Originally Posted by
AndreyT
...In simple words, on a street with sharrows cars and bicycles are expected to travel in a single file. If a bicyclist tries to squeeze themselves into the gap between a car and curb and subsequently gets right-hooked, it is going to be bicyclist's fault.
On a street without sharrows, in case of a right-hook incident it is the motorist who will be found at fault.
are you sure about that? is lane splitting only explicitly legal for motorcycles, and not bicycles? i see nothing in the filtering rules which reference sharrows. similarly, there is nothing in the section which requires you to ride as right as practicable which talks about sharrows at all:
(a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations
1) When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
(2) When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
(3) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes) that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656. For purposes of this section, a “substandard width lane” is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
(4) When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.
(b) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway of a highway, which highway carries traffic in one direction only and has two or more marked traffic lanes, may ride as near the left-hand curb or edge of that roadway as practicable.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/f...2.&lawCode=VEH
i realize that california also has comp negligence, but the law about passing bikes with 3 feet clear also doesn't say "unless they're riding off to the side of a road with a sharrow..." so the fault would be primarily on the driver.