I can believe it. The Canadian Province of Alberta (and un-officially BC) requires motorists to "give one full lane" when overtaking slow moving vehicles and cyclists when possible.

That implies outright premeditation. I DON'T intend to bottle up traffic, but if they don't like waiting, oh well. But my experience has been, that motorists' hate to be 'delayed' by the mere existence of a cyclist in front of them. My response to that hostility and urgency, is to 'take the lane'. I have been run off the road by my stupidly giving a motorist a chance to running me off the road. By 'taking the lane' it is experience, not premeditation that dictates my road position.

By "empty two-lane highways" do you mean roads with two (or more) lanes for each direction, or "traditional" two-lane roads? If it's a road with two or more lanes per direction of travel then how is a cyclist taking the lane in the outside lane "bottling" traffic up behind them?

Then as some states have apparently done more states need to make it clear in their laws that it is legal for a motorist to pass a cyclist in a no passing zone if it is safe to do so.

I don't assume the best of drivers. I default to all motorists' being idiots. So I am constantly looking around me, and listening for traffic behind me. That is why I 'take the lane'. Unless the motorist is a homicidal maniac, I 'force' the motorist completely into the passing lane/cross the double-yellow line. When I repeatedly look behind me, once I hear a motorist, I am looking to see what they are doing. So I am not ignorant to the potential of motorists' stupidity.

This. Classic Bek troll post.

But but-they can still shave you as close as they want?
Heck get far enough left-and they will pass you on the right-
Cars+ mirror- "just" 7.5' wide- if you are at the 10 ft mark of a 15' lane-they can-and will-blow by on the right-miss you by several inches.

In a car(small Toyota pickup)-I was passed on the right on a 2 lane road.
I passed a slow 18 wheeler-as I was pulling ahead of him before pulling back into the lane-another car passed him-gunned it to my bumper-pulled sharply right-and blew by me leaving me hanging in the left lane.
This has happened more than once-faster impatient car- long wait to get passed a slow moving vehicle-the higher performance car will hang you out in the left lane .
This usually happens in hilly areas with limited visibility-adds to the fun factor.

Some drivers are very impatient-pissed off-drunk-drugged . Taking a lane is guaranteed to piss them off- keep that head on a swivel.
You trust drivers-and your judgement- more than I would.

And most places- you have to deal with the cops-not up for that.

No #'s on 3 abreast pass deaths-injuries???

Exactly. And that goes for most distracted drivers, be they texting, drunk, or otherwise impaired. Combine that with the evident fact that most bike/car accidents happen due to somehow distracted drivers...

That was not correct at the time of the Cross survey. I know of no survey done since with as much care. Of course, texting is something that has started since then. I suggest that there is no evidence to support the notion that "most bike/car accidents happen to somehow distracted drivers..."

Here's a question out of this:

Would knowing it's legal to pass a bicyclist in a no-passing zone make motorists more accepting of bicyclists on rural two lane highways?

As a cyclist I've never tried. On uphill grinds I've been tempted to wave timid drivers past but, in light of potential unpleasant results, have restrained the impulse.

As a driver I have used the other lane to pass slow traffic when doing so is safe albeit potentially unlawful. Even when a rider is positioned far right in a sub-standard lane I do not use the same lane to pass.

That's a good question. I suspect that there do exist a substantial number of motorists who would pass better if they knew there was nothing illegal about going over the double yellow (when clear). I also suspect that there are many motorists who would be much safer if they were required to know more than how to start a car and which pedal is the brake and which is the accelerator in order to get a license.

I think it would, a little.

Excuse me for asking this question so late: How come one will find no-passing zones on American roads in places where it may actually be safe to pass? In Scandinavian countries (and, I believe, most of Europe), you'll find no-passing zones only where passing will pose considerable risk - in curves, or ascending the last 3-500 m of a hill etc.

hagen

Good point-there are lots of double yellow where there really doesn't need to be double yellow.
Of course when I used to be in more of a hurry-driving- I never paid much attention to the double yellow lines-especially in rural areas-little traffic -little chance of being caught. I would make sure I had good long clear run-drop back- hit accel-get some speed up-then swing out once I was VERY CLOSE to the car I was going to pass- blow by.

Most drivers will swing wide and blow right past a bike- vety few are so literal as to think it is OK to pass a bike as long as you don't cross the line
They won't give it a moments thought- swing out- hit gas- blow by! Actually it is hit gas-swing out-pass.
I don't think drivers will be reluctant to cross the double yellow- but there is always one really literal person-so maybe.

Thanks for your answer. My guess is that having "too many" no passing zones will make drivers tend to ignore them. Like the "too many" stop signs I've read about here, too. I wonder what makes traffic planners implement "too many" whatever.

I've noticed that, in the USA anyway, some states are better or worse than others about unnecessary double-yellow lines, low speed limits (though that seems to be more on the municipal level), construction zones that hamper traffic more than they might have, etc.

My own feeling is that it's mostly the fault of the various state Departments of Transportation. Some seem to make some effort to accommodate traffic. Others, I think, are just a bit lazy and inconsiderate.

