Traffic Signal Issue/Drive on the left?
08-26-08, 01:59 PM
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Traffic Signal Issue/Drive on the left?
I have been commuting to work for the past couple of months and love it.
There is one nasty intersection that I must cross on my way home, and the sensors have been paved over, so there is no way I can trip the light. The cross traffic is very heavy, but there is almost no traffic going my way. I called the township office and asked if they could please mark the location of the wire loop so I might trip it with my bike...they told me I should use the pedestrian walk signal which is on the OTHER SIDE of the street (the side street)....I don't like this suggestion as there are many cars turning right from the major intersection onto the side street, and having to dismount and cross the street would put me at more danger!!
But then the guy goes on to tell me it's wrong for me to be on the right hand side of the road, that I should be riding my bicycle AGAINST traffic and be on the left (thus taking the wind out of my complaint above)....and he says that all the guidelines from the state of Pennsylvania state that bicyclists should ride against traffic, so they can see oncoming cars better.
Is this the twilight zone?? I had always heard that bicycles should follow the rules that motor vehicles do. Please pinch me and wake me up...or if there are any other suggestions, please let me know!
Doug
There is one nasty intersection that I must cross on my way home, and the sensors have been paved over, so there is no way I can trip the light. The cross traffic is very heavy, but there is almost no traffic going my way. I called the township office and asked if they could please mark the location of the wire loop so I might trip it with my bike...they told me I should use the pedestrian walk signal which is on the OTHER SIDE of the street (the side street)....I don't like this suggestion as there are many cars turning right from the major intersection onto the side street, and having to dismount and cross the street would put me at more danger!!
But then the guy goes on to tell me it's wrong for me to be on the right hand side of the road, that I should be riding my bicycle AGAINST traffic and be on the left (thus taking the wind out of my complaint above)....and he says that all the guidelines from the state of Pennsylvania state that bicyclists should ride against traffic, so they can see oncoming cars better.
Is this the twilight zone?? I had always heard that bicycles should follow the rules that motor vehicles do. Please pinch me and wake me up...or if there are any other suggestions, please let me know!
Doug
08-26-08, 02:05 PM
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Sounds odd to me. Look up your state's laws, but here in Wisconsin bikes are to behave like vehicles, including riding on the right hand side of the road. PEDESTRIANS should walk / jog against traffic.
08-26-08, 02:06 PM
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But then the guy goes on to tell me it's wrong for me to be on the right hand side of the road, that I should be riding my bicycle AGAINST traffic and be on the left (thus taking the wind out of my complaint above)....and he says that all the guidelines from the state of Pennsylvania state that bicyclists should ride against traffic, so they can see oncoming cars better.
Edit:
Here is one of the applicable provisions:
§ 3505. Riding on roadways and pedalcycle paths.
(a) General rule.--Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), every person operating a pedalcycle upon a highway shall obey the applicable rules of the road as contained in this title.
(b) Operation on shoulder.--A pedalcycle may be operated on the shoulder of a highway and shall be operated in the same direction as required of vehicles operated on the roadway.
(c) Slower than prevailing speeds.--A pedalcycle operated at slower than prevailing speed shall be operated in accordance with the provisions of section 3301(b) (relating to driving on right side of roadway) unless it is unsafe to do so.
And here is an excerpt from the Pennsylvania Bicycle Driver's Manual
With very few exceptions, the safest way to ride is as part of the traffic, going with the flow of the normal traffic pattern. Bicyclists who ride this way get where they're going faster and, according to scientific crash studies, have about five times fewwer crashes than bicyclists who make up their own rules.
Last edited by Febs; 08-26-08 at 02:17 PM.
08-26-08, 02:12 PM
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Thanks, I just saw that myself. And I wrote back to him. But he is a police officer and the township's "traffic safety officer" so who am I to tell him he is wrong?
I just asked him if there is any way to just mark the sensor location, that is all I really want!
I just asked him if there is any way to just mark the sensor location, that is all I really want!
08-26-08, 02:18 PM
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Just out of curiosity, what township is it?
08-26-08, 02:20 PM
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Try zig-zagging over the right-hand 1/3 of the left turn lane. You're probably not going to hit the wire in a dead straight line. (Assuming the town doesn't send someone right over to mark it out!)
08-26-08, 02:24 PM
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I have been commuting to work for the past couple of months and love it.
There is one nasty intersection that I must cross on my way home, and the sensors have been paved over, so there is no way I can trip the light. The cross traffic is very heavy, but there is almost no traffic going my way. I called the township office and asked if they could please mark the location of the wire loop so I might trip it with my bike...they told me I should use the pedestrian walk signal which is on the OTHER SIDE of the street (the side street)....I don't like this suggestion as there are many cars turning right from the major intersection onto the side street, and having to dismount and cross the street would put me at more danger!!
