Commuting - when you roam out of the bike lane

this morning i was on the wrong side of the line on a streets bike lane. im almost certain there was debris, potholes, or something else. on the way a driver (in a HUGE suv) honked at me then waved their hands as in "what the *U** are you doing?"

is that what a driver can and should do? or is it yield to cycles even if they arent in the bike lane?

While there are municipalities that require cyclists to remain in bike lanes where bike lanes are provided, we do not have such restrictions here in Toronto. I have found it necessary to wander out of bike lanes on numerous occassions due to debris, parked cars over-hanging, road-work and other obstacles. It is both legal and practical here, as a result to ride in the adjacent lane. Drivers should not yell, distract or otherwise harass you if you are not where they would prefer you to be unless there is a law specifically restricting you from the other lanes.

doesn't matter what is legal, drivers will continue to give you flack as a bicyclist, regardless of your lane placement.

Ignore the hosebags; try to ride a consistent line, and have a few hand signals in your repitoire for the cagers....

this morning i was on the wrong side of the line on a streets bike lane. im almost certain there was debris, potholes, or something else. on the way a driver (in a HUGE suv) honked at me then waved their hands as in "what the *U** are you doing?"

is that what a driver can and should do? or is it yield to cycles even if they arent in the bike lane?

Some states/municipalities have laws requiring cyclists to use available cycle paths / cycle lanes, others do not. Check with your local police or look up the laws yourself for your area. If the cycle lane is unsafe or unsuitable for any reason then the only sensible thing to is to use the roadway.

Whether you were riding legally or not, the driver is supposed to be watching the road and maintaining control of his vehicle, not bothering you. Horns are an emergency warning device, not a means of bothering other people, and many states have laws about improper horn use. Deliberately bothering other people the way that driver did is considered harassment in some states.

Having said all that, it doesn't sound like the driver's behavior was offensive enough to get the police to do anything, although his actions would have been technically illegal in some states. He was definitely wrong, and you seem to have been riding properly.

...parked cars over-hanging...

In our 'progressive' Midwestern town, the bike lanes (where they are marked) are generally occupied by parked cars.

I wander out of bike lanes (when provided) all the time to get around double parked cars, turning cars, potholes, wrong way cyclists, debris, etc. If someone gives you a hard time, ignore them and keep riding.

Bike lane? We don't need no stinking bike lanes! <raucous laughter> Unless you're restricted by law, ride where you like.

Feethanddooth, check your local traffic laws concerning bicycles. I'm fairly certain that even if the law requires you to use the bike lane, the law probably also allows you to leave the bike lane to make left turns or avoid debris and potholes, etc. It might also be that you are not required to use the bike lane at all.

Feethanddooth, check your local traffic laws concerning bicycles. I'm fairly certain that even if the law requires you to use the bike lane, the law probably also allows you to leave the bike lane to make left turns or avoid debris and potholes, etc. It might also be that you are not required to use the bike lane at all.

+1

Hard to make a left turn from the bike lane. Also, I can't believe anyone would make a law that says you have to stay in the bike lane regarless of its condition or how many cars are parked in it. Even if there were such a law, who could abide by it? Don't worry. Just ignore the dumbass driver.

I had someone get angry with me once for not being in the bike lane. I was making a left turn. How the heck are you supposed to cross 5 lanes of traffic from the bike lane? Jebus. Some people.

I avoid bikelanes for the same reason I avoid crosswalks, the vast majority of accidents happen in them.

As with any lane change I signal and head check if I need to get out of the bike lane. I usually ride pretty close to the bike lane paint anyway to keep away from parked cars.

On the topic of motorists not dealing with cyclists properly, I was heading to work yesterday on a 4-lane 1-way street with only a sprinkling of traffic. I was in the left lane behind a Subaru with a Yakima rack on it. Wrong-Way Cycling Man came the wrong way down 3rd Ave., ran his red light and planted himself in the center of the lane that the Subaru and myself were in, and proceeded to coast downhill at maybe 13mph. In the center of the NOL. But at least there are three other lanes to use, right?

