Originally Posted by
daredevil
He nicely told me state law says to ride as far to the right as practicable which I already knew of course. I said, "right, that's left of the fog line". He says yes....er....I mean no....you need to be on the shoulder. I said, "I'm sorry sir, that is not practicable" and rode away. As he passed me, to appease him, I briefly rode on the fog line.
This isn't quite accurate.
The "far to the right as practical" laws refers to the right side of the "roadway" (
all of them, as far as I know). The "roadway" does't include the "shoulder" (generally).
It
could be quite "practical" to ride in the shoulder (people do it all the time) but that isn't what the law (generally) "requires". (That is, you are allowed to ride in the shoulder but generally the law does not require you to do so.)
(Note that some states, in some situations, require the use of the should, but that is rare.)
Originally Posted by
sudo bike
I politely told him that's where I'm supposed to be and offered (again, as nicely as possible) to point out the law.
This isn't quite accurate, either. It's not so much that you are legally "supposed" to be in the "roadway". It's just that the law never limits your use of the roadway (that is, you never "supposed" (required) to be anywhere else).
It's completely fine to use the shoulder (assuming it's safe). Bicyclists do so all the time. The law (generally) doesn't ever require you to ride there.
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Basically, you are allowed to use the shoulder but are not required to use them.
(Keep in mind that
some states have "mandatory bikeway use" laws, which do require you to not be in the roadway in certain circumstances.)