Road Hazard: Bicyclists' Disregard of Traffic Laws

PDJetta · Mar 31, 2012

I had a close call yesterday which rattled my nerves. I almost presented a Darwin award to a cyclist who disregarded a stop sign and almost rode into my path. Not a pleasant thought. I would hate to hurt someone, even if it was because of their own stupidity, and wreck my car. This occurred on the George Washington Parkway at a bike path crossing that is viewed as one of the most dangerous in the area. Joggers and bicyclists using the bike path have "STOP" and "Cyclists Dismount Before Crossing" signs facing them right before the croswalk at the Parkway. Drivers are not supposed to stop before the crossing to let waiting cyclists and joggers cross (they do need to yield to those in the crosswalk, though) because this is a limited access highway. This is a really odd place to have a bike/pedestrian crossing and there are not many others like it. It is out of place.

There have been many accidents at this crosswalk, almost every one where a driver stops and motions waiting trail users to cross, only to be rear ended by an inattentive driver. The Police give tickets out to drivers who stop in front of the crosswalk in this manner. Knowing this, I don't stop for the trail users near the crosswalk waiting to cross, but I do watch for someone being in the crosswalk and am prepared to stop if there is. The trail users are supposed to stop and only cross when it is safe. My close call was not the stopped cars scenario, though.

I am dieseling along at 40 MPH (the speed limit) approaching the bike path crossing. This is in the northbound direction, with two lanes. The crossing spans these two lanes only. A driver in the left lane passes me at about 50 MPH and about three seconds before he traverses the crosswalk, a bicyclist on the trail blows through their stop sign, accross the car's path. A kind of close call, foolish on the part of the cyclist, but still he made it accross the Parkway a hundred feet or so infront the car.

Then, as I approch the crossing, at about 4 seconds before crossing it, I notice another cyclist riding towards the crosswalk. My first thought is, "They'll stop, since they can't make it across without colliding with me, they are supposed to stop anyway". About 2 seconds later I realize they aren't stopping and are going to go right through their stop sign, like the cyclist a few seconds earlier. I am sure either the cyclist is going to ride into the side of my car as I am entering the crosswalk, or worse, right in front of me and get impaled. At that point I estimate I was 60 feet from the crosswalk and there was no way I could even begin to stop. At that time the cyclist apparently realizes their error and applies their brakes, but they are too close to the Parkway to stop in time. Right before sliding out in front of me, the cyclist turns hard right and just misses hitting me and eventually ends up a foot or so in my lane, parallel to the shoulder as I and two following cars wiz by.

I cannot fathom why the cyclist did not either see me (had my lights on), or correctly estimate my legal speed. I commute this route daily and after 8 years this is the first time I have had a near miss like this. All other trail users seem to wait for cars to pass, or blow through their stop signs well enough in advance of cars not to get hit.

Here is a news clip about this particular crossing:

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/0...dangerous-for-pedestrians-cyclists-64510.html

--Nate

vlad0401 · Mar 31, 2012

i have a problem with some that drive way into my lane and have to slow down because of an oncoming car. if you dont slow down youll hit the cyclist because they wont move more to the right. also if there is not signs at the cross walk place how can a unfamiliar person know to stop?

Tempest · Mar 31, 2012

vlad0401 said:
i have a problem with some that drive way into my lane and have to slow down because of an oncoming car. if you dont slow down youll hit the cyclist because they wont move more to the right.

Most states say that cyclist can share the road with cars just as if they were motorcyclists but they have to obey traffic laws. This being said they are not obligated to move right to allow you to pass. You are obligated to slow behind them and wait until you get a break in traffic to pass.

GoFaster · Mar 31, 2012

Ontario's Highway Traffic Act requires bicyclists to travel as close to the right edge of the roadway as possible (and in single file) but this is frequently disregarded. The disregard of stop signs by bicyclists is almost legendary.

Pedestrians are often in their own world of Ipod music and oblivious to their surroundings.

It does seem rather odd to have a crosswalk like that on a high-traffic road like that and without signals. In rural areas with minimal traffic I can understand not having crossing signals, but it seems odd to not have them at that one.

david_594 · Mar 31, 2012

vlad0401 said:
i have a problem with some that drive way into my lane and have to slow down because of an oncoming car. if you dont slow down youll hit the cyclist because they wont move more to the right.