In PA I see people passing Amish buggies all the time regardless of whether there's a double-yellow down the middle of the road. As far as I can tell (I'm usually there for only a few weeks each year so don't know every nuance of the local laws) it's considered a perfectly acceptable thing to do when faced with such a slow-moving vehicle.

I imagine it's either technically illegal but never enforced, or there's some threshold below which a vehicle is deemed sufficiently slow-moving that passing across a double-yellow is legal.

For the same reason countries post speed limits that are way lower than is necessary. In the UK I've seen speed limits on roads drop from 60 to 50 to 40 while the road itself hasn't changed at all. Then I see speed limits of 30mph extending way out of town and onto the approach to a dual carriageway. Sometimes the powers that be are kind enough to post a speed camera to catch the people accelerating towards the 70mph limit sign on the dual carriageway despite the fact such a manouevre is about as safe as it's possible to be when driving.

In the US there are vast numbers of stop signs where it's really not necessary to come to a complete stop. The overwhelming majority of stop signs I've seen in the US could easily be replaced by yield signs. When you can clearly see half a mile up and down the road it's really not necessary to stop unless you are yielding priority.

It would probably help to a degree, unless it's on a curve where visibility of oncoming traffic is limited.

So in states where it is legal to pass bikes with a double yellow-
are drivers required to not cross double yellow??
I suspect it is moot, since most drivers will just look to see if it is clear-hit gas swing by.
This is how cars pass me now-and the first and last part of my daily ride is on 1/2 mile of double yellow.
They swing fairly wide-blow by with the body of the car at least 6 feet from me- mirrors maybe 5 feet.

BIG ASIDE-
Of course I get plenty of close passes-ESPECIALLY bigger vehicles-buses trucks and 3/4 1 ton diesel pickups with the scary old fashioned tow mirrors.
Anyone else notice that older work pickups have those HARD MOUNTED tow mirrors. New ones have spring loaded wide tow mirrors
Old ones have those hard mounted wide -aftermarket looking with what looks like bracing above and below.
Work vehicles -buses- are driven by professional drivers-so they are a bit more adept-but they will shave you close.
Many 3/4 1 ton diesel pickups are driven by folks in a hurry-and they aren't pro drivers-shave you close-accidently probably-


Yeah- I'll be FRAPing- hear that older pickup diesel clatter-see a vehicle in the oncoming lane-and just know I'm going to get a close pass-maybe by a dual rear wheel pickup- hard to say-but a 1 foot mirrow pass feels very very close!
I am ready to bail off the road-and I sometimes do bail off the road(MTB style rigid-2" tires-slight lateral lugs)- but my hearing really isn't great-so...
Yes you VCers say taking a lane will eliminate close passes
1) Maybe-retaliation here would happen-100%-reasonable drivers,yeah work on them- jerks, not one bit.
2) 100% Cops would stop me-and I'm just not up to trying to educate NOLA metra area cops-too old for that battle
3) And not sure just how likely I am to be hit-injured-by a 3 wide shave(or a regular close pass which are common enough)

I crudely calculated spring loaded mirrors will give a 25 lb(100 newton) average push for maybe .1-.2 second-nasty push but probably won't break my ribs.Wreck me-probably- but blow won't break my ribs(peak force would be higher than 25 lbs not sure how much higher)
Mirrors not spring loaded-the blow would be roughly like getting hit pushed by the entire vehicle(until mirrow mounting broke )-break my 61 yo ribs.

I love to ride bicycles- but if living as long as possible was my goal-I wouldn't ride a bike on streets. I would exercise some other way-drive to levee- unload bike-ride on levee-waste fuel and $$.
On the bright side it is safer than 1968 when I started city street riding a lot.
Charlie

I am happy to see that some people are capable of applying common sense to traffic laws that were developed around passenger cars as a standard.

Paul
right-no one pays much attention to double yellow-especially in respect to not passing bikes- very narrow very short very slow- very easy/quick TO PASS
Wide long slightly 18 wheelers-different story
Drivers substitute their own judgement.
It isn't easy-lucrative- to set up cameras to catch double yellow line passes-so we do it.

Pressure.

Either pressure from local elected officials trying to appease those who elected them to office. Or the locals who think that there is something either dangerous or unsafe about a given road or intersection.

Yield signs are another sign that are ignored on a regular basis. So much so that stop signs are used instead of yield signs. Such as there is a roundabout that I ride through on a daily basis. It has signs that make it VERY clear that people are to yield to traffic already in the circle.

They don't they don't slow down in the slightest. They just go through at the posted speed before and after the circle.

I think that sadly, that it comes down to the fact that most American's are ni a "hurry to get nowhere fast." And that when they have to be somewhere at a certain time that they wait until the last minute before leaving. And then get impatient with those who are trying to actually drive the speed limit.

Uh, why are slow speed limits a "bad thing?" What is the "need" to be able to travel at a high rate of speed within a town/city?

But sadly as has been said before too many people ignore even the yield signs. Not even bothering to slow down in the least little bit.