Originally Posted by
Allister
Originally Posted by Helmet Head
The new meme (actually this and most of these are very old tried and true memes of traffic behavior - what is new is the acceptance of their application to cyclist behavior) is that slower traffic keeps right and the recognition that slower is a relative term which can only apply when faster same direction traffic is present.
Actually, I just check my local regs, and there's not actually a law defining that. Seems to me it's more a convention than a hard and fast rule.
Just where do you ride that you get such gaps in traffic with any regularity anyway? The only time I ride in conditions like that is in the middle of the night. In that situation, no passing traffic usually also means no crossing traffic, so ride wherever you damn well please. Sometimes I slalom down the dashed centre line just for fun. Such conditions hardly seem to be a worthwhile basis for lane positioning whilst riding
in traffic.
Interesting. We definitely have it in the states. Here is the California version:
Slow-Moving Vehicles
21654. (a) Notwithstanding the prima facie speed limits, any vehicle proceeding upon a highway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at such time shall be driven in the right-hand lane for traffic or as close as practicable to the right-hand edge or curb, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction or when preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
...
Turning Out of Slow-Moving Vehicles
21656. On a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe because of traffic in the opposite direction or other conditions, a slow-moving vehicle, including a passenger vehicle, behind which five or more vehicles are formed in line, shall turn off the roadway at the nearest place designated as a turnout by signs erected by the authority having jurisdiction over the highway, or wherever sufficient area for a safe turnout exists, in order to permit the vehicles following it to proceed. As used in this section a slow-moving vehicle is one which is proceeding at a rate of speed less than the normal flow of traffic at the particular time and place.
www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21654.htm
www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21656.htm