I have a problem with careless drivers that wont allow me to ride safely in a lane as I am legally allowed to do. Especially when they try and pass me illegally putting my safety at risk.

Happens on both the bicycle and my motor scooter.

PDJetta · Mar 31, 2012

GoFaster said:
...It does seem rather odd to have a crosswalk like that on a high-traffic road like that and without signals. In rural areas with minimal traffic I can understand not having crossing signals, but it seems odd to not have them at that one...

This crosswalk is an oddity. I was intrigued about it, so I did some research. It was built in the 1940s. Then the GW Parkway was a rual road, so no big deal. But why weren't signals installed later, after the area built up? Well the Parkway is on Federal land, and there is a statute that prevents such traffic control devices on the Parkway. (On the Mount Vernon side of the Parkway, there are many accidents each year because of extremly dangeous intersections without stoplights, but Federal Law prevents installing traffic lights. The intersecting streets are controlled by stop signs. Mix this with heavy rush hour traffic in a 50 MPH zone, with cars going 60+ MPH and its a disaster).

Also, no one seems to know what jurisdiction this is in. It is on the west side of the Potomac River, so you would think its in Virginia, but in reality its inside the Washington, DC Boundry, but wait, the Parkway is on a sliver of Federal land that runs through this bigger sliver of Washington, DC, which, in reality, is located in Virginia. Now isn't that confusing? The US Park Police are the ones who write the tickets on the Parkway, if that is any indication.

This is now major commuter route with posted speeds between 40 and 50 MPH, but traffic regulary travels at 60 MPH and sometimes people do 70 MPH. I have never seen the speed limit enforced. There are no shoulders (small curbs are present) and in some areas, no gaurdrails next to the Potomac river. And large trees line the roadside. One mishap and you are done. Other areas have a 2-foot rock wall as a guardrail, which is a joke. I have seen the aftermath of several fatal accidents on the Parkway over my 8-year commute using it. Its a horrible road to travel, but beutiful scenery.

--Nate

rotarykid · Mar 31, 2012

Colorado is one those places where vehicles are forced to interact with bicyclist, I emphasize "FORCED" because that is a good description of the relationship.

A perfect example of this happened a week or so ago with it ending with one person under arrest for pulling out a machete.

Plus 3 Golfer · Mar 31, 2012

Tempest said:
Most states say that cyclist can share the road with cars just as if they were motorcyclists but they have to obey traffic laws. This being said they are not obligated to move right to allow you to pass. You are obligated to slow behind them and wait until you get a break in traffic to pass.

On the contrary in AZ. On a roadway, bicycles must remain as far right as practicable except for a few circumstances, like parked cars / obstructions, making left turns, road hazards . Vehicles can pass giving at least 3 feet clearance.

GraniteRooster · Mar 31, 2012

Plus 3 Golfer said:
On the contrary in AZ. On a roadway, bicycles must remain as far right as practicable except for a few circumstances, like parked cars / obstructions, making left turns, road hazards . Vehicles can pass giving at least 3 feet clearance.

Staying right DOES NOT mean moving out of the roadway for cars. The car behind is STILL obligated to slow down and wait for a safe passing opportunity. If a cyclist is riding the RH part of the lane, and you have to give them 3 ft clearance, that puts your vehicle at least halfway into oncoming traffic, the vehicle operator behind cyclist DOES NOT HAVE RIGHT OF WAY to run the cyclist off the road.

GoFaster · Mar 31, 2012

^ That is the case everywhere that I know of. The bicyclist is required to stay to the right but it's still the motorist's obligation to overtake safely, and if that means slowing down until there is a suitable place to do it (rather than being in the wrong lane approaching a blind crest) then they have to wait.

40X40 · Mar 31, 2012

GoFaster said:
^ That is the case everywhere that I know of. The bicyclist is required to stay to the right but it's still the motorist's obligation to overtake safely, and if that means slowing down until there is a suitable place to do it (rather than being in the wrong lane approaching a blind crest) then they have to wait.

Quite right.

Of course the rider must rely on the driver of the car not being a texting teen, a pill popping soccer mom or a blind and deaf octogenarian-any of whom could inadvertently kill you in a second.

