Originally Posted by
CheGiantForLife
Ok, so riding with traffic is safer when there is a shoulder lane.
But what about where there is no shoulder? I have a huge ethical dilemma in riding on roads like these.
If there is no shoulder on either side, I will either use the sidewalk, or walk the bike on the grass.
Or, I simply do not ride on any roads without an obvious shoulder lane.
For those who ride on roads with no shoulder, how do you deal with the fact that when you're riding with traffic, cars are constantly having to swerve half way out of your lane and you're really creating a huge nuisance on the road and potentially causing car accidents.
This accident potential increases exponentially if there are cars in both lanes and one sideswipes another while having to avoid the bike by swerving into the left lane ?
In my state, it is clear that the position I am to take on such a road is the farthest right that is "practicable". That point is variable depending on the road characteristics, but I interpret that to mean the point at which I have decent pavement AND I am highly visible to cars coming up behind me. It is also very clear in the law that cars that can't pass me safely will have to wait until the oncoming lane is clear to do this pass. Most of these roads are not so crowded as to result in more than a few seconds of delay, and I don't believe that to be unreasonable. Generally, this doesn't pose much of a problem, but there are roads I won't ride on precisely because I've had too many cars proceed to pass in the illegal manner you describe--swerving into the oncoming lane without making sure the lane is actually clear..