The bike lane dilemma

Yesterday while driving east on Drexel, my wife and I witnessed an astounding act of bald selfishness that we see more regularly than can be believed. Ahead of us, a car passed the car ahead of him - which was doing at least 40 mph in a 35 mph zone - on the right, using the pedestrian/bike lane. We were approaching the crest of a hill, so the passing car had no way to see what might be ahead of him in that lane - - a bike? A parent pushing a stroller? Someone walking a dog?

The last page of the August Franklin City newsletter contains a column of reminders for local bicyclists. One of the bullet points they include is a rule (which I've underlined) I've always found hard to swallow:

Bicycles are considered “vehicles” on Wisconsin roadways. That means bicyclists must obey the rules of the road like any other vehicle and must be treated as equal users by all other vehicles. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation lists some “general rules” for riding bicycles on the road:

• Always ride in the same direction as traffic.
• Bicyclists must obey all traffic laws.
• Ride just to the right of the actual traffic line—ride at least 3 feet from the curb or parked vehicles and in a straight line.
• Use the correct signals for turning.
• Wear a bicycle helmet on every ride to reduce your chance of head injury in event of a fall or crash.
• Wear bright colors during the day and retro-reflective items at night along with headlight and taillight to increase your visibility to other road users.

It's a "general rule," so I suppose it may also be a law: the Wisconsin Department of Transportation expects people on bikes to ride with their backs to traffic.

Now, I'm not a guy who will tell people to ignore traffic laws, but as for me, I ride facing traffic when on most of the busy roads in Franklin and shudder to see people - - especially kids - - who do otherwise. Subdivision streets are one thing, but the busy connector roads are just too treacherous.

A portion of the excellent multi-use Oak Leaf Trail goes through Franklin. Although it is steadily being improved and extended, a significant portion of the trail is still on very problematic roads.

Consider the following situation:

As I come up behind this biker, he may have no idea I’m approaching if he’s wearing an iPod. Even if he does sense my presence, he has precious little space to his right before he’s down a steep ditch. And ahead, I cannot see what might be coming over the hill and therefore can’t drift left to give the bike more room. This bike rider has his life in my hands in a way that he wouldn't if he was facing me.

Here’s another situation created by an accident of geography on the portion of Drexel leading to the trail from the east:

Imagine that the vehicle ahead has just turned on its left-turn signal - - see the street sign to its right? You’re going at least 40 mph (but probably closer to 50 mph) and don’t want to stop behind the turning vehicle as he waits for oncoming traffic, so you pass on the right without even taking your foot off the gas, using that handy black portion of the road on the other side of the white line even though you can’t see what’s over the crest of the hill. Note to the bicyclist who follows the letter of the law here: I hope your will is up to date, because you are dead. (And, if it happens to be during the school year and Franklin High School has just let out, you're dead twice.)

(A personal aside: When I run this road - - facing traffic - - I see this “perfect storm” take form with almost comical regularity and end up having to jump into the ditch to avoid a car or truck in “my” lane. I simply plan of dodging a car while in this stretch and keep my head up; it’s certainly no place to have your eyes down watching the ground for glass or rocks.)

The dilemma of the biker ...

Comments

[John (Uneasy Rhetoric)]

Because the law states that bicycles must ride with the flow of traffic, and because I imagine most cyclists where you are do, you are actually doing cyclists a grave disservice by violating the law and riding contrary to traffic.

In the eyes of drivers, you have suddenly become unpredictable, and traffic safety depends in large part on the idea that traffic follows predictable patterns, defined by the rules of the road.

(You also become a poor ambassador for cyclists generally, who already have reputations for lawlessness when it comes to road rules.)

If you don't feel safe riding with traffic on a particular street, then chose an alternate route. For busy streets without adequate bicycle facilities, this is a far, far better option than riding against traffic.

And you mention iPods, I think it's illegal in most places (certainly here in CA) to wear headphones in both ears while riding.