JasBike

So this is a 25mph road, and i'm going about 25-26mph, so i'm in the middle of the road...


along comes some SUV behind me, and slaaaams on his horn... *BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*



?! is 25mph not fast enough???!

coppilot

Because they are jack-a$S#'$. I know, and I write them Jack-a$s$'s tickets everyday! I personally don't ride in the middle of the road, but if you are doing the speed limit you should be able to ride where you want to. Peace!!!!!!!!!!!

scarry

He was confusing the speed limit as the minimum required speed.

Jerk!

TrekRider

You have a death wish? Ask almost any cop and they will tell you that hardly anyone actually does the speed limit. Most people drive at the maximum safest speed. They will toe the legal limit only if the see a cop or their radar detecter buzzes.

Say on the side where it is much safer. You may get more flat tires, but you can fix flat tires a lot faster than you can recover from being run over by an SUV.

spazegun2213

eeeek, thats not cool. Some people can be very pushy when behind the wheel.

Heck as for the middle of the road bit, If I'm doing the speed limit (or faster) on my bike, its now my lane I will move closer to the center of the lane too. I will however move to the side if i see/hear a car.

roadfix

That's right! You are supposed to yield to faster traffic whether they are obeying the speed limit or not! You are endangering yourself by hogging the road. What if for instance that driver was taking his pregnant wife who's about to pop to the hospital? Think about it....

Chris L

Then he should have had the foresight to leave five minutes earlier. As far as I'm concerned, the whole speed limit thing is one area of the law (one of the few) that needs and demands a fascist police state.

khuon

I had a tailgating incident today. I was ending my ride with a long downhill and heading back towards my Jeep (yes, I drove to my ride). I was going a little over 20MPH which is about the speed limit. I saw a 20MPH and also a 25MPH limit sign in a couple of places but wasn't sure which applied at the time. I was fully concentrating on my line when I heard the deep-throated noise of a very large engine behind me. I chanced a quick glance and saw that Joe Redneck with a jacked-up wannabe monster-truck was no more than a bike length's behind me.

At anyrate, I could not ride the shoulder because there was no shoulder. At the speeds I was going at, I needed float room (keep reading and you'll find out why) so I needed to be in the middle of the lane. The road was of variable width and could basically be considered single-lane. I guess I should mention that this road was a deep loose gravel forestry access road. I used it to access the singletrack trails further in the opposite direction. I guess I could have stopped and pulled over but I was almost certain that if I applied my brakes, the truck would have run me over since it was so close. Also, it wouldn't have been wise to hit my brakes on such loose ground. Luckily, the mutual "inconvenience" lasted only a few minutes as the road opened up to two lanes near the bottom of the hill. Of course, the numbnut behind the wheel of the truck swerved over and passed me while gunning his engine and sending rocks my way.

After loading my bike onto my Jeep and driving out of the forest, I happened upon the truck from before. This time, we were on a twisty and hilly 2-lane no-passing paved country road with a speed limit of 35MPH, no shoulders and blind corners. The truck was caught behind a Chevy Suburban and riding its bumper and swerving from one side to another looking to pass. Eventually the Suburban pulled over to let the truck pass. The truck once again sped off and by my estimate was now doing around 50MPH. I had seen "Watch for Bicycles Next 4 Miles" signs on the road in both directions indicating this road was a popular bike route and hoped that no cyclists were out on it today. Ten minutes later, I caught up to the truck again. This time it was stopped off to the side of the road and there was a gunmetal-grey coloured police car pulled up behind it with lights still flashing and the officer having a nice chat with the driver of the truck.

dana

Hope he got a huge fine.

Bobatin

I wonder what would have happened if you had stopped and talked to the officer.

Ebbtide

Did you think about that before you typed? Child birth (time and day) can't be planned.

As to the original topic: You yourself are admitting to breaking the letter of the "law" by going 26 MPH, and now you gripe about another road user doing the same. Thats very weird thinking.

ehenz

nathank

yes and no.

if he were in a car he would have no obligation to pull over to "yeild to faster traffic" thus it's the same for the bike.

most states have some kind of "5 vehicles behind" rule that says when slow-moving vehicles must pull over to yeild to normal traffic, but when you are travelling the speed limit you are no longer a "slow-moving vehicle"

as to the pregnant wife scenario, that's just self-centered car-speak: "nobody should be on the road in case _I_ need it" ---- when travelling the speed limit, the following car can either pass (if allowed and safe) or wait until it is safe to do so... and except for very RARE occasions this should not be long at all...

now if the cyclist decides the lane is wide enough and moves to the right so the vehicle can pass in the same lane, then ok, but when going the speed limit that is his _choice_!