There ARE places you don't want to ride.

Be Safe!

Bill

CFM · Mar 31, 2012

I do a lot of biking, and while most people are pretty good about giving me enough berth, I've also had a few near-misses, even though I was as far to the right as I could go, and even had a couple instances where people threw something at me. There used to be a traffic light at an intersection in town that wasn't too bad, but then they converted to a rotary, and THAT is an adventure to negotiate on a bike! Fortunately, traffic is fairly light on the weekends, giving me ample opportunity to use it without any approaching traffic.

Dismayed · Mar 31, 2012

I've cycled extensively in both Europe and in the US. I'll take Europe any day. There's a greater awareness of cyclist safety and politeness there. I've even had people slow down to hand me oranges when I cycled over the Swiss Alps.

jbright · Mar 31, 2012

I used to be a triathlete. I gave up cycling, though. Too dangerous. I just run now. On trails. Far away from cars.

40X40 · Mar 31, 2012

Dismayed said:
I've cycled extensively in both Europe and in the US. I'll take Europe any day. There's a greater awareness of cyclist safety and politeness there. I've even had people slow down to hand me oranges when I cycled over the Swiss Alps.

35+/- years ago I had a Cadillac pull up next to me on a very rural interstate (I-35) and hand me a cold can of Budweiser. Total strangers... nice of them, though! Anyway, that was the day that I learned how to drink from a can at 70 mph while driving a motorcycle.

Bill

thebigarniedog · Apr 1, 2012

Like anything else, it is a matter of common sense, courteousy and respect for other people that most people apparently lack these days. Case in point, I had a group of bike riders riding three abreast and several rows deep simply refusing to move the f*uck over to the right, ride in single file or otherwise let me pass. Yes, they had their girly gear on and could see me. I had to wait patiently clocking along at a snails pace until I could crest the hill and see oncoming traffic (or in this case, the lack of oncoming traffic). I used that opportunity to let out a legion of black smoke on them as I passed on the left.

I doubt they learned anything from this, but who knows. The bottom line is keep your bikes single file, far right as possible and off of everything other then residential streets --- where they belong.

GraniteRooster · Apr 1, 2012

thebigarniedog said:
Like anything else, it is a matter of common sense, courteousy and respect for other people that most people apparently lack these days. Case in point, I had a group of bike riders riding three abreast and several rows deep simply refusing to move the f*uck over to the right, ride in single file or otherwise let me pass. Yes, they had their girly gear on and could see me. I had to wait patiently clocking along at a snails pace until I could crest the hill and see oncoming traffic (or in this case, the lack of oncoming traffic). I used that opportunity to let out a legion of black smoke on them as I passed on the left.

I doubt they learned anything from this, but who knows. The bottom line is keep your bikes single file, far right as possible and off of everything other then residential streets --- where they belong.

So many things wrong with this post - attitudes like yours kill people.

So you are passing at least a dozen people over a blind crest - even if they were single file you would not have been able to pass safely assuming typical two lane road, you would have had to wait for the crest, a dozen riders or more is a long string, and a lot of lives to risk.

Too bad you seem to think you have more right to the road than anyone else. Not everyone is fortunate enough to own a car, yet everyone pays taxes that pay for roads. Bikes have every right to travel roadways except for limited access, high-speed highways. Our culture here is the US it totally f*ed up - no compassion for pedesrtrians or cyclists. Cyclists contribute a lot less to traffic congestion that your fellow car drivers - give em a break. You comment abnout belong on residential streets is total junk.

bikegeek · Apr 1, 2012

The American river trail in Sacramento, CA. has signals that are triggered by cyclists that assist with safety and travel across multi-lane roads. I have always enjoyed conversations that involve stop signs that only cyclists ignore. Just as much as I enjoy conversations about how well vehicles stay in their lane or use turn signals. It seems this location could do with some additional safety signals. The area has changed so should the interchange.

tdidieselbobny · Apr 1, 2012

I have no problem w/ cyclists-as long as they follow the rules like they are supposed to.However,most problems I see are not "cyclists"-they are teens and young adults,flying down sidewalks in the city,riding w/ someone on handlebars,no hands on bars looking down texting,talking on their cell,or w/ wires coming out of their ears,oblivious to their surroundings. Red lights? Forget it-too engrossed in their little world. Another pet peeve is people who ride the ass of SMV equipment(like farm equipment) expecting it to go faster-sorry,most farm equipments top speed is in the 20mph range. I even had people flip me off before when I used to work on farm......that's the appreciation that farmers get for putting food on your table......

