Maelochs

Too many times I have had a vehicle folow right behind me, unwilling to pass, while six or seven more cars lien up ... experience has shown me that it is not good to hold up a line of cars ... the last idiot in line will see no obstacle ahead, pull into the oncoming traffic lane, and pass them all---and pull back into the lane, right on top of me .... assuming no cars are coming during all that.

I assume all of us are alive and I assume all of us have plenty of experience dealing with traffic, so I am okay if we do it different ways .... so long as a car doesn't hit me I am pretty much fine if it hits you ..... I mean, if you avoid incidents in a different manner.

Wildwood

Not sure what size 'there is a wire here' markers you wear? Or if you like 'em rusted.
This is a short cut commuting/truck route between Newcastle/Renton Highlands and Issaquah, WA USA
Lovely on Sat/Sun/holiday mornings, otherwise Sharing the Road is the order of the day.

R U local? Location matters.

63rickert

Since bike lanes went in downtown the amount of bike traffic has dropped sharply. Maybe a quarter of what is was. Outside of downtown general bike use has increased enormously.

We used to see old people slowly getting to their destination by bike. They are entirely gone. The lanes are too difficult, too dangerous.

Who does ride the lanes are gangs of school kids. They ride the oneway lanes the wrong direction and blow through every stoplight without looking. Yes, there are collisions.

City meetings about the lanes are always the same three people and unorthodox views are shouted down, just like here.

cyccommute 

Bicycle advocacy groups like them because they are supposed to be safer (they aren’t) for newbies. Unfortunately anyone who knows how to ride in traffic is trapped in these damned things.

livedarklions

Sorry, can't hear you, too busy staring at my front wheel.

KerryIrons

Just to be clear, a bike lane can just be paint on the side of the road. You are talking about either a separate bike lane (some barrier between the travel lane and the bike lane) or maybe even a separated path. If it's just paint then the only reasons not to ride in the bike lane is vehicles parked there, broken pavement, or debris. If it is a separate bike lane or path, there are all kinds of reasons not to ride there.

Dave Mayer

I avoid bike lanes where possible, as they are narrow, and bristling with barriers and dangerous lane dividers, and they eventually fill up with glass, road debris and broken car parts. Add to that the usual denizens of bike paths which includes kids on tricycles, aimless inexperienced cyclists, skateboarders, rollerbladers, pedestrians stopped cold in the middle having a 'coffee clatch', and dog owners with 20 foot long leashes that get caught up in your wheels.


Several years ago some misguided do-gooder bike advocates ruined one of the main north-south routes in town, by installing a 'bike path', which consisted of a borrowing a 10' wide strip of the roadway, installing a low concrete barrier, and plastic lane markers. Whereas the road previously was a 2-laner with very wide shoulders, now there are no shoulders, and cyclists riding at any speed are faced with a scary slalom course of lane markers, dog walkers, and broken-off car mufflers. Presumably the mufflers are there because cars hit the low barrier.


The solution to this is for experienced cyclists to be on top of the activities and lobbying of the local advocates and intervene in their efforts to construct more of these disasters. Know you local planning departments and city councilors.

Steve B.

[QUOTE=Mtracer;22647405]

Where I live, New Mexico, a few years back there was some proposed legislation to say that cyclist must use a bike path if available. This got shot down rather quickly. /QUOTE]

NY State law states you must use a bike path or bike lane if one is present. I suspect you could argue if the lane or path has structural defects that make it unsafe, but you'd be doing that in front of a judge after receiving the ticket.

Maelochs

yeah, but you would be able to argue, because you would be alive.
Those low barriers are the worst. Cars going fast enough can cross them, although with complete loss of control and considerable damage, and end up on top of cyclists ... and cyclists can't hop them and if they sideswipe a barrier they fall into traffic.

Brilliant.

rsbob 

OK I lied. Again! If there is a path adjacent to the road, I usually will ride in the vehicle lane, unless I am blocking cars, to avoid glass, nails, mufflers and evil spirits. Varia alerts me to approaching vehicles so I know to get over. When I get the visual and auditory ‘all clear’ I do a head check and move back into the lane.

curbtender

I've rode in areas where they have an 8' shoulder. You know, it's not a bike lane unless someone designates it as one....

