Originally Posted by
buzzman
Bek, While I agree with the gist of your post I am not certain you are quoting ( or interpreting/applying?) Mass Gen'l law accurately. I believe that the law to which you refer was amended in 2008 and those provisions removed.
As a Massachusetts rider I'd like to see the provision you specifically are referring to as I am not finding such a provision in the current Mass. Gen'l. Laws
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/Ge...eXIV/Chapter85
For example below is the current version of Chapt 89 sec. 2:
ept as herein otherwise provided, the driver of a vehicle passing another vehicle traveling in the same direction shall drive a safe distance to the left of such other vehicle and shall not return to the right until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle; and, if the way is of sufficient width for the two vehicles to pass,
the driver of the leading one shall not unnecessarily obstruct the other. If it is not possible to overtake a bicycle or other vehicle at a safe distance in the same lane, the overtaking vehicle shall use all or part of an adjacent lane if it is safe to do so or wait for a safe opportunity to overtake. Except when overtaking and passing on the right is permitted,
the driver of an overtaken vehicle shall give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle on visible signal and shall not increase the speed of his vehicle until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle.
The driver of a vehicle may, if the roadway is free from obstruction and of sufficient width for two or more lines of moving vehicles, overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle when the vehicle overtaken is (a) making or about to make a left turn, (b) upon a one-way street, or (c) upon any roadway on which traffic is restricted to one direction of movement.
Please note the section I highlighted in bold in the law. Is that what you are referring to? If so, I hate to say it but it is NOT pertinent to Mr. Damon's video. Actually the next sentence regarding the responsibilities of the
passing vehicle are more pertinent. The road he is on is Multi-laned and the traffic was able to move into another passing lane in order to pass him. In fact, several cars did so while he was taping. He was NOT technically obstructing traffic.
I am making these distinctions not in defense of Mr. Damon's actions but in reference to his rights as a cyclist on Massachusetts roads. Whether Mr. Damon does any of us a service is certainly disputable. But he is within his rights- the argument to make here is really not a legal one but one of commonsense and appropriate forms of advocacy.
not sure you missed the reference to not unduly obstruct, or the reference to cyclists duties.....
you don't read this in the current mass rules of the road?
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/Ge...r85/Section11b
"Nothing in this clause shall relieve a bicyclist of the duty to facilitate overtaking as required by section 2 of chapter 89. "
A bicyclist has a clear duty to facilitate overtaking in massacusetts that long predates statutory traffic law as a common law governing public use of the roadways.
If a rider fails to meet the entirety of their duties under the law, they are not 'within their rights'. riding without regard to not unduly delay could rise to the level of reckless disregard for others' expected fair use of the roadway, as similar circumstances that led to chipseals legal failure to prove similar 'rights' like those speciously claimed by the videographer.
the language directing cylists to safely and considerately share the road with faster traffic is firmly emplaced in the traffic laws of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. do not unduly delay, facilitate overtaking, give way to the right....
How much more explicit do traffic statutes regulating the historical and commonsense application of fundamental rules of the road have to be for the bicycle drivers "got to be in the LANE" obstreperousness club to come to grips about their false, contrived constructs about 'cyclists rights'? The clear intent of the laws are crystalline.
Originally Posted by videographer
I want to be where people are loooooking"
the laws of the commonwealth do not protect that behavior if adherence is lacking to the rest of cyclists duties written into the traffic code.