Dertaxman · Apr 1, 2012

Yesterday was a gorgous day here in Boise - and the bicycles were out in force. I almost put one into the hospital - or morgue. In Idaho, a cyclist can switch between being a cyclist and a pedestrian. Meaning they can be riding along on the road then swing into the sidewalk and go across in the crosswalk - knowing that cars must yield - then back into the road. We also allow them to 'safely' run stop signs. So along one road where there is a bike lane, bikes come flying down the hill and don't bother stopping at the intersection, as they consider themselves pedestrians again and cars turning left need to realize the bike is going 30 mph and yield - despite the stop sign before the crosswalk. Sooner or later one will become a hood ornament and the spandex community will be up in arms at the driver - instead of using it as lesson for others to obey the traffic laws.

It is funny as drivers we are told to drive defensively so you avoid the wreck and all your safety features will not protect you from every accident - yet for some reason bikers think spandex makes them bulletproof.

leicaman · Apr 1, 2012

In our state what bugs me more than anything is when the cyclists insist on driving the wrong way down the road and not following traffic as per the laws.

Plus 3 Golfer · Apr 1, 2012

GraniteRooster said:
Staying right DOES NOT mean moving out of the roadway for cars. The car behind is STILL obligated to slow down and wait for a safe passing opportunity. If a cyclist is riding the RH part of the lane, and you have to give them 3 ft clearance, that puts your vehicle at least halfway into oncoming traffic, the vehicle operator behind cyclist DOES NOT HAVE RIGHT OF WAY to run the cyclist off the road.

I find it amusing how some don't understand what is written (or maybe do not want to accept the facts for what they are) and add absurd commentary (running the cyclist off the road

) which implies something that was never stated.

So, here are the applicable provisions in AZ:

28-815. Riding on roadway and bicycle path; bicycle path usage
A. A person riding a bicycle on a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, except under any of the following situations:
1. If overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
2. If preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
3. If reasonably necessary to avoid conditions, including fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals or surface hazards.
4. If the lane in which the person is operating the bicycle is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

28-735. Overtaking bicycles; civil penalties
A. When overtaking and passing a bicycle proceeding in the same direction, a person driving a motor vehicle shall exercise due care by leaving a safe distance between the motor vehicle and the bicycle of not less than three feet until the motor vehicle is safely past the overtaken bicycle.
B. If a person violates this section and the violation results in a collision causing:
1. Serious physical injury as defined in section 13-105 to another person, the violator is subject to a civil penalty of up to five hundred dollars.
2. Death to another person, the violator is subject to a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars.
C. Subsection B of this section does not apply to a bicyclist who is injured in a vehicular traffic lane when a designated bicycle lane or path is present and passable.

thebigarniedog · Apr 1, 2012

GraniteRooster said:
So many things wrong with this post - attitudes like yours kill people.

So you are passing at least a dozen people over a blind crest - even if they were single file you would not have been able to pass safely assuming typical two lane road, you would have had to wait for the crest, a dozen riders or more is a long string, and a lot of lives to risk...

Please re-read my post. I waited till I could see over the crest to pass them. I was not going to allow their insensitivity to create a hazardous condition to me or others using the road responsibly.

graniteroster said:
......Too bad you seem to think you have more right to the road than anyone else. Not everyone is fortunate enough to own a car, yet everyone pays taxes that pay for roads. Bikes have every right to travel roadways except for limited access, high-speed highways. Our culture here is the US it totally f*ed up - no compassion for pedesrtrians or cyclists. Cyclists contribute a lot less to traffic congestion that your fellow car drivers - give em a break. You comment abnout belong on residential streets is total junk.

The bikes they were riding each probably cost more then my car. Btw, they should have been riding single file and not blocking traffic or otherwise creating a hazard for us responsible people. Hopefully, they learned a valuable lesson from the whole experience.

bhtooefr · Apr 1, 2012

FWIW, in most areas, the "as far right as practicable" law usually ends up allowing TONS of room for not riding to the right at all - some of them encoded into the law, some of them based on interpreting practicable.