The Subaru driver put up with this for about a block, and then... did he signal a lane change, pass in one of the other three lanes, and then signal a lane change back? No, he gives a short beep on his horn. Wrong-Way Cycling Man moves to the right tire track of the NOL, Subaru Man makes a half-lane-change pass and veers back into the lane as if annoyed. I follow Wrong-Way Man at low speed for two more blocks until I can make my turn.

Summary: Dumb and dumber. :)

Hold your ground; the car doesn't have the right to honk and scare you out of the way. If the bike lane is unuseable or badly placed, its as if it didn't exist. Ride as you would on a road with no bike lane or shoulder and ignore the honks of ignorant and beligerent people.

Just don't swerve suddenly out of the bike lane. Merge out of the bike lane into the adjacent lane as if you are changing lanes in a car on the interstate.

Feethanddooth, check your local traffic laws concerning bicycles. I'm fairly certain that even if the law requires you to use the bike lane, the law probably also allows you to leave the bike lane to make left turns or avoid debris and potholes, etc. It might also be that you are not required to use the bike lane at all.

But it could very well be that motorists have no idea of YOUR rights to use the road.

Every motorist I have ever spoken to who has indicated they did not know cyclists have full rights to the roads (as they do in CA... and probably your area too).

No one bothered to inform motorists... so while cyclists know they have rights to the road, the motorists are driving about thinking they totally own the road... after all <sarcasm on> their taxes paid for the road, the taxes at the pump are for the roads, and their license tags and driver's license also mean they own the road <sarcasm off>. While none of that is true, it forms the basis for most drivers' opinions... coupled with motorists not thinking bikes are for transportation; they are just toys and we are out having fun.

All together, you can see why motorists tend to get bent out of shape when they encounter cyclists using "their" roads.

I think the best thing we as cyclists can do is to inform motorists that they do not in fact own the road and must learn to "play nice" with everyone else.

If you don't believe what I am saying, try this: The next time you are at any public situation where you can have open discussions, and folks don't know you as a cyclist... ask about cyclists' rights and whether they can leave bike lanes... you will get a surprising earful of negativity.

I had someone get angry with me once for not being in the bike lane. I was making a left turn. How the heck are you supposed to cross 5 lanes of traffic from the bike lane? Jebus. Some people.

I was not too long ago yelled at by a motorist for signalling, checking for a gap and then making my way across 3 lanes to make a left turn. The motorist changed lanes and came up behind and beside me (I was in a left lane turn out) to make a left at the next turn... and while waiting, he shared his opinion with me... it was startling. He told me we should not ride "that way..." but should ride like "those other cyclists." I asked who he was talking about, and he indicated the curb hugging and sidewalk riders... I asked how he proposed I should make a left turn... his response "I donno, that's your problem."

Nice, eh?

I'm thinking it's about time I start making laminated cards with laws regarding bike use on them, keep em in my jersey, and give them to the idiots on the road.

I can't help but wonder how many motorists confuse the "fog line", painted on the side of every road, to give motorist a visual aid in fog and darkness, for a bike lane.

In California, if you are on a street with a bike lane, you are obligated to stay in it if you are riding at less than the prevailing speed of traffic, except to make a left turn (duh) or avoid a hazard (double duh). Personally, I construe hazard to include road debris, substandard paving, and (especially) the width of the widest car door.

When I leave the bike lane, I signal and if it's safe I turn around and try to make eye contact.

In our 'progressive' Midwestern town, the bike lanes (where they are marked) are generally occupied by parked cars.

While I won't get into a debate over symantics on the use of the term 'over-hanging,' the description effectively describes vehicles that are partially occupying a bike lane as opposed to entirely occupying a bike lane. Thanks for the observation though.

Hold your ground; the car doesn't have the right to honk and scare you out of the way. If the bike lane is unuseable or badly placed, its as if it didn't exist. Ride as you would on a road with no bike lane or shoulder and ignore the honks of ignorant and beligerent people.

Just don't swerve suddenly out of the bike lane. Merge out of the bike lane into the adjacent lane as if you are changing lanes in a car on the interstate.

