sknhgy 

I was driving my truck in Calhoun County, IL across from St. Charles, MO this morning when I got run off the road. As I came up to a curve there were two roadies riding toward me, abreast of each other and taking up the narrow country lane. At that moment a Fed-Ex truck decided to pass them. We all came together at one point and I was lucky enough that there was a mowed yard for me to swerve into. The bikers shouldn't be riding two abreast. The Fed-Ex person shouldn't pass on a curve.

This is a big reason I am careful not to dress like a biker. I don't want my neighbors to think I do the things roadies from St. Louis do when they ride around here.

Roody

Is it illegal for two riders to ride abreast in Illinois? It's legal in many states.

The Fedex driver seems to be the real culprit here. Wasn't he the one who was actually in your lane, that you had to swerve to avoid? A professional driver--hell any driver--should know better than to overtake on a curve.

Your prejudice against people who wear spandex and against people from St. Louis could be clouding your judgment a bit.

Honu

Sorry about your close call. But the way you describe it, it was a FedEx truck making an illegal pass that ran you off the road, not the cyclists. Yes, I understand they should have been riding single file, but the truck would have been the one at fault in an accident.

Glad you're ok.

randya

Fed Ex driver is who ran you off the road, not the cyclists

robertv

How is them riding two abreast the cause of this? Cyclists riding two abreast take up about as much space as a car. The truck should have waited for a safe moment to pass and then used that opportunity to do so. Only the truck is at fault. Hell, when I'm taking the lane I tend to take it a little off center to further prevent them from trying to pass me in my lane. The reason that they were riding two abreast is that otherwise the trucker would have run them off the road.
Do you seriously blame the cyclists for a truckers bad driving? That's ridiculous. Even if riding two abreast is illegal, that wasn't what put you in danger, it was how the truck handled the situation that put you in danger, the truck ran you off the road.

sknhgy 

Maybe its just me, but I don't ALWAYS assert my rights as a cyclist. I try to act like a slow-moving piece of farm machinery. I'll take the lane when there's no place else to go, but sometimes, especially on narrow country roads I'll move over and let vehicles pass instead of clogging up traffic. That's just common courtesy.
Yes it was the Fed-Ex driver who was passing on a curve, but I believe it is illegal for cyclists to ride two abreast in Illinois.

cudak888 

^
VC hater.

-Kurt

genec

+1000. I really have to agree, as apparently do others... it was the Fed Ex driver that ran you off the road. Call it in... they reprimand their drivers.

sknhgy 

I think some roadies can be more sensitive to the fact that for some folks country lanes are the only thing they have to get around on, and the lanes are more than mere bike paths.

prathmann

Yes, I will also deliberately move to the right to allow others to pass *at places where it's safe for them to pass*. A spot with a blind curve coming up is not one of those places.

And I doubt that Illinois prohibits riding two abreast since that would not allow any cyclist to pass another cyclist. The usual rule is to prohibit riding 'more than two abreast' and there may also be a requirement not to unnecessarily impede other traffic. But taking the lane in a place where passing would be dangerous isn't unnecessary.

Chris516

Dressing like a cyclist has nothing to do with it. At the same time, they shouldn't have been riding two abreast.

Digital_Cowboy

Dude, as others have said and will continue to say. It wasn't the two "a-hole roadies" it was the "a-hole" FedEx driver who put you at risk.

I can't speak to Illinois, but here in Fl (at least for the time being it could change) it is legal for cyclists to ride two abreast on any road that is of substandard width because doing so isn't going to be any different then cyclists riding single file taking the lane. Check this video for verification. Also check the Illinois law, it wouldn't surprise me if there isn't something similar in it.

DX-MAN

Just checked -- IL does allow 2-abreast riding. Spells it out; wish IN laws were as comprehensive, but you can't get these turdballs to do ANYthing!

One more vote for the a-hole FedEx driver -- and it's no surprise: I've had more run-ins with FedEx than any other entity. Two near-misses on a bike, and a grinding sideswipe to my old van when she pulled out without looking. The van did well -- the FedEx truck almost lost a bumper.

Pat

sknhgy,

I am sorry for the mishap. It must have been scary.

But I don't get your reasoning. The Fed Ex truck driver obviously passed the cyclists in a hazardous manner. I have seen motorists do this when passing cyclists. It is hard to figure. When I am driving, I look up the road. If I see a cyclist, I note his speed. I note the width of the road. I see how far out to the left I need to go in order to give the cyclist an ample passing margin. I look at the oncoming traffic for a gap. All I need is a small gap to pass the cyclist. I modify my speed so when I reach the cyclist, the gap in the traffic is there too. And I pass the cyclist safely without being noticeably delayed.