Trueblood

I believe in NYC, you are required to use the bike lane if it exists. Of course people often double park in bike lanes. The 'protected' bike lanes are hazardous, with electric bikes, scooters, citibikes, and private bikes, frequently going the wrong way....but I use them anyway. Pedestrians crossing against the light while on a mobile is frequently a feature. The 8th and 6th Ave protected lanes require a high degree of care. I will sometimes stray out of the dedicated lane on CPW when there are too many folks riding the wrong way, and then return a bit further along.

TurboTrueno

I do it fairly often to avoid shattered glass. I've wondered if it is normal to have this much shattered glass on the roadside? Shattering windows is so rare in collisions, and I can tell this is green tempered window glass, not mirror glass shards

Even the seperated bike paths have this shattered glass here. Is it like this everywhere?

rsbob 

Like yes. There is an epidemic of car break-ins, at least in my area. People are looking for whatever they can steal and sell.

TurboTrueno

Too bad

Here too, but this glass is on like main roads and 80kph roads with no parking. maybe it just was embedded in peoples' car tires etc and was carried along

livedarklions

Bike path or bike lane involve the same question for me. Outside of the obvious "is it rideable" question, my number one consideration is where it puts me in relation to cars turning rihht at the intersection. Those paths that are a few feet to the right from the road are invariably awful at busy intersections.

dedhed

Ends up inside the door until it rattles out the drain holes

prairiepedaler

I ride on the road for the most part, despite bike lanes. I wouldn't have voted for the addition of bike lanes if given the choice. Here, they are more of a feel good civic add-on and political point gainer; "see? we're doing something for the environment". I've found that the demographic which wants bike lanes are mainly female oriented.

Paul Barnard

I often signal to motorists when I am ready for them to pass. Whether motorists pass on their terms or when I signal that I am ready for them to pass, they will react the same way in #5 and #6 above. Beyond that, I like my chances of reading the whole of the situation well enough to preclude what you pointed out in 5 and 6. I'll also hold up a hand as if to say wait when my read tells me it's not safe.

Paul Barnard

There are no shortage of cyclists who will refuse to ride any MUP or bike lane, because some of them are bad. Some bike lanes and MUPs are fantastic. Others are not. Whether I use them or not is situational, though I do normally use dedicated infrastructure when it's available, even if it's not ideal.

Maelochs

Exactly .... I am not saying everyone should do this ... as Mr. Eastwood tells us, "A good man knows his limitations ... "

But ....

If I cannot tell when it is safe to signal a car to pass, it would imply that I cannot safely drive a car. And, While i assume many of us lived most of our lives car-free, as I did, I also assume we all learned to drive, drove occasionally, and drive often to get to places to ride too far to ride to ....

So yes, I have no issue deciding what to tell a driver. What the driver decides ... depends on whether s/he is staring at the phone, or the nav screen.

Paul Barnard

I find it odd that some cyclists have an aversion to communicating with motorists. We do it regularly when we drive our motor vehicles. If I am on the interstate and see a trucker ahead of me signal a lane change, I'll flash my lights to let them know I am ready for them to come over. I have waved faster moving motorists around me on two lane back roads. If someone needs to enter the road from a side street or parking lot, I may flash my lights at them or wave them on. So the idea that it is somehow not a good idea to communicate with motorists while we are riding our bicycles seems strange to me.

pdlamb

I'll wave them to pass sometimes. For instance, coming over a blind hill, being followed 50 feet back by a timid cager, if there's a downhill followed by a quarter mile of straight flat road, waving the motorist forward can encourage them to close the gap and perhaps pass. If I didn't wave them forward, I'd be halfway down the road and accelerating before they could catch me, and getting into the "will another car come into view too close to finish the pass at the end of the straight?" territory. I'm pretty picky about when to do that, of course.

I will stick out a hand to indicate it's NOT safe to pass anytime that seems appropriate. I'm continue to be amazed (and disgusted) at the number of people who think it's a good idea to get around the bicyclist going into a blind turn or blind hill -- one that I can see past, and know there's a car coming the other way!

Desibona

Unfortunately, because of the materials and garbage that are randomly placed on the bike paths.

terrymorse 

The problem is not that you can tell when it is safe to pass.

The problem is that you cannot tell if the driver behind you will think it is safe to pass.

Nobody can read minds.