Originally Posted by
Maelochs
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.
"Get on the sidewalk" when there is none .... no sense even acknowledging those guys ... those are the Flat-Earthers of traffic law.
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.
One point, the State of Michigan (I'm not sure if you are in USA or not) does not have a cyclists "... SHALL ride in the lane marked for bicycle use ... " though such practice is recommended and many similar caveats are stated. It is clearly stated that cyclists have the right to use the lanes of the main roadway even if a "bicycle facility" is provided and conditions when taking the late is permitted. At some locations there are signs highlighting the existence of bike lanes.
But a lot is lately bothering me: riders of scooters E or not, upper level E-bikes and very small-engined scooters being ridden in bike lanes. They also seem to be temporary free parking, places for traffic signs, people to put "slow down for children" signs, police taking breathers while running a speed trap, and various autonomous test vehicles to be run. Not to mention salmoning riders, unskilled riders, and runners running normally (salmoning) or pretending to be bikes and riding in the direction of wheeled traffic. Being Ann Arbor we also have folks on less-stable tri bikes. We also have walkers using bike lanes, which are separated curb-like barriers or bollards. Bike paths are not just for bikes anymore!
The sidewalk hazards are driveways, dogs, dog leashes, wide chlld carriages, adults in rows, unmasked adults with/without COVID, and the cyclists riding bikes built for speed at low speeds for which they are less stable and have handling which may be precarious at low speeds.