The Human Car

Per LAB's Bicycle Friendly State questionnaire they ask:
https://www.bikeleague.org/programs/b...stionnaire.pdf

Which implies if you do have a mandatory use bike lane law, as long as you have exceptions to allow you to leave the bike lane you can check "Can ride in lane." At least that is the assertion of Maryland's Director of Bicycle and Pedestrian Access and LAB has yet to confirm or deny that assertion (for several years now.)

My impression is that every state has some exceptions (to make a left turn for example) and there has been some assertions that the motivation for the wording might be "some exceptions to such a law better than none."

So my main question is: What state has no exceptions to their mandatory use bike lane law?

And of course if you want to comment on LAB's bike lane law question, feel free.

johnny99

I cannot imagine that any state in the US would have an absolutely mandatory bike lane law for all streets. At a minimum, you need exceptions for making left turns, passing slower bicyclists, and avoiding obstacles/hazards in the lane. The cop in the NYPD video is absolutely in the wrong.

B. Carfree

Well, it was only three or four years ago that Oregon finally allowed cyclists to legally leave a bike lane for obstacles/hazards or to pass slower cyclists. Prior to that, the only legal reason to leave a bike lane was to make a left turn or because it had ended.

Any mandatory use law should automatically give a state/jurisdiction a failing grade by any cycling organization that wants to be taken seriously by cyclists (as opposed to cycling advocates and newbies). I'm going to twist some knickers here and say that until a person has ridden at least 100,000 miles he/she is still a newbie and should be seen more and heard less.

Bekologist

there's a breakdown by some group somewhere on the web, a guide to improvingbike laws.


there's only about 7 states that have MBL laws....... the ONLY state that has no written exceptions is ALABAMA. i would argue no road user in Alabama is required to endanger themselves to follow another law, so bicyclists in Alabama could righteously avoid unsafe bikelanes in Alabama (if there even ARE any bikelanes in ALABAMA!!) and have a defense in court.

I am a strong advocate for repealing mandatory bikelane, shoulder, and sidepath laws.


the vast majority of states do not have mandatory bikelane laws.

sggoodri

The facilities advocacy machine that is the LAB "Bicycle Friendly" program long ago turned its back on experienced cyclists who want to ride outside of hazardous bike lanes; its new target constituency is bike manufacturers who might be able to sell new bikes to novice cyclists if more bike lanes and sidepaths are built, and the planning and engineering firms that want to build them. Novices don't care about the right to ride outside of bike lanes because they believe that bike lanes are the only safe part of the road to ride in. Any admission on LAB's part that a significant percentage of bike lanes are hazardous by design or by maintenance would undermine their mission to see more novices cycling in more bike lanes. Furthermore, opposition to mandatory bike lane laws would pit them against powerful motoring interests that support bike lanes only as long as cyclists are required to ride in them. Therefore, LAB accepts any lame exception to a mandatory bike lane use law as a green light to give an unobtainium award to a community that marks as many miles of poorly implemented bike lanes as possible.

Bekologist

what skew. The LAB "long ago" "turned its back" on "experienced cyclists" that want to "ride outside" of "hazardous bike lanes"???



The LAB is dedicated to improving safe road bicycling conditions for bicyclists across the country. the LAB is opposed to MBL laws.

....are you really a League LCI, Steve? You need to surrender your credentials.

johnny99

There has been a big shift in LAB philosophy over the years. John Forester was president of LAB back in the 1970s and the league largely adapted the no-bike-lanes philosophy that he espoused in his book "Effective Cycling". Forester wanted to train bicyclists and car drivers to share normal roads with no special facilities for bicyclists. During the 1980s, Forester and his philosophy were pushed out and LAB's main focus now seems to be pushing governments to build bicycle-specific facilities of all sorts. LAB's highly publicized "bicycle friendly" programs seem to be based primarily on how much money is spent on bicycle facilities.

I personally do not know which system is better or if the same system will work in all parts of the USA. As a bystander, however, that is what I see LAB doing.

Bekologist

VERY FEW STATES have mandatory bikelane laws. there's only about 7 states with mandatory bikelane laws, and only Alabama has no exceptions for their use.

If i were riding in Alabama, and a bikelane was unsafe, there is no way I'm riding there. I avoid unsafe bikelanes in all states, mandatory bikelane laws or not, and fear no consequences.

i believe i would have a defensible argument in court, that the reasonable person standard embodied in law allows leaving unsafe bikelanes in all states, even in alabama.

The league does not endorse mandatory use laws.

B. Carfree

Well said. This approach has the added negative impact of causing most people to think bikes have no business being on most roadways. I can't count the number of times I have spoken with people who claim to be cyclists (because they ride on bike paths and occasionally venture out onto a bike lane) who think cyclists should restrict themselves to these paths and lanes to nowhere.

The Human Car

Thanks for the info on Alabama. I agree that the law cannot require you to ride in a unsafe manner and being able to use the reasonable person standard, even better.

You know a funny thing happened on another list. Someone asked for a policy statement opposing mandatory use laws. I remember using LAB's policy statement in years past so I went looking for it again And man is it hard to find now, Policy and reports? Nope that's not it. Ahhh, here it is:
https://www.bikeleague.org/about/position.php

What I remember is no longer there. There is a brief mention of mandatory use laws in there somewhere but nothing I would use in testimony as we have in years past. Which is not to say LAB won't supply testimony when you are trying to remove mandatory use laws, they will. But the "intensity" in which they are presenting the issue to the general public has drastically changed IMHO.

So my next question are Alabama cyclists harassed/ticketed/at fault in accidents for not riding in the bike lane? Anything like what's happening in NYC? Are some exceptions really significantly better then none on a pragmatic level?

Bekologist

States with no mandatory bikelane laws, and no requirement for bikelane use:

Alaska Arizona Arkansas Colorado Connecticut Delaware
Georgia Idaho
Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas
Kentucky Louisiana Maine
Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi
Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada
New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico
North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina
South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah
Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia
Wisconsin Wyoming


State with no exceptions to their MBL:

Alabama