Try to adhere 99% of the time. But I work in an industrial area where trains loading and unloading are a constant. This means downed crossing arms. When it's safe (the train has stopped or is reversing) I go around the arm and on to freedom.

That is absolutely true, but its easier to be more agile on my own. I always ride defensively, I'm just extra defensive when my son is with me.

I obey traffic lights just like a car. One exception: there is a red light on my commute which will not turn green for bicycle, so I can sit there until a car comes along, or stop and go through the light. I hit that light at 5:15 AM, when there are no cars anywhere in sight, so I go through it.

I stop at stop signs when there are cars around. When there are no cars, I slow, look and go through. I do not go through at speed.

There is one place on my commute where traffic is not allowed to make a left turn. I arrive there at 5:30 AM, again there are never any cars around, so I make the left turn. If there is traffic, which is unusual, I make a right, U-turn, and then go through.

I usually do not filter through traffic. If I lived somewhere where massive traffic jams were common, then I probably would. I think motorcycles should be allowed to split lanes in stopped traffic, although they are not, in Oregon, and I think bicycles should as well.

If you consider rolling through a deserted stop sign and exceeding the posted speed limit roughly equal, I obey traffic laws about the same when riding and when driving.

Riding in Atlanta I have found that if I act like a car I'll get treated like one instead of blown past 2 inches from my shoulder. I follow the traffic laws as closely as I would in a car. My main rule of thumb is to never pass anybody who has already passed me. Other than that I'm defensive as possible. Still I've been shoulder-nudged by a cab, run off the road by a bus that would have hit me. Honked at by a semi 7 feet behind me. . . multiple times . . . on a 4 lane road where traffic was clear, and hit by a car from behind while making a left (he was trying to squeak past). . .

Any other riders in the Atlanta area had better luck?

I get a kick out of motorists who get upset about cyclists not following rules to a T, while every single one of them is endangering us, and themselves, by travelling at least 10 MPH over the limit.

The hypocracy never ceases to astounds me. After getting hit by an idiot in a Chevy Avalanche the other week I have started a "drive to rule" campaign whenever I drive the car. In town, I drive at either the posted speed limit or a couple of km/h slower if someone irritates me, come to complete stops at all stop signs and if a pedestrian is even in the same postal code of crossing the major roundabout near my house I will stop and let them in. I also am really nice in letting in transit buses and semis and I use the car to shield cyclists. Drives people absolutely CRAZY. If someone hits me it won't be my fault and I'll use the insurance settlement to buy a really cool bike.

read this thread: Get well soon, MMach5, the recent update by the rider Mach5


http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...2#post14775772

Here in South Korea the "rules" are suggestions and if you don't just go with the flow you get flattened. So I'd have to say I break the rules all the time as a matter of self preservation.

I used to break traffic laws to go with a flow (or faster), but do it less and less. With experience i notice how thin is the line between catching that window between cars and being hit. Sometimes there are just too many (unknown) variables involved.

I ride a lot in the dark when there are only few cars on the road. Most of the time i'd cross on the red light if there is no car around. But lots of people here in Germany wait for the green light even if there is nothing coming. I feel stupid to cross when they are there standing, have a feeling it's unfair to cross while they decided to obey and to wait. People may have various reasons why they wait, perhaps it's only obeying but maybe they don't feel confident enough. I don't want them to rely on me and to give them a false confidence. If there are kids around then not obeying traffic rules is a 100% no-go for me.

So now it's extremely rare that i don't wait for the green light, even if alone on the street.

PS. I should mention though that in Germany traffic is well organized, so most of the time it's easy to follow the rules. I started commuting in St. Petersburg, Russia, there you ride with the cars and better behave like one and make yourself seen. Taking a lane was really helpful and local traffic rules allow that.

This is how I ride also. Stop signs I'll treat as a yield as long as there's no other cars except for those behind me. If there are other vehicles then I'll usually track stand until I can go.

The reason I wont treat stop lights as yield is because of motorist perception. That's the one thing that cyclists do that seems to spark instant rage. I'd rather not have a bunch of angry drivers coming up behind me. That being said, if I know that a light wont change for a bicycle then I'll treat it as a 4 way stop.

Another thing that I don't do is lane split to get in front of cars. Again it's about perception and anger on the part of drivers. A lot of drivers feel like they just worked very hard to pass a cyclist safely and they get upset if they see you getting in front of them again in a way they feel is cheating. I just feel taking a couple of seconds more is worth it to be more courteous and have drivers less angry.

I will say though that I'm known to take the lane and keep it if I feel that a driver behind me is being unsafe, harassing me, or likely to buzz me simply because they don't want to change lanes.

