Bike Fun
From:
phædrus (Jason Goray)
Date:
May 06 00:00 UTC
Short link
> Sec. 169.222, subd.4(a) says: "Every person operating a bicycle upon a
roadway
> shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the
roadway ..."
>
> 169.222, subd.4(c) says: "Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway or shoulder
shall
> not ride more than two abreast and shall not impede the normal and reasonable
> movement of traffic ..."
>
> So, does the statement that bicyclists shall not ride "more than two
abreast" give them
> the right to ride two abreast at all times given the other language about
"every person"
> riding as close as practicable to the curb and not impeding traffic? It's not
clear to me.
That's a good question. I read it that I have the right to ride two
abreast but need to stay in the right lane and if riding alone should
be no further left than the center of the right lane unless planning
to turn left ahead. I am very interested in hearing some sort of
official answer.
I will almost never ride further right than the right hand tire track
on the road as the area between that and the gutter tends to be filled
with debris and other obstacles and riding that far over makes it
harder for drivers to notice you. Its far better to be in the right
tire track and be seen than to be further in the shoulder encouraging
cars to pass you in your lane and then get stuck and possibly struck
when having to swerve back into the lane to avoid something.
For both visibility and sociability, I do generally prefer to ride two
abreast when I'm riding with another person. However, in the
interest of civility, I generally tend to pull into single file to
give drivers approaching from behind more room to pass me although I
often wait until they're close enough that I'm certain they're aware
we're there.
I am curious on whether or not bicyclists riding double file are
required to change to single file if being approached from behind.
Does anyone know? I guess the root of the question comes down to what
is considered "impeding the normal and reasonable movement of traffic"
versus being traffic. We've certainly got the right to be there and
we definitely aren't permitted to legally ride more than two abreast
but I'm not sure how much lane we are permitted to claim.
When I'm on busier roads with four lanes (generally for very short
stretches as that's not where I like to ride), I often prefer to keep
two abreast as it does make us more visible and tends to make traffic
pass us with a wider margin and a bit less speed. Additionally, I
tend to ride a large and well lit bike and wear a fair bit of armor so
I generally take the outer-rear position as I'm quite visible and have
got a chance of faring better if clipped than some of the people I
ride with.
Even so, if going single file, it is prudent to ride 3 - 4' from
parked cars to avoid being doored and I believe that passing cars are
required to give you 3' of passing space which means that a bicyclist
requires 8' to 9' of lane which is pretty much the whole lane in some
areas of town.
- phaedrus (jason.goray), 3-6, minneapolis, minnesota, usa, earth.
.