+10

thanks all. i will check the laws

I had 6 cars parked in the bike lane on the way home today. 4 in one block. I took the lane and made all the cagers wait while I went through the block...

When one honked at me, I stopped in the middle of the road, turned around enough to see him, pointed to the cars in the bike lane, shrugged, and kept going. Nobody gave me a hard time after that, and he didn't even blast by me at the end of the block when I got back into the bike lane.

:)

Good cagers. Now, if I could just do something about the idiots using the bike lane as a parking place.

While I won't get into a debate over symantics on the use of the term 'over-hanging,' the description effectively describes vehicles that are partially occupying a bike lane as opposed to entirely occupying a bike lane. Thanks for the observation though.

Oh, I was not attempting to be pedantic about the nature of over-hanging versus occupying. It's just that I read your post as 'over-hanging' in the sense that perhaps there was yet room to ride in the bike lane. I wish that were the case here, but when there are cars in the bike lane, they are moving (while over-hanging, as it were) as often as parked and fully occupying the bike lane from curb to paint. It's as if those drivers have mistaken the bike lane for an additional lane, or maybe a parking spot and all that's missing are the meters.

I used to get up very early to get road miles in, and there was a three-mile stretch of marked bike lane I would ride as part of my loop. One time a woman in an Astro van decided to swerve immediately in front of me (after passing very closely) and then continue driving in the bike lane. I'm not sure what the point was (actually, I'm quite sure I know what the point was), but I wondered what would happen if a policeman were to observe that (nothing, I'm sure).

Its impossible to stay in the bike lane in Philly because everyone uses it for double parking. Staying in the middle of the lane is also a good way to get doored. Just do your best to share the road.

this morning i was on the wrong side of the line on a streets bike lane. im almost certain there was debris, potholes, or something else. on the way a driver (in a HUGE suv) honked at me then waved their hands as in "what the *U** are you doing?"

is that what a driver can and should do? or is it yield to cycles even if they arent in the bike lane?
that's why the baby jesus gave you the longest finger on your hand.

doesn't matter what is legal, drivers will continue to give you flack as a bicyclist, regardless of your lane placement.

Ignore the hosebags; try to ride a consistent line, and have a few hand signals in your repitoire for the cagers....
They are all chickenshat ... carry your u lock in a visible fashion .... their windsield for their insults

I have no patience for cagers ...

I use a hand signal if I'm going to pop out into the traffic lane, which happens all the time. If NYC ticketed half the cars & delivery van clogging up the bike lanes, they'd have a budget surplus every year.

There's a couple bike lanes I just don't ride around here because they're MINEFIELDS OF GLASS (sorry for caps, but i'm just a little bitter about it) I get onto the road before those bikelanes start and after they end, I just keep a steady line and nobody gives me any trouble.

The SUV dude is an a**. You did nothing wrong.

I had 6 cars parked in the bike lane on the way home today. 4 in one block. I took the lane and made all the cagers wait while I went through the block...

When one honked at me, I stopped in the middle of the road, turned around enough to see him, pointed to the cars in the bike lane, shrugged, and kept going. Nobody gave me a hard time after that, and he didn't even blast by me at the end of the block when I got back into the bike lane.

:)

Good cagers. Now, if I could just do something about the idiots using the bike lane as a parking place.

I'd have parking control on speed dial and get 'em towed.

I'd have parking control on speed dial and get 'em towed.

I'm tempted to attach a piece of metal sticking about 6 inches out to either side of my handlebars to drag down their paint... :eek: 'accidentally', of course! ;)

this morning i was on the wrong side of the line on a streets bike lane. im almost certain there was debris, potholes, or something else. on the way a driver (in a HUGE suv) honked at me then waved their hands as in "what the *U** are you doing?"

is that what a driver can and should do? or is it yield to cycles even if they arent in the bike lane?
That's when you give the slow/stop hand signal and take the lane until it's safe for you to move back to the BL.

If that means Jerk has to do 15 mph for a little bit, tough for him.