Do you take the lane in this situation? (Example pic included)
#1
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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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I would use the lane, its a construction zone.
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Probably take the lane. Although I have just gone through construction zones in the past...
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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.
I see 5 feet of lane beside those cars.
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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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I actually enjoy construction zones. It slows motorists down and forces them to be on high alert, increasing safety.
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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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(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
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.
#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.
#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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Here traffic fines double in construction zones. Just a thought.
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I even had a good laugh out of this:
But this:
implied that the OP should have been on the sidewalk, even before the construction zone.