It's a thing. But never a correct thing. AFAIK. Thankfully less common today than in my younger days. At least it is here.

I think it comes from the general consensus, that a pedestrian walking on a road with motor vehicles, should be walking into the traffic. Parents walking will frequently be accompanied by their children on bikes as they walk around the neighborhood. And of course those children are on the same side as their parents. And they just get use to being on the wrong side and think that is correct as they get older and go off on their bikes without their parents.

The OP has had an opportunity since his first OP to indicate what the heck "happened" that brought forth the responses about a "need for lawyers"; so far crickets.

Yep, The OP seems to be dancing around all the questions. So there'll be a lot of advice that just doesn't apply. No big deal though if the advice doesn't apply. They OP should be able to tell what does and doesn't.

In my area, Long Island, NY, lots of immigrants working the lower paying service industry jobs, McDonlads, Landscaping, construction, etc,.., can’t afford cars, use bikes. If you pay attention, lots of bikes locked up outside the back of diners and such. Often riding in the dark, wearing dark clothes, no reflectors or lighting and riding wrong side of the road as they don’t know better and don’t know the law. They are in car/bike accidents all the time and are usually killed and when I read about in the news I am aware that too many times it’s probably not the motorists fault.

Does this help?

He saw folks doing something and he asked the question here to figure out why they were doing that. Pretty easy to figure out. The lawyer thing was someone who somehow got it in their head the OP was hit,which he was not.

No Dancing Around.
So I guess you both have not read the entire thread..... dynaryder apparently did...and clarified your queries.
To reiterate, I (the OP) ask the question about go with the flow or???? a simple question, or so I thought. In post 19 of the thread, it was asked if I was i need of a lawyer and if I was indeed involved in the collision....In post 20, i replied that I was not involved and did not need legal advice.
Best, Ben

This agrees with my experience. Ditto with bikes on sidewalks.

Also, in a neighborhood it sometimes is way safer to ride a short block against traffic than cross a busy street twice.

Also, many kids don't know their left and right (think of an unmarked road with no traffic). I have found "chain side" to be more helpful than left and right.

Ride with traffic.

Walk against traffic if there is no sidewalk.

Best, Ben

You have been posting and participating on BF for 11 years and you hadn't ever noticed that the "question" of riding against traffic flow has been raised perhaps umpteen times by a new poster and always has come up with the same responses: not recommended and for the same reasons umpteen times. Unsurprisingly, some riders are sometimes seen not following this guidance just as some riders sometimes don't follow other traffic rules, and sometimes doing the wrong thing combined with bad luck or poor timing can lead to something "happening."

Bike with and Hike against, unless your Hitching...

Thanks for your response, like you, I may not have read every comment or post..
Best, Ben

At 64 y.o., I’ve been riding as a “cyclist” since around 1980. Before that, back to when I was a kid, I don’t recall ever seeing bikes directed to ride against car traffic. I think in most U.S. states, whether there is a dedicated bike lane or not, bicycles in the roadway are required by traffic laws to ride in the same direction as cars. Not sure who, or if there is a YEILD requirement for cars turning RIGHT if there isn’t a designated bike lane. However, in most of the states I’ve ridden in, when there IS a designated bike lane, there are signs indicating RIGHT turning cars are required to YEILD to bikes. On separate bikeway and greenway trails, there are usually signs always indicating bikes to stay on the RIGHT and usually walkers to stay on the LEFT (although I have seen walkers directed to also be on the RIGHT). So, in either case…roadway or bikeway…to avoid confusion and potential collision…with a car or another bike…you should ride on the RIGHT.

Dan

The guy does look like he expertly flows thru and around traffic and pedestrians. However, a closer look shows that his ability to keep the rubber side down is NOT a result of his quick actions and expert cycling abilities alone. There are several instances where pedestrians and motorists had to either reverse direction or apply the brakes very quickly.

If not for that, his ass would have been on the pavement.

Let's throw in a mix of other cyclist doing their own thing as well and see how screwed up this really becomes. Just like if flying cars ever become a thing, get several of them in the air near each other and two of them are bound to collide. Especially when in that rush to get airborne and over the stalled traffic on the road.

It's common sense that when you are cycling on the road with traffic you should be riding with the flow of the traffic. The only exceptions would be some roads which have protected contra-flow bike lanes or two way traffic MUPS along one side of the road, so in this case you have no choice but to ride against the flow of traffic.

Idiot. I'm skilled enough to ride like that,I'm just smart enough not to. I have a high enough sense of self worth that I don't need to risk my life for clickbait.

Also,the vids of NYC I've seen seem to show pretty tame traffic. You'd be dead quick riding like that around DC.

Plenty of painted bike lanes in NYC that are 2 way - I.E a lane for bikes traveling in both directions, with the bike lane on one side of the street or the other, thus bike are riding against the flow of traffic, yet in a marked and dedicated lane for that purpose.

Concur. I’ve ridden those as well. Point is that bikes should stay on the right, and not go against convention, and established infrustructure.

Dan

nothing wrong with asking a question that has been asked because 99.99% of all questions on BF have been asked before and the snarks that keep pointing this out somehow think that they are original

When going against the flow of traffic, its good to perform a little math in your head. If traffic is driving 40 mph, and you are doing 15 mph, if you hit or are hit by a car, it would be a 55 mph impact. If you are going with the flow of traffic, and the traffic and yourself are going 40 and 15 mph, and you were hit, it would be a 25 mph impact, which is much more survivable

I've 'tried' to read every post but, creesh ... like another poster I'm over 60. A fair bit over 60. Kind of a late bloomer starting cycling at 12 y.o. but pretty full on since. In all that time, and in all 3 main regions of the country: East Coast, MidWest, West Coast ... I've NEVER known cyclists to be advised to ride against traffic. HOWEVER, if, I needed to *cough* salmon against traffic for any reason. I could, (and have), and would, do it without colliding with anyone!! This thread seems to be based on a premise that the collision happened because the cyclist was riding against traffic. That is plain wrong. Poor judgement was used in plotting the progress of the car through the turn, and the onus indeed was on the cyclist as the vehicle with the most to lose in a collision.

But there’s more than car traffic. Don’t forget the bikes, on that same shoulder, or bike lane, that are going in the conventional direction. So if one of them swerve to avoid colliding with you…they might swerve into oncoming car traffic. And if it’s on a bikeway/greenway path there is also foot traffic, skateboarder, rollerbladers. Yes, the onus is on the “salmon” for avoiding a collision. But as some point that becomes difficult at best. And, a collision injures both parties.

Dan

The reason we have rules of the road is to have all vehicles, pedestrians and any other thing that might interact on the road acting in a manner that can be predicted.

Salmoning and slaloming among other vehicles isn't a thing that another person can predict where the other will go next. And one person might get away with it. But two or more competing for the same space will not.

Still, depending on the exact rules of the road for the State the OP's question is for. A good defense attorney knowledgeable in those laws might find a reason to put the turning vehicle more at fault than the vehicle coming the wrong way. But if this is something that isn't going to court, then it's a matter of whom settles if there is any damages to be given. And if there was no injury or property damage, then it's just opinion.

Note.. I realize the OP question didn't involve slaloming. However that was introduced in the video clip provided by another.