<p>I think that no matter who you are and how you travel (from foot to bike to motorcycle to car to Hummer) discretion is the better part of valor. Personally I would rather be alive to know that I was right than be right but not be around to feel smug about it. The street that Bunsen and I have been referencing and the University street intersection are notorious. People barrel down the hill much faster than the speed of traffic during rush hour because, hey . . .bike lane. That doesn’t absolve careless motorists but it also doesn’t give cyclists free reign to pound on the hoods of people’s cars or spit on their windows. For the same reason, transportation planners don’t like to put in mid block crosswalks even at locations where many people jaywalk because of specific attractions on one side or the other. A crosswalk makes pedestrians feel safe and right because they technically have the right of way so they are often much less careful and attentive when crossing.</p>
<p>It thought this piece had some great tips for both groups (scroll to the bottom)</p>
<p>So I was on my way into work this am - 6:30 am so just starting to get light and raining hard. I was on a 30 mph frontage road which has a dedicated bike lane on the open side in the direction that I was traveling. As I was approaching my turn in (left turn) I noticed a cyclist by motion only. He was riding on the opposite tree lined sidewalk in the same direction as me dressed in a steel gray rain suit with a black backpack - no visible lighting or reflectors. Again, this is barely dawn and raining hard. He was obviously a commuter rather than a recreational cyclist. Fortunately I saw him before he crossed my parking lot driveway and before the exiting car got there. Yes - he can be there and I don’t have a problem with him on the side walk in general, but have some common sense. Don’t ride in the rainy, dark Pacific Northwest morning without some recognition that visibility is a good thing. </p>
<p>Yesterday I was on a very curvy narrow road with no shoulder out in the country. Being Saturday, there were lots and lots of bicyclists some alone some in clumps. I was mindful of the three foot rule but there was no way to pass these bicycling groups without crossing a double yellow. Am I just supposed to creep along at 5 miles per hour or are they supposed to pull over when a pullover spot is available? </p>
<p>By the way, there was a country intersection at the end of a downhill. All of the bicyclists just ran the stop sign.</p>
<p>Yup. I think you’re supposed to just creep along for as long as it takes to get to a place that you can safely pass them. It would be nice if they pulled over.</p>
<p>This thread has made me more conscious of bikers and more patient when I encounter them but I get frustrated when i see one behaving erratically on the road or not following the rules.</p>
<p>Am I just supposed to creep along at 5 miles per hour or are they supposed to pull over when a pullover spot is available? On narrow mountain roads, almost everyone who passes me does so by crossing the double yellow line. I expect drivers to cross the yellow line to pass me if necessary, since that is the standard. I wish the law in California had been passed as originally written, because originally it specifically allowed crossing the double yellow line to pass cyclists-- which is, again, how experienced drivers handle the situation. The double yellow line is put in place where it is unsafe for a car to pass another car, but in many cases (NOT ON CURVES) it’s perfectly safe for a motorist to pass a cyclist.</p>
<p>A cyclist is not legally required to pull over if a single car is following them and is unable to pass. That being said, the cyclists were rude and inconsiderate to block you that way. The last cyclist ought to have alerted the cyclists ahead to ride single file to enable you to pass safely. </p>
<p>I also wondered whether bicyclists are going to be ticketed if they get within three feet of a car. The law says that a motorist must leave three feet when passing a cyclist. It says nothing about cyclists passing motorists. In my opinion, for safety a cyclist ought to leave at least three feet when passing a motorist, and ought to leave about six or seven feet when passing a parked car (doors).</p>
<p>In our community, they are building bike lanes in green closest to the sidewalk with a berm indicating where the bike lane ends and then dedicated street parking closest to traffic. The bike lanes are the entire width of a regular street lane. Motorists and merchants are unhappy because it cuts down on the number of lanes for streets that are already VERY busy. The bike lanes are one direction, going the same direction as the one way street. They have bike lanes doing the opposite direction in the parallel one way street.</p>
<p>So they’re building bike lanes to the right of parked cars? Oh dear. That is a very bad idea unless there is nothing to the right of the bikes (no streets, no driveways, no parking lots) so that no driver would ever cross the bike lane. Because if a driver does have to cross the bike lane, they won’t be able to see the bike traffic. That’s a recipe for crashes. I would not ride on such a bike lane; I’d take the lane, if I had to ride on that street.</p>
<p>There are sidewalks AND driveways to the right of the bike lanes. It is a high density area, so there are A LOT of driveways and frequent intersections. I think the berm gives bikers a false sense of security, since drivers can hit them from the driveways and many intersections. The berm DOES protect them somewhat from drivers trying to park their cars in the parallel parking spaces right beside the berm.</p>
<h1>186- As they passed me on the right as I was stopped at the stop sign and they rolled right on through the stop sign, two or three came within 3 feet of me. I was not moving.</h1>
<p>Drivers in Hawaii are notoriously BAD about sharing the road with bicyclists and motorcyclists. I am very concerned and plan to stay very far from this bike path, which I consider poorly conceived. </p>
<p>Sadly, when I was a trial attorney, the jury would ALWAYS find against the cyclist, no matter what the evidence showed and how egregious the auto driver’s behavior was. It was very upsetting. I don’t think it’s changed and I do NOT cycle in Hawaii, nor do any of my loved ones–it’s just too dangerous with the awful traffic congestion and poor drivers.</p>