Cyclists have every bit as much right on the road as motorists. Because some motorists have to PASS RIGHT THIS SECOND and will happily endanger others is their fault.

Again, I am sorry to hear of the event you had. It had to be frightening. It is just natural to blame what you view to be inappropriate users of the road rather than the dangerous driver. I would have been steamed about it too. In your situation, I would have called Fedex and complained. That driver is probably an accident going someplace to happen.

gcottay

Hatred is like fire -- it makes even light rubbish deadly.
George Eliot

If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.
Herman Hesse

A man who lives, not by what he loves but what he hates, is a sick man.
Archibald Macleish

rydabent

Logic says on a narrow road with no shoulder wether the cyclist were riding two abrest or not is not revalent. Even one cycist alone would have to take the lane, and the Fed X truck should NOT have tried to pass.

genec

Wow, 16 responses so far, and every one says it was the FEX EX driver in the truck that was the problem, not the cyclists. Maybe the OP can learn something here.

chipcom 

So what? The fact remains that the FedEx driver passed unsafely.

You stated that this was a "narrow country lane", which indicates that the FedEx driver would still have had to cross the line to pass safely even if the cyclists were riding single file - unless he squeezed them off the road to stay within the lines. Would that have made you happier?

Perhaps they remained two-abreast so the FedEx driver would have no doubt that there was no room to pass safely. Is it their fault that the FedEx driver did so anyway?

Your beef is with the FedEx driver, not the cyclists (in this case).

ItsJustMe

Riding two abreast is not illegal in most states.

Passing in a no-passing zone IS illegal in ALL states. The fed-ex truck is 100% at fault here. There's a simple rule that you would think that most drivers would have learned by now - if it's not safe to pass, well then, DON'T PASS.

On a blind curve, even if I'm riding by myself, I take the lane extremely aggressively, riding very near the center line, because I don't care how damn wide the lane is, it's simply NOT safe to pass. I take the lane going into the curve, make sure anyone coming up behind me sees VERY clearly that I'm NOT going to move, and I'm NOT going to allow them to pass me, and they'd better just slow the hell down and wait 5 seconds. I'll move back right once sight lines are clear.

IMO, the only thing the riders did was to NOT move so far left that there would be no way for the Fed-Ex truck to think that it was in any way safe, smart or acceptable for him to try to pass on the curve.


ALSO - just as an aside, if it was Fed-Ex home delivery, that's a completely separate company than Fed-Ex, it's independent contracted drivers, and by most accounts they're horrendous. Many of my friends have horror stories about them doing crazy, stupid and wrong things; one guy has to BEG places NOT to use FedEx Home because it'll take forever to get stuff - The driver delivers packages for a while, then feels like calling it a day and marks everything on the rest of his route as "attempted to deliver, nobody home". Maybe he'll get it the next day, maybe not.

randya

As someone previously suggested, do the right thing, call Fed Ex and report their driver for (1) failure to yield the ROW and (2) unsafe passing. Even if you don't have details on the truck number or license number of the truck, they should know which route and driver you are referring to if you give a fairly precise time and location.

phoebeisis

Bicycle riders are an oppressed minority-just like blacks, and gays.
Those riders were bravely asserting their rights.You should salute them for coming all the way from wherever to protect your rights!


The UPS driver was a fool.

kuan

Better than the FedEx driver thinking he can squeeze by two cyclists riding single file in a lane that's not wide enough.

njkayaker

* The vehicle in your lane would be the one responsible for "running you off the road".
* Passing vehicles have the burden of passing safely.
* Cyclists riding abreast (if it is legal to ride abreast) typically have the requirement to ease passing traffic (moving to "single file") if the lane is wide enough. (Typically, riders are allowed anywhere within a "substandard" lane, which means that riding abreast is implicitly allowed).
* Vehicles are often allowed to cross over the line in a "no passing" zone if there are obstacles or slow moving traffic (but they still have the responsibility to do so safely).

Roody

Many states have laws that state cyclists "may not ride more than two abreast." They give no obligation to move to single file under any circumstances.

BTW, the main reason for allowing two abreast riding has not been that it's a convenience to cyclists. It is intended as a convenience to motorists. Since riders abreast take up only half as much linear space as single file riders, it is quicker and easier for motorists to pass a double line of cyclists.

San Rensho 

You are an idiot. A car ran you off the road. Troll someplace else.