Originally Posted by
spivonious
Look up the vehicle code for your state and see what it says. In PA, bicycles are vehicles so all of the same laws apply unless bicycles are specifically excluded (such as shoulder riding, not having to pull off the road to let faster traffic move past, riding on the sidewalk, etc.). I'm pretty sure most states operate the same way.
So for your example, yes it would be an illegal u-turn. But as many others have posted, the police aren't going to care as long as it was safe to do so.
I agree with you but it has to be tempered with this: the reason illegal u-turns are against vehicle code is that it's not safe to do so. Even when it
looks safe, it's one of those "unpredictable" maneuvers that could cause trouble for those vehicles you don't see, or judged to be too far away to matter. Otherwise why make it illegal in the first place?
Of course we all do it when it looks OK myself included. But I'd emphasize that this sort of thing is not the normal traffic pattern that you'd do routinely.