The B

I guess I just take it for granted, living in Oregon/Portland... I've never had anyone road rage at me. The worst I get is truckers blasting their horns at me when I ride a particular industrial artery in NW Portland (Yeon), but they're just being *******- it's 4 lanes and the shoulder is huge.

A lot of you guys live in some bike un-friendly places where it probably sucks to ride. Feel for ya!

LansingWes

I took the lane just last night here in Lansing, Michigan. No trouble at all

SpeshulEd 

I live in the suburbs in a pretty bike friendly area. I still have roads that do not have bike lanes and others that aren't that wide. If I didn't ride on them, I'd probably get about 2 miles before having to stop and turn around.

Honestly, ride your bike and don't be a jackass and most people driving cars will be respectful. I have just as many close encounters in the bike lane as I do on a narrow street without a bike lane and high traffic. Hell, I feel safer riding in traffic than I do on an MUP.

spdracr39

I always move to the left side of the white line in advance of storm grates or gravel on the shoulder so i don't have to swerve out at the last moment. I never try to take the lane to keep cars from passing up a hill or around a corner because they do not understand what you are doing and will potentially see it as an aggressive maneuver on your part. It's bad enough without making them mad at you.

gioscinelli 

Illinois state law entitles road bikes a car lane, but to the average motorist a bike belongs on the bike path or sidewalk. So you can right, and dead right. Chicago, like every city affected by the nasty winter will have lots of pot hole to avoid and that's where the challenge starts to survive around the craters and avoid the angry motorist because you're weaving in and out in front the car. A Chicago policeman pulled me over going east on a one way street heading east for taking a car length when avoiding pot holes and honk his horn whereby told me to ride on the side walk, unbelievable! When I reminded him of the Illinois statue that bicycles are allowed a car lane, he demanded my drivers license, and said only if you're caring your license you are entitled to a car length, go figure. I told him no license, went on my marry way.

BoSoxYacht

I always ride in the bike lane when one is available, but I also stay away from the curb/pavement edge. Motorists have more than enough room to get around without leaving their lane.

Most roads NW of Phoenix most of the roads are plenty wide for bikes and motorists.

iamtim

So... in CA, the law does not specifically allow "lane commanding", but it's written in such a way that it can be read to allow it. The law specifically states that slower traffic (specifically those vehicles which are holding up five or more vehicles behind it) must pull over to the right and allow faster traffic (the aforementioned five or more vehicles) to pass, and specifically states that bicyclists must follow that law.

I'm curious how many of the "lane commanders" amongst us here actually do that? When you're taking the lane, do you pay enough attention to the traffic behind you to know if you're holding up five or more cars and then pull over?

Of course, outside of CA the laws may be different, but I'm in CA so that's what I know.

jerrycan42

I generally right in the right car tire groove unless there is an obscene amount of space on the road or a bike lane present. Rotating pace line? Well, sorry but that is going to have to occupy the whole lane. Pass when it is safe...everyone.

achoo

No.

Because you take the lane when there's no room to safely pass no matter where you are, so you'd be slowing such a driver up anyway. If you take the lane when there's nowhere else to safely go, only real jackasses get enraged - and they're going to get enraged anyway by your mere presence on their road.

And sorry, it sounds like your wife isn't really "one of the nicest people/drivers you could possibly meet". Nice people don't go into angry venting over 20 seconds. Being nice when things are good isn't a true test of niceness, I'd say a better test of niceness is when you're inconvenienced, for say, maybe 20 seconds.

achoo

CA has slightly different traffic laws than most other states. Last I checked, CA law says you have to move over and let faster traffic pass even if you're already exceeding the speed limit.

banerjek

I'll pull over if I'm actually gumming things up.

But it is very rare (as in I'm not sure when this last happened) that I inconvenience a car as much as 20 seconds. All I care is that I don't get smushed so if they're going a vaguely sane speed and I can tell they're paying attention, I'll pinch myself and invite them to pass close (i.e. less than 1 foot) by motioning with my arm.

Once every few years, some yahoo attempts to lecture me on how bikes don't belong on the road. But these same people wait behind idiots who insist on turning left across a busy lane rather than going another block to a stoplight, they think nothing of the line of parked cars (i.e. vehicles moving zero mph while the owners sleep nearby or grab a sandwich while blocking an entire lane for hours), and don't even get me started on how few cars can get through a light during rush hour. Plus, if they used only quadruple the space on the road that I use, they'd get by me easily as motorcycles often do. On every single trip, they spend far, far more time held up by other cars than the total delays I impose on everyone out there collectively. Besides, I'm not sure why my trip to work is so much less important than their trip to wherever.

If you act like a second class citizen on the roads, you will be treated like one. If you invite their aggression, you'll get it. But if you're considerate and pay attention, people work with you. Motorists hate clueless cyclists and people who plug up the roads, but if you're doing it right, neither of those will apply to you. There are some people who just hate cyclists and there's nothing you can do about it. In all honesty, I see the drivers rage on each other much more often than on me.

If you signal to people behind you, you get treated very differently. They know you're watching and good control will get you respect.