For instance, that law that Plus 3 Golfer posted, specifically mentions fixed and moving hazards, as well as surface hazards. That usually means at least 3 feet from the right side of the lane in populated areas that have street parking, simply to avoid getting doored, as well as giving some room to maneuver around potholes and such.

And then there are interpretations involving giving yourself 3 feet so that you have room to get out of the way of a car that unsafely passes you, rather than riding the curb and getting buzzed with nowhere to go. I tend to give myself 2-3 feet, although I ride a trike, and therefore taking a wheel off the pavement is no big deal.

That said, completely disregarding traffic signals and signs is a big problem (the odd California stop is one thing when there's no traffic, and waiting at a red for it to change, and going after it hasn't changed and there's no traffic is fine (and is specifically allowed as it's a malfunction of the light, and the light should be treated as a four-way stop once it's known that it's malfunctioning), but completely blowing a sign or a light, no, that's not cool), and there should be a LOT more enforcement against that. And, riding single-file isn't a bad idea at all (even if it's not required by law), as well as pulling off to the side if there's a long line of cars behind and no safe passing point.

Tempest · Apr 1, 2012

bhtooefr said:
FWIW, in most areas, the "as far right as practicable" law usually ends up allowing TONS of room for not riding to the right at all - some of them encoded into the law, some of them based on interpreting practicable.

Riding to the left (in the left tire rut on most roads) puts you in a very visible lane position for safety. I would never ride to the right because that invites people to pass me on the left without fully moving into the passing lane. That denies me the right to swerve left (still in my lane) should a road hazard arise such as a pothole, or someone swinging their car door open.

MonsterTDI09 · Apr 1, 2012

PDJetta said:
I had a close call yesterday which rattled my nerves. I almost presented a Darwin award to a cyclist who disregarded a stop sign and almost rode into my path. Not a pleasant thought. I would hate to hurt someone, even if it was because of their own stupidity, and wreck my car. This occurred on the George Washington Parkway at a bike path crossing that is viewed as one of the most dangerous in the area. Joggers and bicyclists using the bike path have "STOP" and "Cyclists Dismount Before Crossing" signs facing them right before the croswalk at the Parkway. Drivers are not supposed to stop before the crossing to let waiting cyclists and joggers cross (they do need to yield to those in the crosswalk, though) because this is a limited access highway. This is a really odd place to have a bike/pedestrian crossing and there are not many others like it. It is out of place.

There have been many accidents at this crosswalk, almost every one where a driver stops and motions waiting trail users to cross, only to be rear ended by an inattentive driver. The Police give tickets out to drivers who stop in front of the crosswalk in this manner. Knowing this, I don't stop for the trail users near the crosswalk waiting to cross, but I do watch for someone being in the crosswalk and am prepared to stop if there is. The trail users are supposed to stop and only cross when it is safe. My close call was not the stopped cars scenario, though.

I am dieseling along at 40 MPH (the speed limit) approaching the bike path crossing. This is in the northbound direction, with two lanes. The crossing spans these two lanes only. A driver in the left lane passes me at about 50 MPH and about three seconds before he traverses the crosswalk, a bicyclist on the trail blows through their stop sign, accross the car's path. A kind of close call, foolish on the part of the cyclist, but still he made it accross the Parkway a hundred feet or so infront the car.

Then, as I approch the crossing, at about 4 seconds before crossing it, I notice another cyclist riding towards the crosswalk. My first thought is, "They'll stop, since they can't make it across without colliding with me, they are supposed to stop anyway". About 2 seconds later I realize they aren't stopping and are going to go right through their stop sign, like the cyclist a few seconds earlier. I am sure either the cyclist is going to ride into the side of my car as I am entering the crosswalk, or worse, right in front of me and get impaled. At that point I estimate I was 60 feet from the crosswalk and there was no way I could even begin to stop. At that time the cyclist apparently realizes their error and applies their brakes, but they are too close to the Parkway to stop in time. Right before sliding out in front of me, the cyclist turns hard right and just misses hitting me and eventually ends up a foot or so in my lane, parallel to the shoulder as I and two following cars wiz by.

