wabbit

if there's enough space, i move to the front. If it looks kind of hairy or there's a bus...i just wait.

despoke

I would move to the sidewalk, dismount and walk the bike across the intersection

trx1

hop on the sidewalk, and outride the cocksmokers

ArchEtech

I think if your riding in traffic you should be treated like every other vehicle. We need more bike lane and clearer laws. We also need national standards that are more clear. Right or wrong the attitudes in some of these posts are precisely why bikers get a bad rap with motorists. To ride as if you always have some right of way to go to the front of the line, and cars have to wait to turn and always be more wary of bikes over cars just doesn't make sense to me. I love biking but I think if you on the street, you stop at every stop sign. You stop at every light. You use hand signals to turn and change lanes. You don't ride 2 or 3 bikes side by side, and you stay over on the right side to allow faster traffic to pass. I see at least half of riders doing all of the above all the time and many of them do it to try and make some point. What I don't get is no matter what the law is, you're going to lose against a car regardless of right of way. Ride defensively period. Defensively to me means obey all the traffic laws like I'm in a car.

skye

I normally take the lane and wait in line. The major exception to this is if some idiot motorist has pissed my off by buzzing me, cutting me off, or throwing something out the window. In which case, I'll filter in front of them and take the lane. Screw 'em.

Northwestrider

It depends on how long the line is. Short, I'll wait. Long, I'll move to the right and head to the front. I'm rather sure waiting is the safer option however.

cranky velocist

If you are talking about a long distance of traffic, like the half-mile hill of Washington in Princeton during rush hour or 5th Avenue in Park Slope I will stick the left not the right when the way is clear and I can see a gap in the traffic to merge back into ahead. Wait for oncoming traffic to either clear or stop moving, and repeat when I can be visible to the stationary drivers. I've been known to just walk my bike on the sidewalk for a block or two if its really really bad.

The extra twenty minutes of being in high traffic doesn't seem to make sense to anyone, and a hypothetical ticked for getting out of the way of traffic would be less painful than a dooring on the right or collision in the lane of the road.

I do make it a point to wait for all the lights and stop signs, though. I just prefer to be seen when they turn green.

mechBgon

I get in line and wait my turn. Never a problem, and builds some street cred for cyclists actually deserving their place on the road. This does take some self-discipline when it takes more than one stoplight cycle, but I have an adequate amount of that.

The main exception would be when there's a bikes-only lane, in which case I would get in line behind any other cyclists in the bikes-only lane and wait my turn there.

Bekologist

what about when there's a traffic backup? willing to wait in traffic indefinitely, or will you at some point, in some backup, filter?

Isn't it cool though, if you think about it, how a bikes-only lane would let mechbgon bypass all the auto congestion?

If y'all come up on a long line of cars at an intersection, and there's a bikelane, you can feel smug as you ride, safely and with a traffic eye out, past all the stopped gashuffers.

mechBgon

Ironically, the last time I smugly passed the line of motor-vehicle traffic in the bikes-only lane, I got about one block before receiving my come-uppance in the form of a commercial truck parked in the bike lane, unloading stuff. And on that street, when it's not commercial trucks, it's vehicles attempting to parallel-park (it's a downtown street, I needed to visit my bank).

Anyway, I've noticed that the bike-lane stripe is MIA for a large part of the year on streets where there's supposedly a bike lane, now that the city is trying to put bike lanes out there. Hence PhilosoRaptor's musing on whether they might've been there the whole time

In my area, the worst conceivable arterial traffic backup would be a matter of 4 stoplight cycles. I can handle that. Or if the situation is desparate, I'll get off the bike and walk until I can find a detour.

Bekologist

Never seen a traffic backup? - how far does a line of backed up cars have to stretch before you'd choose to filter?


Pretend traffic's backed up for miles due to a massive accident in an intersection, or a drawbridge for a nuclear submarine - boy do THOSE bridge openings take some time! wait at the back, or ride up to the front?

For most of us realistic bicyclists, its very situational.

redtires

Technically...here in Colorado you would be legally required to wait in line. One, because you are supposed to follow the same road rules as all other road traffic (stop signs, traffic lights, etc...) and because of that, it's actually illegal to pass on the right, unless of course you are in a right turn lane. But then it is also not allowed to misuse that lane to go straight...yadda yadda yadda... That being said, the biggest reason I wait in line is because it just plain pisses off motorists who pass you once and now they have to pass you again...this is especially dangerous if you are on somewhat congested roads. We all have to get along on the roads....I'd rather not be the one who makes it harder on everyone else.

gpsblake

You act as traffic and wait your turn with the rest of them.

mechBgon

Bingo.

Wait in the back, or walk up the sidewalk if it's faster. If traffic's literally backed up for miles, as in 1/2 mile or more, I'd cast my eyes around for a detour. If I'm using a road that has a drawbridge, then it just sucks to have a route where you might have to wait for the drawbridge to cycle. Walking or even filtering up to it isn't likely to save much time... it still has to open, let stuff through, and lower again. Unless you've got an inflatable kayak along, you might as well wait with everyone else, and once traffic's rolling, you'll cover that 1/2 mile in 3-4 minutes.

Yellowbeard

I wait just behind the blind spot of the first car in line. That way they never right-hook me by surprise.

Making people pass me twice doesn't bother me nearly as much as adding most of a car's worth of congestion to the line by waiting in it. They ought'a be thanking me for that.

Chris516

Ditto

I stay in the lane instead of going to the front because, by going to the front and having to sit beside a vehicle, it ultimately tells everyone waiting for the light, that they can just zoom right by me without thinking. By 'taking the lane' and waiting in the line of cars, I guarantee that, if a vehicle does try to pass me, they will have to go into oncoming traffic to do it.

irwin7638

I move to the front of the lane designated for my direction of travel, make sure that I am seen by the first couple drivers, signal appropriately and proceed when it's legal. I figure I'm safer if I'm visible and not a surprise to oncoming traffic.

Marc

jcbjr

I'm a former road cyclist sidelined by degenerative cervical disc issues/pain. I followed all the rules when in traffic when I rode, and still had a great time. Cyclists who insert themselves in the worst possible traffic scenario at the worst possible times and expect the whole traffic world to stop for them and facilitate their unhindered progress are unrealistic, self centered snobs. I certainly treat cyclists with respect out of concern for safety, but I would like to see a lot more respect back from them. I find filtering, riding abreast, and running stop signs/red lites particularly obnoxious. All of these are illegal in Georgia where I live, yet are almost never enforced. I am willing to "share the road", as long as cyclists are willing to stay over when they safely can and follow the rules. I am not willing to tool along at 15-20 mph. behind a pod of riders who want to ride abreast so they can chat and admire each others' lycra. The roadies of the world will continue to gain the ire of motorists as long as these attitudes and abuses continue.

Chris516

I agree about cyclists' riding abreast. I was 'taking the lane', waiting at a traffic light, when another cyclist pulled up next to me. I was thoroughly annoyed. I thought, by passing him a couple times, he would get the point about how riding abreast is annoying. He never did.....oh well.

Digital_Cowboy

At least twice a year I encounter just such a situation. When I am coming home from the The Pier after the New Year's Eve fireworks and the 4th of July fireworks. Traffic is so backed up, and there is nowhere safe for a cyclist to ride to avoid either the traffic or the pedestrians.

Uh, if traffic is backed up at a draw bridge because of a sub or boat how is a bike let alone a car going to get over the bridge?