main street, 2 or more lanes wide, with medium to heavy traffic, with or without bike lanes, I'm riding my bike all the way on the right and I want to turn left at a 4-way stoplight.

a. Do I move away from the right side of the road and actually enter traffic and get into the left turn lane as if I was a motorized vehicle?

b. Do I get off my bike and walk my bike across using the crosswalk? Is it wrong to ride your bike across a crosswalk? I ask this because I see many bicyclists do this.

2. If there is no bike lane or wide enough shoulder, is it then more appropriate to ride on sidewalks, unless otherwise posted?

noisebeam

Hi, welcome. I ride in Arizona too (Tempe, Chandler, Mesa) mostly.

1. You can do it which ever way you are most comfortable. If you do option (a) you need to negotiate with same direction traffic as you merge across the lanes. This means clearly signalling your plan to merge left with your arm stuck out. You also must check behind you with a turn (or more likely several turns) of the head to ensure that any vehicles in the lane you are merging into are slowing and/or letting you merge. It may take a few tries until a driver slows or a long enough gap appears. This method of left turning can be intimidating on our 45mph multilane arterial roads, but gets easier with practice. You can learn it best when traffic is not so busy/fast. Of course you always have the option to make a right turn, then a U-turn and continue straight (for an effective left turn), you can always bail out trying to merge left and do this if no driver slows for you. This is like the option (b) you mention, but you do not need to use the x-walk. Always do this later option if you are not comfortable turning your head to look behind you when riding in a straight line.

2. I always ride on the street. When you ride in narrow lanes, do not hug the curb. Stay further toward the center, perhaps on the right tire track of motor vehicles. This lets them know that they can not share the lane side by side with you and they will have to merge into the adjacent lane to pass. If you ride too close to the curb, then drivers will think they can pass in same lane and they will squeeze you and get very close when they pass.

Al

N_C

The answer is: A You move away from the right side you are riding on, or change lanes out of the bike lane. Of course before you do this you look over your shoulder or use your mirror if you have one. Signal your intentions by pointing to the left with your left hand. Then when it is safe move to the left so you can make your left turn. you may have to do this in stages depending on how heavy traffic is & if the roadway is more then 2 lanes wide.

Jalopy

Incomplete. See noisebeam's reply.

Jalopy

patc

I don't think the above bits have been answered yet.

First check your local laws. Cycling on sidewalks may be illegal in some or all places. A crosswalk is usually governed by the same rules as a sidewalk. In my home town, for example, it is illegal for anyone, even kids to ride on a sidewalk or ride through a crosswalk.

Secondly riding on sidewalks or crosswalks can be very dangerous to pedestrians and to the cyclist. In particular using the street and swerving into the crosswalk is not an expected move, most drivers will not be looking for it. There is nothing wrong with going into "pedestrian mode" for left turns, and by all means do it if you feel safer that way - but I advise getting off the bike, walking across the intersections, and resuming cycling at a safe point later.

There is a lot of advice out there on urban cycling, much of it contradictory and with a great deal of peer pressure from some people and groups. Take things at your own pace, evaluate situations for yourself, and put yourself into situations you aren't comfortable with because someone else tells you its the "right way".

patc

I don't think the above bits have been answered yet.

First check your local laws. Cycling on sidewalks may be illegal in some or all places. A crosswalk is usually governed by the same rules as a sidewalk. In my home town, for example, it is illegal for anyone, even kids to ride on a sidewalk or ride through a crosswalk.

Secondly riding on sidewalks or crosswalks can be very dangerous to pedestrians and to the cyclist. In particular using the street and swerving into the crosswalk is not an expected move, most drivers will not be looking for it. There is nothing wrong with going into "pedestrian mode" for left turns, and by all means do it if you feel safer that way - but I advise getting off the bike, walking across the intersections, and resuming cycling at a safe point later.

There is a lot of advice out there on urban cycling, much of it contradictory and with a great deal of peer pressure from some people and groups. Take things at your own pace, evaluate situations for yourself, and put yourself into situations you aren't comfortable with because someone else tells you its the "right way".

sbhikes

The answer to #2 is don't ride on the sidewalk. This is my opinion, though, so I'm speaking with no authority.

Don't ride on the sidewalk because it makes it more difficult for us cyclists who practice what is contentiously called "vehicular cycling." Why does it make it more difficult? Because many motorists believe that cyclists have no rights to use the roadway. When they see a cyclist on the sidewalk they believe that is where they belong and then they get all hot and bothered by we law-abiding cyclists who are in the roadway.

I believe that riding on the sidewalk also sends a message that bicycles are toys or the tools of the down-and-out, not legitimate vehicles to use for transportation. If people believe they are not legitimate vehicles, then they will balk at spending any tax money to ensure that roadways are designed not to inhibit cycling. Roadways will then be built to move motor vehicle traffic at maximum speeds with certain designs that inhibit safe and easy bicycle passage.

