Say you’re not a cyclist without saying your not a cyclist. Anyone who thinks he’s not riding here for good reason doesn’t really understand bike safety.
First, he’s not antagonizing anyone. It’s ridiculous to think that cyclists will ride in the middle of the road just to piss off drivers.
Second, taking the lane is by far the safest place to ride. Forcing a driver to cross the yellow line is good for BOTH the rider and the driver. If the driver is trying to “squeeze” by the rider, he is likely to either or both hit the rider, or marginally cross the yellow line and hit an oncoming car. By forcing the pass over the yellow line, it gives the car all the room in the world to pass and do so at a safe distance from the rider. It doesn’t seem like a high traffic road, so asking a car to slow down for 10 seconds to make a safe pass is not too much to ask.
Third, this road surface is terrible and he’s riding in likely the safest smoothest rut in that road. Riding in the shoulder is likely to cause him to have a flat tire or crash. And thinking that having him pull over occasionally to let drivers pass may be courteous to drivers, but it’s not SAFE for him to be moving in and out of traffic. The cars behind need to predict where he will be to pass him safely and if he is merging in and out of traffic, he runs the risk of a car not expecting that and hitting him.
It’s not selfish to exercise your rights. That’s why they are rights. Particularly when you are trying to be safe. And particularly when this guy has somewhere he needs to be. I doubt he’s packing panniers because they are helping him train on a heavier bike.
You’re not wrong. And I don’t think anybody is saying that how he’s riding is not legal. It is legal, but it’s also unintelligent. Unless of course you don’t mind assuming a huge increase in risk due to current traffic conditions—morning rush hour.
Again, I ride this road, it’s garbage, it’s very busy and the shoulder sucks. But, it’s 100% rideable and I ride the shoulder or hug the white line 100% of the time even though I know it’s permissible for me to take the lane. I don’t take the lane because I want to increase my odds of making it home safely to ride another day.
But you’ll just get buzzed when they end up passing you anyway—does it really change how the driver behaves? I’m more inclined to believe that the driver becomes more aggressive and angry if you’re slowing them down and forcing them to enter the oncoming traffic lane to pass you.
The example I’m posting is not one that has a shoulder that is unridable. It’s not ideal, but it’s not a dangerous or obstructed shoulder.
It may very well change how they behave, but can’t lump all drivers in 1 bucket. When the road is safe for me to ride to the right of the white line, I do. I’ve found though that for many drivers, they assume I’m out of their way and just buzz past as if I weren’t there.
I crashed last summer because I was trying to stay to the right of the white line and a tractor-trailer buzzed me to close I lost control and flew over my bars. This was on a small back road. Had I taken the lane, that #^#%@^*$& driver would have had to actually acknowledge my presence and made a concerted effort to not almost kill me
Not in my experience. Once a drive has to cross the centerline, they tend to pass as if I’m full width vehicle (ie, they go all the way over). There are exceptions, but I assume they’re assholes and would buzz me either way. I’m more concerned about the casually clueless - if I can get them to think before passing, I’m better off.
As is the yellow line rule in many states but I think the problem is many drivers don’t know this.
Another example is a rolling stop is permissible in some states but that ticks off many drivers even if you arrive at a 4-way stop first. They don’t know any better and are pissed you didn’t stop.
Unless a cultural/educational shift occurs nationwide, the situation isn’t going to improve.
That’s as likely as a decline is big truck/SUV sales which make the roads in the US less safe for everyone including cyclists, pedestrians, and those of us not driving a monster truck with side-view swatters.
What are you talking about? Did you read my OP? I have clearly acknowledged the laws stating that this cyclist is not breaking any. But I do think that he is taking up an uneccessary amount of lane given the conditions.
Minnesota Statute 169.222, Subdivision 4:
(a) Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:
(1) when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction;
(2) when preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway;
(3) when reasonably necessary to avoid conditions, including fixed or moving objects, vehicles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards or narrow width lanes, that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge; or
(4) when operating on the shoulder of a roadway or in a bicycle lane.
Forgive me for not knowing that I (the driver) am able to cross a double yellow to pass…I didn’t know that.
So it’s encouraged to enter a lane of traffic even if you have the option of riding the shoulder?
You either take the lane and increase your odds of getting hit from behind or you take the shoulder and get buzzed. I’d take getting buzzed 100% of the time over someone with sun in their eyes hitting me from behind.
But all you “take the lane” riders continue to do so, I hope you don’t killed, to me this seems like the less safe way to ride, but maybe I’m wrong.
A lot of opinions in this thread…and I’m not here to argue them, but riding IN THE LANE (legal or not) in most cases will make you hated by the driving population, it’s just the way it is.
In all fairness, car-drivers also hate other car drivers… and motorbikes, playing kids, animals, too much sunshine, tractors, too little sunshine, rain,… You get the point.
Just an FYI to the driver using his phone while driving to take a picture of a stranger and post it on the internet - only one person involved is breaking the law and putting other people at risk and it’s you.
In general, when you’re arguing whether a bike should or should not do something, and how a car should respond, replace the bike by a farm tractor going the same speed. The response should be the same in both situations.
The farm tractor cannot disappear at will to prevent a car coming from behind from being annoyed. The car is allowed to cross a double-line to pass the tractor. The car driver may have to wait. Nobody writes long threads about annoying farm employees.
Sight visibility narrows as speed increases. Riding closer to the center means a rider is more likely to be seen sooner. This is why riding two abreast increases safety.
I’ll reiterate- the road user owes you no explanation for why they’re using a certain portion of the road. It does not matter what debris is in the shoulder or what tires they’re running or that they were recently buzzed and want to feel seen.
Why do you think someone in a car is more important than someone on a bike? They’re not. They’re safe and warm in a car, they can wait the extra (30?) seconds till it’s safe to pass.
The OP has it 100% backwards re safety, it’s unsafe to ride in the gutter at the side of the road, it’s safer to be in the lane. The cyclist is relying on motorists to not murder them at all times while on the road anyway.
