Originally Posted by
donger
Perhaps I can offer a perspective from a cyclist/cop view. First, a little bit about me. I'm a cop in Northern CA. I took up cycling almost a year ago. I've logged 3000 miles this year, ridden 1 century, several metric centuries, and several half-centuries. I love cycling and I've also lost 35 lbs.
I know that motorist can be jackasses and ignorant when it comes to cyclists. I also believe that some cyclists are also jackasses and ignorant. It's like how some of the public view cops...you don't remember the positive contacts but the negative contacts will be forever ingrained in your mind. It's the same with cyclists.
As a motorist, I've come across riders on a one lane mountain road, 3 riders across, effectively blocking the lane and making passing the cyclists unsafe. I've encountered a single rider on the same road, riding in the center of the roadway with the bike helmet strapped onto the handle bars. Today, while working, I had a cyclist in a busy intersection who was stopped in the left turn with no cars in the lane. The light didn't change for the cyclist and, as I drove by in my police car, he looked at me, raised both arms and yelled at me (as if I could do anything about the light).
Here's some information that might help everyone here. If you encounter a signal light that won't change for bicycles, don't yell at the cops. Call Traffic Engineering and tell them. I guarantee that a normal citizen complaining will hold more weight that if a cop calls them up and tells them.
About cars making right turns at an intersection where there is a bike lane. The CA Vehicle Code (CVC) requires drivers to make a right turn as close as practical to the right curb or edge of the roadway [22100(a) CVC]. Also, the driver can be in the bike lane to make a right turn 200 feet from the intersection, even if the dotted lines aren't 200 feet long [22109(a)(3) CVC].
Now, about riders riding side-by-side. 21202(a) CVC says for cyclists going slower than the normal flow of traffic is required to ride as near to the right hand curb or edge of the roadway AS PRACTICAL EXCEPT WHEN: (1) overtaking or passing a cyclist, pedestrian, or slower vehicle, (2) preparing to make a left turn at an intersection, private road or driveway, (3) REASONABLY necessary to avoid hazardous conditions or debris.
21208(a) CVC requires cyclists to use the bike lane when traveling below the normal speed of traffic. The same exceptions listed above also apply here.
I hope this bit of information helps and it is not my intention to offend or upset any riders here. Feel free to ask me questions if you have any.
Welcome! Congrats on the new lifestyle. And thanks for weighing in (yuk yuk yuk) on this and for providing a law-enforcement perspective.
Brace yourself for some flak here if your views on helmet wearing (Oh God, I went there) do not exactly, precisely agree with those of everyone, all of whom vehemently disagree. Also, if you need lots of unsolicited free legal advice interpreting the traffic laws you thought you had been trained to enforce, you came to the right place. Believe me, if you think you know what riding Far Right As Practicable means, it's WAY more complicated and controversial than you ever thought. Better not to bring any of that up, lest ye be set upon by ogres.
Seriously, I think your point about negative contacts being ingrained is particularly cogent, and one of the reasons I started the thread. From a cycling advocacy perspective, I think we cyclists do ourselves a disservice when we act in a provocative or negligent manner and disregard the effect those actions have on others (just as all constituencies do).