Also do not ride on the sidewalk because it is not safe. It is actually less safe than using the street. Cars pulling out of driveways where there are hedges or walls right up to the sidewalk cannot see you. Cars pulling into driveways are not looking for cyclists on sidewalks and will often run right into you. Pedestrians hate it when bicycles are riding on the sidewalk. Bike speed and ped speed are incompatible. Even if you ride slowly, you take up too much space. You're comparible to a baby-stroller and everybody hates how they clog up the sidewalk!

As for using the crosswalk vs using a left turn lane. It is better to use the left turn lane if you can, but if you cannot, you can either get off the bike and walk the crosswalks (these are basically extensions of the sidewalk so don't ride in them), or you can do the thing where you proceed straight from you righthand position, stop at the corner, turn your bike, wait for the light and proceed straight again.

Also, you didn't ask, but do not wait for lights or ride your bike to the right of cars who may be turning right. That is not safe to do, either.

patc

I don't like this manoeuvre, because I live in an area that allows cars to turn right on red lights. So if I proceed straight at stop at the corner, I am stopping exactly in the path of a car which may make a right turn.

Helmet Head

Good questions. The answers to these questions, and to many more that will undoubtedly arise for you, lie in a book called "Effective Cycling" by John Forester, which is available on Amazon, where you can also read some reviews on it.

I suggest you order it post haste, and get to reading it as soon as you can, so that you can start applying the techniques and best practices in your own riding sooner rather than later. It's not rocket science, but without guidance, it can take years to acquire some of this stuff on your own. Some of it I didn't figure out on my own even after decades of experience.

You might also consider finding out if a Road 1 course is available in your area. Start with bikeleague.org.

JohnBrooking

There is already an entire sticky thread on sidewalk riding, which boils down to (for most people) not a good idea. (Except, some would add, in specialized circumstances, and if you basically follow pedestrian rules.)

As far as turning, I have found it best, on my route, to act like a car in the following ways:

1. Be in the proper lane (as if you were a car) at multi-lane intersections for the direction you are going.
2. If you are stopping at an intersection, stop in the middle of the lane so that you are holding your own place in line. (Not everyone agrees with this, but it works for me and many others.)
3. Moving through an intersection, you are within your rights to continue taking up the entire lane, to prevent being passed and cut off. (I tend to start moving over to the right again as soon as I'm more than halfway through.)
4. When turning left, if you aren't moving at the same speed as traffic or need to stop to wait for opposing traffic to clear, ride or wait in the middle to left of the appropriate lane, not the right.

If you aren't comfortable doing all this, other fallback techniques are acceptable, such as the "turn right and u-turn" left-turn mentioned above. Personally, I think that is too much work for no reason (certain intersections probably excepted, but I haven't encountered any myself), but I understand that some are more comfortable with it.

Speaking of comfort, that is a double-edged sword. Of course you will perform better the more comfortable you are with what you are doing, so in that regard, safety is positively influenced by sticking with what you are comfortable with. OTOH, just because you are comfortable with a technique does not mean it is the safest.

The rule of thumb that I have found to be the most useful in evaluating my options, and I have to give credit to Helmet Head for this (who got it from Forester, I think) is that the two most important features of safe traffic riding are visibility and predictability. "Acting like a car" increases both of these, because you are out where motorists are already looking for other traffic, and acting like they expect other traffic to act. (Whether they expect a bicyclist to act like other traffic even when it is, is unfortunately another question.)

noisebeam

I agree it is can be an unnecessary hassle, but I find that sometimes I must use it as fall back if after trying (sometimes agressively) to negotiate a left merge into 45mph rush hour density traffic where over the course of 1/8mi of signalling and looking back, even doing a bit of a left swerve to make it look like I am going to merge in front a vehicle (the agressive part), but finding that not one of the 10+ drivers made any effort to slow to let me in, that I have no other choice but to make a right-turn/u-turn maneuver. I find this happens about 1 times in 20 for the particular left turn I make every morning. (It also happens to be the only left turn on my commute where I need to first merge out of a BL. Once I am in the left primary lane I find it much easier to negotiate the next left merge into the inside lane.)

Al

Keith99

I might have missed it, but if so it is still worth saying twice.

Riding the sidewalk is at its most dangerous when you come to a cross street. Even riding painfully slowly you are far faster than any pedestrian. You can actually seem to come out of nowhere. Just something to consider if you ever choose or have to use the sidewalk.

noisebeam

c-nut,
Are you riding in a (sub)urban area like metro-Phoenix or Tuscon or a smaller Arizona town? The techniques we talk about are not different for either case, just curious as to the type of traffic and streets you are dealing with.
Al

Cycliste

Without seing the specific area, it is almost impossible to evaluate the level of difficulty and recommend the perfect way to negociate a situation without getting into lengthy explanations, but here are the basics:

1)

1.a.: Yes, you got it right. Whichever way the road is designed you will need to move away from the right side and position yourself like any other vehicle: prepare your lane positioning early, scan, pace yourself in a low enough gear that will allow easy spinning and accelerating when needed, indicate and move to the rightmost lane that leads to your destination as soon as it is safe to do so.

On a single lane position yourself 1/2 to 3/4 left depending on width. As you're slowing down towards a red light or a tight corner, give a brief brake signal to the car behind you with your left hand. If you have to stop, turn and make eye contact with the preceding vehicule and give him/her a left hand signal.
Once you've turned, position yourself to the rightmost lane that leads to your destination, most often the right lane and keep right, etc.

