Originally Posted by
livedarklions
I definitely don't ride in the bike lane in Chelmsford that crosses the entrance ramp to the freeway, nothing worse than being to the right of a bunch of cars that are going to turn right, the green paint is not helpful in that regard.
Yup, stupid bike lanes are a great way to get crippled .... back when cities started painting bike lanes, most fo the time they were way too smart to ask an actual cyclist .... so you get people blithely turning right as the "bike lane" dwindles to an end at the entrance to a shopping center or something, and as a rider you can hit a car or hit a curb.
In that case, i ignore the bike lane because the bike lane is not on my path of travel. can't ticket me for not riding in a bike lane which is not on the road or route I am traveling.
Originally Posted by
livedarklions
I've had a couple of recent incidents where I was miles from the nearest bike path, but drivers were yelling at me to ride on the bike path. There was no bike lane on either of the roads I was on, so it wasn't just a terminology issue.
"Get on the sidewalk" when there is none .... no sense even acknowledging those guys ... those are the Flat-Earthers of traffic law.
Originally Posted by
Badger6
In some countries, it is the law to ride on the bike lane if it is there…personally preference be damned.
Yes, but check if your country has some variation on this rule:
(5)(a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride in the lane marked for bicycle use or, if no lane is marked for bicycle use, 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 any condition or potential conflict, including, but not limited to, a fixed or moving object, parked or moving vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian, animal, surface hazard, turn lane, or substandard-width lane, which makes it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge or within a bicycle lane. For the purposes of this subsection, a “substandard-width lane” is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
I haven't ridden much out of the US but in almost every US state there is a version of this law with this language. Therefore you can legitimately argue in court that the bike lane was unsafe---if indeed it was.
it pays to know this stuff. if I have to take a ticket at the scene I will, but I Will go to court with several highlighted copies of the current Uniform Traffic Code, plus photos taken from the scene featuring a copy of the day's newspaper plus a copy of my receipt for the paper showing I bought it just after the incident.
I have never had to do this though .... because I ride confidently and courteously and give way when being right might mean getting hit, and I ignore whatever the idiots say, because they are idiots after all.