Originally Posted by
njkayaker
I kind of doubt that a "driveway" (or a street) would constitute a "sufficient area". A wide shoulder might.
Hopefully it would not be considered such under the law, although a prejudiced police officer might think it sufficient. I doubt the law could require use of a private driveway as a turn out, simply because it is private property.
Most of the driveways I encounter on narrow rural two-lanes are unpaved. Pulling into them would require slowing down to a walking speed in the roadway before turning off. I would then have to dismount at least partly to turn the bike around and prepare to return to the roadway. It's possible, and I've done it voluntarily in the past, but it requires more work than I would want the law to require, and I certainly wouldn't want to be expected to do it frequently.
When pulling my son on a trailer, I need even more room. I would pull into a paved commercial or institutional driveway with plenty of room if I had to, not a residential one.
Normally, I look for a short section of wide paved shoulder. There are very few continuous wide paved shoulders where I live, but the suburban development ordinances often require developers to widen the right of way and pave the added space when redeveloping property on a substandard road, and so when these roads pass through suburbs there are occasional 50' long sections of 12' or wider paved shoulder to be found here and there. Not good for riding upon, but okay for a planned turnout.
Note that I really dislike the idea of pulling over onto an unpaved or narrow paved shoulder when drivers have been waiting behind me, because they will likely attempt to squeeze by (all in a huff, engine racing) when I am about to dismount while still in the roadway (I don't ride onto the unpaved shoulder or narrow sliver of paved shoulder). Whenever I do stop in the roadway, I do so when there isn't traffic behind me.