1.b: Yes, you can do this too if you do not feel comfortable with 1.a. There is nothing preventing you from walking your bike on a crosswalk or a sidewalk for that matter, as long as you walk, not ride.


2) No, riding on the sidewalk is not recommended, and in many localities illegal, often in non-residential areas. Do "1.b" and practice "1.a", maybe at quieter times if you can, you will build your confidence and soon be able to negociate the most challenging situations that you hadn't even thought of at first. You will also realize that riding on the sidewalk is not the safest and is definitly the slowest way to travel on a bike.

To learn more, check your local bicycling coalition and see what classes they offer (here is a pointer I could find: https://www.azbikeped.org/images/CAZ-...PPL-7-15-5.pdf

Happy bicycling!

caffeinenut

After posting this and learning more about proper bicyclist rules of the road, as I was out and about today, I was taking a better look at all the bicyclists on the road.
Half of them were on the sidewalks, on the opposite side of the street traveling against the flow of traffic and not obeying any traffic laws.

So I'm here thinking even though I'm willing to ride my bike in a more appropriate manner according to the rules of the road, that there is no enforced or an accepted way of riding a bike throughout the community.

Kind of an odd picture where here I am on the right side of the road, using the bike lane, using hand signals when turning while there is another person on a bike just going wherever, however it is more easier for them to get from point A to B.

Illegal to use sidewalks or just not proper??? Ride with the flow of traffic??? Tell that to the dozens of kids AND adults I saw today on the sidewalks or were on the streets going against traffic.

Kids, I understand. Grown adults should know better.

Helmet Head

The vast majority of adult cyclists learned to ride as kids and still treat their bikes as toys. Don't be influenced by them.

bbonnn

Okay, is it just me, or does this picture show the cyclist on the LEFT side of the left-turn lane?



That's crazy talk to me. I always position myself at the right or center of the left-turn lane, which allows me to move to the right of the road I'm turning onto. The way this picture shows it, a car would have to pass you on the right AND you'd have to cross a turning car's path to get back to the right of the road you're turning onto. That can't be right ...

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/pgs55thru57.htm#bike
(from California DMV)

bbonnn

Think of it as "less safe." For the reasons stated above, it's dangerous. Next time you're in a car, think of what you look for and what you don't look for when you're driving, especially when making turns or crossing intersections/entries/driveways. You look for traffic on the road, not idiots on the sidewalk.

Those poor suckers who are "getting away with" not following traffic laws are gonna get hit some day, and you'll get to laugh and laugh at them in their hospital beds.

Cycliste

It's correct, but not always the safest way. These are tricky to demo, the cyclist positioning prior to the turn is not incorrect. I would say middle to left third of the left lane is the way to go, but once the turn is negociated, I would land on the right side of the left lane and then move to the right lane, after scanning.

ken cummings

There is a mangled white bicycle secured at the corner of 3rd and Dutton as a memorial to a woman who rode off the sidewalk and into the crosswalk directly into the path of a truck making a legal right turn on the green. In California you can get points on your drivers liceinse for biking in a pedestrian right-of-way or so I was warned by an Irvine officer who stopped me.

Helmet Head

It's not just you, but it shows the cyclist in the correct position using destination positioning.

Your position within a lane that serves multiple destinations should reflect your intended destination.

Since the left lane serves left and straight destinations, proper positioning for THROUGH cyclists in that lane is on the right side of the lane (but not so far right as to invite motorists to squeeze in beside you). Left turners should be on the left, as shown in the picture (but not so far left as to invite motorists to squeeze into the lane beside the cyclist). Why would a through cyclist even be in the left lane you may ask? Perhaps because the right lane is blocked, or maybe he's preparing for a turn left into a driveway as soon as he crosses the intersection. Why does it matter?

The key is to control the lane, and adjust right as you move through the left turn so that you're near the right side by the time you're on the new street (unless you're going to make another left from the new street, in which case you would keep left, of course). Note the white arc drawn for the left-turning cyclist, how it ends up on the right side of the new street.

Once you really understand examples like this, cycling in traffic becomes more fun and safe (and the pointlessness and problems of bike lanes becomes obvious, but that's another issue).

Helmet Head

If you know you're headed for the right side of the right lane, why bother going into the left lane first? Note the arc in the diagram... it indicates the left-turning cyclist going from the left side of the left lane of the "old" street to the right side of the right lane on the "new" street.

I think it's an excellent diagram. I remember being pleasantly surprised the first time I saw it.

Helmet Head

I also like how the cyclist in the right lane is on the left side of the right lane, rather than on the right side where he would be less visible, less predictable, and arguably inviting a right hook

Cycliste

Because of the vehicles turning right from the opposite side into the right lane. I agree with you, it is an excellent diagram, but too idealistic. In reality, you have many more vehicles traveling.

Helmet Head

Oh, yes, you would have to negotiate with oncoming right-turners (not to mention oncoming go-straighters unless you have a protected green arrow).