nathank

i had a sort of simliar event last sunday here in Germany: i was riding on a road with 2 lanes in my direction and travelling about 40km/h. the limit was about 40 or 45 (not exactly sure) but there was quite a bit of traffic. some cars were turning right so the right lane slowed significantly and the left lane was clear, so travelling in the left lane about 40km/h i passed about 30 cars in the right lane ALL GOING MUCH SLOWER. just as i had passed all the cars (so i had been in the left lane maybe 40 seconds) some a-hole greatly exceeding the speed limit in his "cool" mercedes convertible comes screaming by all the slower cars and then lays on the horn directly behind me... at this point i was just past the slower cars and had started to move right, but when he honked, i sat up and stayed in the lane... like the major a-hole he is, he continued to lay on the horn while driving about 6 inches behind my rear wheel. i enventually pulled to the right and he sped by accelerating to like 100km/h before having to stop for traffic at the next light (how cool he was! and wow, if i hadn't slowed him down he could have started braking even earlier and waited at the light even longer, but i prevented him from having those 3 extra seconds stopped at the light. wow, how inconsiderate of me). why does he feel it is his "right" to have the left lane completely clear so he can speed? (i am talking about while the right lane was full with slower-moving cars and i was _passing_ and then getting back to the right when clear --- if the right lane were clear sooner i would have moved back to the right lane). if i had been in a car instead of on the bike (many cars were travelling slower than me) he probably would have tailgated but not honked... or who knows, the guy seemed like an idiot.

scarry

Right on!!! I love it "Car Speak" or
"Auto-Centric". A mind set in which cars are thought to have absolute supremacy over other road users, often leading to road rage.

If the road is not wide enough to safely share at the speed you are riding, it is safer to "take the lane".

The speed limit does not confer the absolute right to go at that speed. And it certainly does not give the right to endanger slower moving traffic.

Chi

One thing I've always noticed on the road while driving is that people forget the simple fact: Driving is a priviledge, not a right. Some motorists think that "traffic" owes them some eternal debt and that they shall be repaid everytime they see someone in a position of the road that they want to be in.

blah blah blah blah

This is why I gave up driving the commute.

Phatman

all this does not detract from the fact that while you are tchnically allowed to ride inthe middle of the road, you must have a death wish to do so. even though it would be nice if the world were perfect, it isn't, so you have to adapt to it. If you get run over, it would be his fault, not yours, but you are dead anyway. thats why as a roadie, I try to stay about a foot or so from the side, like any sane human being.

roadfix

Ok.....but why would a cyclist wanna hog the road, even when travelling at the speed limit, when there's plenty of space to simply move over and yield to traffic behind you. It's not a complicated matter to deal with.....

djwid

I can think of a number of reasons to take a lane. In fact I did yesterday. Riding down a hill on Springvale. The shoulder has scattered gravel and I typically get to the high 30's when braking. The road curves and the descent is over two miles long. You better believe I am in the middle of the lane.

Given shoulder conditions in many circumstances I will take a lane, not just in on downhill run. Immediately branding the original poster as one with a deathwish is premature and 'car-centric' as nathank said.

/Duncan

Ebbtide

I can drive down the freeway at 40mph in the fast lane and it is legal. But would I do this just because I can, I don't think so, I'm a bit more considerate to other road users. The same applies to riding a residential street at 25 thinking all cars should stay in line behind me. If you were in a car you would have been passed, the fact that your on a bike is moot at this point.

I think this is more a "how considerate are you" thread.

roadfix

Actually, at least not in CA if there's traffic behind you......

shaharidan

if you riding a residential street at 25 miles an hour and the speed limit is 25 miles an hour then all cars should stay behind you.
i guess with your way of thinking if im going 25 miles an hour in my car and you feel the speed limit doesnt apply to you i should move over. i guess cars dont have to stop for stop signs either.

Ebbtide

So you are telling me you never passed anyone without exceeding the speed limit? I suppose you never did an "illegal" rolling stop either.

Common sense and courtesy seem to get lost in these bike vs. car debates.

ehenz

shaharidan

well it seems to me common sense would be to go the speed limit.
as far as courtesy goes the guy was going the speed limit on his bicycle, he was in the center of the lane (there are plenty of good reasons he might have taken the lane). so someone in a car comes right up on his wheel and blares his horn. who was the one not being courteous?
if the person in the car had acted with some courtesy the cyclist probably would have moved when safe and we wouldnt have this thread.
the person in the car is the one without courtesy and common sense.
as far as your questions for me.
i dont roll thru stop signs believe it or not.
i may go past the speed limit to pass someone on a highway, but once past i slow down again.
and i sure wouldnt pass someone where the speed limit was 25. when i was younger i may have, but i came to realize most places im goin to in my car i'm in no hurry to get to.

Nic

If I'm riding the speed limit, I will be in the center of the lane. Likewise, if the right lane is turning, I'll be in the left lane. It is not that I'm inconsiderate. It is faster and I would rather do that then dodge all the crap at the side of the road, like sewar gutters, broken mufflers and whatever. If a car comes up behind me I will start to move over and let them by. If they honk their horn at me then I'm not going ato move over. Why should I be considerate to some *******? It was the driver of that SUV who honked and tailgated the cyclist of the guy in the mercedes that was inconsiderate, not the cyclist. If I was in those situations, I'd stay in the center lane and show them my favorite finger.

khuon

Very brave and IMHO, not very smart. I'd rather have my ego battered than my body. You never know what kind of person is behind the wheel. If I don't move over when an automobile is behind me and I'm moving within the acceptable speed of traffic then it's because I need to be where I am to safely ride that particular section of road and not because I want to show them who's who. I will move over when it's safe. Riding as far to the right as safe and practicable is not just a courtesy to others... it's also the law and is bourne out of safety considerations. The implication is that the middle of the lane may be as far to the right as is safe and practicable given certain situations.