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Do you take the lane in this situation? (Example pic included)

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Do you take the lane in this situation? (Example pic included)

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Old 10-08-15, 03:16 PM
  #1  
HBxRider
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Do you take the lane in this situation? (Example pic included)



A. Take the lane and have confused and/or angry motorists yelling and honking at you because you aren't riding on the sidewalk.

B. Ride as far to the right in the car lane as you can. Appease the drivers, avoid the confrontation, but risk being clipped, or worse.

C. Say to hell with those cones, and just ride through the construction zone.

Which do you choose?
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Old 10-08-15, 03:20 PM
  #2  
YogaKat
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Personally I would take the lane.
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Old 10-08-15, 03:22 PM
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mapeiboy
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My safety comes first . I would take the lane for sure .
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Old 10-08-15, 03:27 PM
  #4  
GamblerGORD53
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Take the construction lane.
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Old 10-08-15, 03:29 PM
  #5  
kickstart
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I would use the lane, its a construction zone.
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Old 10-08-15, 03:30 PM
  #6  
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Originally Posted by GamblerGORD53
Take the construction lane.
You just want to weave through the traffic cones don't you?
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Old 10-08-15, 03:33 PM
  #7  
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Probably take the lane. Although I have just gone through construction zones in the past...
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Old 10-08-15, 03:39 PM
  #8  
GamblerGORD53
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You could weave the dotted lines. LOL Doesn't your cruiser do that, Kat ??
I see 5 feet of lane beside those cars.
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Old 10-08-15, 03:39 PM
  #9  
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Originally Posted by YogaKat
You just want to weave through the traffic cones don't you?
Solo? (Autocross?)

I've been waved through a closed road a few times. The officer told me to ride in the half of the lane without the big hole.

-mr. bill

Last edited by mr_bill; 10-08-15 at 07:33 PM.
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Old 10-08-15, 05:00 PM
  #10  
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Take the lane. But just as if you were entering the interstate from an on-ramp. Wait for an opening. Where you can merge in to the traffic safely.

Last edited by Chris516; 10-08-15 at 06:19 PM.
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Old 10-08-15, 05:02 PM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by GamblerGORD53
You could weave the dotted lines. LOL Doesn't your cruiser do that, Kat ??
I see 5 feet of lane beside those cars.
You betcha. Weeeeeee!
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Old 10-08-15, 05:14 PM
  #12  
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I would have already been on the sidewalk.
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Old 10-08-15, 06:23 PM
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Originally Posted by TheLibrarian
I would have already been on the sidewalk.
Why should the OP have to get off the road, on account of a construction zone. That is not affecting the whole road?
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Old 10-08-15, 06:53 PM
  #14  
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Originally Posted by Chris516
Why should the OP have to get off the road, on account of a construction zone. That is not affecting the whole road?
The OP asked what others do, TheLibriaian only stated where he would already be. If its legal and what he wants to do, whats the problem?
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Old 10-08-15, 07:17 PM
  #15  
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Originally Posted by HBxRider
A. Take the lane and have confused and/or angry motorists yelling and honking at you because you aren't riding on the sidewalk.
This does't happen, in my experience. Motorists can clearly see WHY I am riding in the lane. Not being bashful about it helps. Ride Large and Take Charge.

I actually enjoy construction zones. It slows motorists down and forces them to be on high alert, increasing safety.
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Old 10-08-15, 07:17 PM
  #16  
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Originally Posted by HBxRider
A. Take the lane.

B. Ride as far to the right in the car lane as you can.

C. ... just ride through the construction zone.
If this were a test... the correct answer would probably be take the lane. And if there was NO construction and I HAD to use that road that would likely be what I would do. It is difficult to determine from a picture... but that street/road looks a tad busy for any long term/distance riding... FOR ME. But if that was part of my regular route (which means I'd determined it to be the safest/best route).... then that is what I'd do. I am assuming that means the distance would be short enough that I could ride "with the traffic" during my entire time "in the traffic".

C. I'd cheat and ride through the construction area. I've made similar decisions in the past... with mixed results. Including a minor crash while trying to avoid a maneuvering dump truck.
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Old 10-08-15, 07:35 PM
  #17  
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(Just in case anybody was wondering about the closed road. 100 yard closed road with 1/2 mile detour around it. There was no way for a motor vehicle to proceed - but it was completely trivial - and safe - for a bicycle to go forward. Frankly the officer applied common sense in applying the spirit, but not the letter, of the laws about closed roads.)

But what I do 99 and 44/100% of the time: When a lane is ending I merge into a lane that is not ending.

-mr. bill

Last edited by mr_bill; 10-08-15 at 08:03 PM.
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Old 10-08-15, 07:35 PM
  #18  
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A. Take the lane
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Old 10-08-15, 07:48 PM
  #19  
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This is a frequent occurrence in my area, take the lane. Usually it will be a pickup truck driver back one or two cars from me who will do the honking. So be it.
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Old 10-08-15, 07:54 PM
  #20  
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Depends on the situation, but I generally lean toward option C. The cone zone usually starts a hundred yards or more before they're actually working on anything, so I stay on the right side of the cones (hey, free lane!) until I get to the actual work, pop out for a moment, then dip back into the free lane. I'd definitely be to the right of the cones in that pic, there's a Prius right there in the near lane! Watch out extra for the Prius-- they sure as hell aren't looking out for you.
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Old 10-08-15, 09:13 PM
  #21  
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take the lane.
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Old 10-08-15, 11:44 PM
  #22  
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This is a VERY similar situation like the one where I mentioned the bike lane ends
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Old 10-09-15, 05:00 AM
  #23  
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Take the lane.
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Old 10-09-15, 05:36 AM
  #24  
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Here traffic fines double in construction zones. Just a thought.
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Old 10-09-15, 06:06 AM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by kickstart
The OP asked what others do, TheLibriaian only stated where he would already be. If its legal and what he wants to do, whats the problem?
Yes, The OP asked what others would do in response to the construction zone.

I even had a good laugh out of this:
Originally Posted by YogaKat
You just want to weave through the traffic cones don't you?
But this:
Originally Posted by TheLibrarian
I would have already been on the sidewalk.
implied that the OP should have been on the sidewalk, even before the construction zone.
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