CommuteCommando

I generally do not spend enough time in the lane for the five car rule to take effect. I am not, as you say, a "lane commander". I take the lane, and like most who do, try to be smart about it and do not do it in all cases just because the law says we can.

prathmann

Actually the CVC (Calif. Vehicle Code) does allow cyclists to 'take the lane', i.e. to move farther left when the right hand lane is too narrow to safely share with an overtaking motor vehicle. It's one of the specific exceptions listed in the section that otherwise requires cyclists who are going slower than the normal speed of traffic to keep as far right as practicable.

The rule about pulling over when followed by 5 or more other vehicles is in a separate section of the CVC and doesn't mention bicyclists specifically, but they are implicitly included under the 'all rights and responsibilities of vehicle operators' provision. It also specifies that pulling over should be done at a spot where it is safe to do so - not at the instant when you first have 5 vehicles following. In practice, I find that it's extremely rare for a bicyclist to have 5 or more vehicles directly behind for more than a few seconds but would certainly look for a safe spot to move over if it happened.

Jiggle

Taking a lane is being a jackass in their eyes. They're happily motoring along at 45mph but now have to go an agonizing 15mph because a bicyclist won't move over. That would tee off Mother Teresa.

banerjek

I always run farm equipment off the road and people stopped in the middle of the road waiting to turn left. And those stupid school buses are the worst of all. Jerks!

iamtim

Can you quote the CVC where it specifically says that? All I've been able to find is CVC 21202 which says:
"Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway ... shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except ..." with the list of exceptions. Passing another bicycle, making a left, when necessary to avoid road conditions, etc. I've not been able to find anything which says that a bicyclist can specifically take the lane.

In fact, CVC 21208 specifically says that:
"Any person operating a bicycle upon the roadway ... shall ride within the bicycle lane, except that the person may move out of the lane under any of the following situations..." with the same list of situation from 21202.

Which is why I say that it's not specifically stated that a bicyclist can take the lane, but it's written in such a way to allow it. But if you've got a CVC which specifically states as such, please share.

It's also in CVC 21202:
"Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway ... shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except ... When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions ... that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656."

And CVC 21656 says:
"... a slow-moving vehicle ... behind which five or more vehicles are formed in line, shall turn off the roadway ... in order to permit the vehicles following it to proceed."

So, it does, you just have to look for it.

StanSeven

There are places in the country where large growth suddenly happened and roads didn't/can't keep up. Washington DC, Miami, parts of California are prime examples. People that used to get places in a few minutes now face much longer times. They get frustrated and drive aggressively. That attitude spills over to other drivers, even those that didn't have that history. Drivers want to take their anger out on anybody that's in their way and a cycling in the middle ogf their lane is an easy target.

I've seen cyclists almost brushed by cars, tailgating a a couple feet behind is common, laying on their horn is another favorite, as is yelling. This that advocate taking a lane probably don't face these situations.

banerjek

A lot of states have laws written with very similar language.

"As close as practicable" are the key words.

Drivers need to drive in a manner that's not dangerously stupid, even if that means using the brakes to avoid killing someone. If they can't pass safely, a cyclist being further over where they're less likely to be noticed is not going to change that. The law still applies even if they don't like certain types of vehicles.

If this was really about the delays cyclists bring, they should really get ticked off every time someone slows down in front of them to make a turn. Or takes forever to pull out with their boat or truck because the turning radius is so large. Or blocks the whole road for miles on end with their land yacht.

phoebeisis

Like I said LC vs FRAP easily the most contentious topic on this forum.
suggesting someone's wife is NOT NICE
and I'm pretty sure one of you threatened a fellow member's Jack Russell(not that he could catch it)

banerjek

Nonsense -- none of these things is uncommon, and almost being brushed is almost a necessity in certain areas. For the horn blowers and yellers, I always give a friendly 5 finger wave while I memorize their plate. Then I give the friendly wave about 2 seconds before they reach me from behind on future encounters (people are creatures of habit and tend to show up in about the same places at about the same times). You can change hostile people into ones that give you more than average space.

That some drivers have the emotional stability of toddlers may be a safety issue for everyone, but it's not something anyone should encourage as piloting a few thousand pounds of steel near other people actually requires a certain level of responsibility..

SpeshulEd 

I understand what you're saying and there are some cyclists that drive me insane both when I'm driving and riding my bike because they seem to act like the road belongs to them. They swerve in and out, don't pay attention to their surroundings, do stupid things and stop lights, get in the left lane half a mile before the left turn lane. I see it daily and I think it gives all riders a bad name.

I think there's something to be said about the guy that rides with purpose - When I take the lane, I'm in the drops and pushing as hard as I can, I point when I turn, I wait for traffic to clear before heading to the left turn lane, at stop lights I move forward so someone can turn right behind me if necessary.

banerjek

I'll bet you have very few problems.

If you play well, people reciprocate the vast majority of the time. Taking the lane does not equal being inconsiderate even if some inconsiderate people take the lane.

rpenmanparker 

We're not talking about shoulders. We're talking about gutters and curbs.

rpenmanparker 

Yes. I do.

rpenmanparker 

Assigning aggressiveness to someone who takes the lane is ridiculous. There may be a club of deranged imbeciles out there trying to make this into a war, but that is not what taking the lane need be about. It is simply signaling to following drivers that they have to pass you just like a car, by changing lanes. Considering the danger of getting knocked off the bike by a truck mirror is ever present in Houston, I take the lane. It is only common sense, not war.