That's what riding in China is like as well. I find that as long as I'm in the middle of a pack of bikes/scooters going through an intersection (or even better, with a bus between me and oncoming traffic) going with the flow is much better than trying to follow rules that nobody else follows anyway.

If so called "filtering" is illegal, which is nothing more than a car passing a bike in the same lane or vice versa, then it's got to be one of the most violated laws on the books.

I will roll through stop signs if I can see no traffic coming, but other than that I follow the law to the letter (including no filtering traffic, which is illegal in PA). I don't want to give motorists any more reasons to hate cyclists.

Which law in PA that makes filtering illegal?

I am generally a rule follower and I wish more people would do the same. IMO, from a safety standpoint, it would be good if we all rode with similar habits so we were more predictable to the cars around us.

I stop at stop signs - even when other vehicles aren't around. I'm not in that much of a hurry that a couple seconds is going to ruin my day.

Most of the traffic lights around here don't get tripped by me or my bike. Early in the morning, I commute on a road that has a very light amount of traffic. If I were to wait for the lights to turn red, I'd be waiting for the next car to pull up behind me, which could be 5-10 minutes or so. California law states that if the signal doesn't trip, and you're waiting for a long time, it's legal to proceed through the red light...so I wait 30 seconds, and if nothing, I proceed through.

Does that mean you wait at traffic lights for at least 30 seconds even when you can clearly see that there is no other traffic present? To each their own.

Like I said, I'm not in a hurry. I leave my house in plenty of time. If I wanted to, I could simply hop on a busier street, where there are more cars to trip the signals. Adding a couple minutes to my ride isn't the end of the world. At the busier intersections, where no one ever seems to go the same way I'm going, I'll wait one full cycle (which could be maybe 90 seconds or so), and proceed when safe. At the less busy signals, where there's basically no one around, I'll wait 10-15 seconds or so. I know that when in a vehicle, these would be triggered in less than 5 seconds.

Section 3304. Overtaking vehicle on the right.
(a) General rule.--The driver of a vehicle may overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle only under one of the following conditions:
(1) When the vehicle overtaken is making or about to make a left turn, except that such movement shall not be made by driving off the berm or shoulder of the highway.
(2) Upon a roadway with unobstructed pavement of sufficient width for two or more lines of vehicles moving lawfully in the direction being traveled by the overtaken vehicle, except that such movement shall not be made by driving off the roadway.
(b) Limitation--No passing movement under this section shall be made unless the movement can be made in safety.


Roadway -- that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the sidewalk, berm or shoulder even though such sidewalk, berm, or shoulder is used by pedalcycles.


So basically, it says that you can't pass on the right unless you're passing a left-turning vehicle or there are two or more lanes in the same direction on the road, and that the shoulder/berm is not a lane, even though it can be used by pedalcycles.

The pedalcycle section of the vehicle code makes no exceptions to this rule, so if I can't filter with my car, I can't filter with my bicycle, motorcycle, scooter, or whatever, even if the shoulder would give me the space to do so.

#2 says filtering is legal.

The PA laws says that bicycles can operate in the shoulder of the roadway, so if you are already in the shoulder and filter up in the shoulder you should be good to go.

You can also filter in the lane according to the law, as long as there is room.

I generally try to follow most rules to make my actions predictable, but if I can see there are no cars around anywhere then I'm not likely to come to a complete stop at a stop sign. I also ride small-wheeled bikes on the sidewalk occasionally which is legal in some municipalities around here but not others. At busy intersections I always dismount and walk the bike across, and if I pass a pedestrian I slow down and/or give them a very wide berth depending on the circumstances. People approaching from behind and turning into driveways are a hazard sometimes, but a mirror helps with that.

"Upon a roadway with unobstructed pavement of sufficient width for two or more lines of vehicles"

Hmm, I interpreted that as meaning two or more lanes, but I can see your interpretation too. But filtering in the shoulder is definitely illegal, from the "except that such movement shall not be made by driving off the roadway" clause coupled with the definition of roadway.

My interpretation is supported by the motorcycle section, which does specifically prohibit filtering.
Anyway, I don't want to hijack the thread. I'll continue not passing on the right because drivers don't expect it and it would increase my chances of being right hooked.

You are not filtering by riding a bike on the shoulder, and riding on the shoulder past cars is certainly legal. The motorcycle provision actually supports the interpretation that filtering is generally legal. Otherwise, why would they need a provision specifically prohibiting motorcycles from filtering? Agreed that safety comes first, which is also included under (b) in the law you cited.