But then the guy goes on to tell me it's wrong for me to be on the right hand side of the road, that I should be riding my bicycle AGAINST traffic and be on the left (thus taking the wind out of my complaint above)....and he says that all the guidelines from the state of Pennsylvania state that bicyclists should ride against traffic, so they can see oncoming cars better.
Is this the twilight zone?? I had always heard that bicycles should follow the rules that motor vehicles do. Please pinch me and wake me up...or if there are any other suggestions, please let me know!
Doug
There is one nasty intersection that I must cross on my way home, and the sensors have been paved over, so there is no way I can trip the light. The cross traffic is very heavy, but there is almost no traffic going my way. I called the township office and asked if they could please mark the location of the wire loop so I might trip it with my bike...they told me I should use the pedestrian walk signal which is on the OTHER SIDE of the street (the side street)....I don't like this suggestion as there are many cars turning right from the major intersection onto the side street, and having to dismount and cross the street would put me at more danger!!
But then the guy goes on to tell me it's wrong for me to be on the right hand side of the road, that I should be riding my bicycle AGAINST traffic and be on the left (thus taking the wind out of my complaint above)....and he says that all the guidelines from the state of Pennsylvania state that bicyclists should ride against traffic, so they can see oncoming cars better.
Is this the twilight zone?? I had always heard that bicycles should follow the rules that motor vehicles do. Please pinch me and wake me up...or if there are any other suggestions, please let me know!
Doug
08-26-08, 02:41 PM
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I take it you're running the red light at this point. Knowing that idiot cyclists everywhere run reds without a care in the world, I appreciate your concienciousness! We're lucky here in Eugene - we've got a bicyclist on the traffic planning board. I hope that your efforts pay off - Good Luck!
08-26-08, 03:23 PM
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Febs, it's East Whiteland township (Frazer/Malvern area)....the intersection in question is Route 401 (the busy part just north of Route 202) and Moores road (the side street I ride on).
08-26-08, 04:23 PM
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Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
08-26-08, 04:32 PM
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08-29-08, 05:34 AM
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An update....yesterday evening on my way home, I was very pleasantly surprised....there, in fluorescent red graffiti spray paint, was the dashed outline of the wire loop. It was about 3 feet to the left of where I thought it would be. I put the bike over the line, and was able to trigger the signal!
So the story (or at least this chapter) has a happy ending!
So the story (or at least this chapter) has a happy ending!
08-29-08, 06:11 AM
#13
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I have been commuting to work for the past couple of months and love it.
There is one nasty intersection that I must cross on my way home, and the sensors have been paved over, so there is no way I can trip the light. The cross traffic is very heavy, but there is almost no traffic going my way. I called the township office and asked if they could please mark the location of the wire loop so I might trip it with my bike...they told me I should use the pedestrian walk signal which is on the OTHER SIDE of the street (the side street)....I don't like this suggestion as there are many cars turning right from the major intersection onto the side street, and having to dismount and cross the street would put me at more danger!!
But then the guy goes on to tell me it's wrong for me to be on the right hand side of the road, that I should be riding my bicycle AGAINST traffic and be on the left (thus taking the wind out of my complaint above)....and he says that all the guidelines from the state of Pennsylvania state that bicyclists should ride against traffic, so they can see oncoming cars better.
Is this the twilight zone?? I had always heard that bicycles should follow the rules that motor vehicles do. Please pinch me and wake me up...or if there are any other suggestions, please let me know!
Doug
There is one nasty intersection that I must cross on my way home, and the sensors have been paved over, so there is no way I can trip the light. The cross traffic is very heavy, but there is almost no traffic going my way. I called the township office and asked if they could please mark the location of the wire loop so I might trip it with my bike...they told me I should use the pedestrian walk signal which is on the OTHER SIDE of the street (the side street)....I don't like this suggestion as there are many cars turning right from the major intersection onto the side street, and having to dismount and cross the street would put me at more danger!!
But then the guy goes on to tell me it's wrong for me to be on the right hand side of the road, that I should be riding my bicycle AGAINST traffic and be on the left (thus taking the wind out of my complaint above)....and he says that all the guidelines from the state of Pennsylvania state that bicyclists should ride against traffic, so they can see oncoming cars better.
Is this the twilight zone?? I had always heard that bicycles should follow the rules that motor vehicles do. Please pinch me and wake me up...or if there are any other suggestions, please let me know!
Doug
08-29-08, 07:09 AM
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