The "Fog Line...,"
 

...what is its origin? My local paper's LTTE is about bicycles today, and the regular strawmen are being bandied about.

One poster referenced the "fog line." The CA VC has no reference to any "fog line."

I understand why it could be, and is, seen as such, but what is the white line in legal terms?

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I think the fog line is the white solid line at the right edge of the road.
I have no idea what this means under CA law.

..

In Colorado and many other Rocky Mountain states, the solid right line served two different purposes:
1. marked the break down lane (on roads wide enough to have a shoulder)
2. on mountain roads without room for a shoulder, it marked the right of the usable road during fog and night conditions to keep motorist from driving over the side of the mountain (before about 1975, most of these roads did not have guard rails)

Legally, the fog line marks the margin of the roadway. Since cyclists are permitted to ride in the roadway, in most states we can't be required to ride to the right of the fog line.

Some states may define roadway differently, and some may require cyclists to use the shoulder in some cases.

What the white line on the side of the road means may depend on where you live. In Wisconsin, where they've adopted the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, it means, "If used, edge line pavement markings shall delineate the right or left edges of a roadway."

The "fog line" is a slang term for what is properly called the "shoulder stripe" or "lane edge pavement marking." It marks the right-hand edge of the traffic lane.

Folks call it the "fog line" because drivers tend to use it as a guide for their right wheel during low visibility.

That is pretty much the way North Carolina defines it. You may or may not have pavement to the right side of it. And FWIW passing a turning vehicle on the right and going to the right of the white line is grounds for a citation...seen it happen:innocent: Not that it stops lazy, slovenly motorists from doing it.

Aaron:)