I cannot fathom why the cyclist did not either see me (had my lights on), or correctly estimate my legal speed. I commute this route daily and after 8 years this is the first time I have had a near miss like this. All other trail users seem to wait for cars to pass, or blow through their stop signs well enough in advance of cars not to get hit.

Here is a news clip about this particular crossing:

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/0...dangerous-for-pedestrians-cyclists-64510.html

The sign does say yield crosswalk Bikers shouldn't blow throw stop signs to.

--Nate

thebigarniedog said:
Like anything else, it is a matter of common sense, courteousy and respect for other people that most people apparently lack these days. Case in point, I had a group of bike riders riding three abreast and several rows deep simply refusing to move the f*uck over to the right, ride in single file or otherwise let me pass. Yes, they had their girly gear on and could see me. I had to wait patiently clocking along at a snails pace until I could crest the hill and see oncoming traffic (or in this case, the lack of oncoming traffic). I used that opportunity to let out a legion of black smoke on them as I passed on the left.

I doubt they learned anything from this, but who knows. The bottom line is keep your bikes single file, far right as possible and off of everything other then residential streets --- where they belong.

You are right, they should of been in single row. I'm biker to and I would done the same thing but my can can't blow smoke

Powder Hound · Apr 1, 2012

thebigarniedog said:
... Hopefully, they learned a valuable lesson from the whole experience.

Too bad you didn't. Like, how to be civil to other people even if they don't deserve it. People like you make me wish I could fill your house full of soot. You deserve that, even if I am quite sure it is not possible for you to learn anything from it.

40X40 · Apr 1, 2012

Powder Hound said:
Too bad you didn't. Like, how to be civil to other people even if they don't deserve it. People like you make me wish I could fill your house full of soot. You deserve that, even if I am quite sure it is not possible for you to learn anything from it.

LOL

Bill

eb2143 · Apr 1, 2012

There are haphazard drivers and cyclists so there's no use generalizing either.

I'm a cyclist. I'm the first to admit some of my fellow teammates piss me off with how they ride, and they rightly seem to average the finger once a ride. I don't think I've ever been flipped off riding alone, so I do agree a lot of cyclists don't ride smart, even many of whom are within the law. For instance, even though they aren't required to, large (6+) packs of riders should split into two single file lines to allow cars places to duck back in rather than having to pass the whole lot in one go. I've been riding in groups of 20 that are in a single file, and can understand why drivers will become agitated and impatient because that's a very long line to safely pass. What can happen with large single file lines is that drivers become impatient and go WOT for the pass, gaining a huge amount of speed in the process. When oncoming traffic comes around the bend or over the hill and they're only halfway down the line of riders, a very dangerous situation results. Riding in Florida a driver found himself in this situation passing us and ducked between two riders and off the road into the grassy ditch going about 50 mph. Big big groups are relatively infrequent though, but I think more groups should split as I describe.

A couple points, many already made:
• No excuse for cyclists blatantly ignoring traffic signs, although that bike trail sounds terrible to have crosswalks like that.

• Re: riding single file. I tend to think it's okay for riders to want to talk and ride, but they need to get into single file and hold their lines as a car approaches. On the other hand, cars need to give 3 feet regardless, so that puts them into the other lane whether they are passing a single file OR two abreast. When someone says, "I would have had enough room to squeeze by if the riders weren't two abreast" I roll my eyes because that means you were cutting it too close. I do understand that the unexpected can happen when a car is passing so single file adds a margin of safety.

• Re: "They should stay on residential roads" I'm not sure what a "residential road" is....does this mean I can't ride on a rural road? Anyhow, I try to avoid any higher speed road without a big shoulder, but what you've got to understand that sometimes there's no avoiding them. I minimize my time on them, but there are cases when it's my only option. You can bet that I don't want to be riding on it any more than drivers want to deal with me on it...be courteous and give riders this benefit of the doubt rather than getting your panties wadded up about a cyclist on a dangerous road!

• Regarding the Idaho driver who was displeased that a cyclist could get off and walk a bike across the sidewalk: I see no problem with this. It's the only way for a cyclist to legally cross a crosswalk...Yes they are allowed to switch between pedestrian and cyclist. On some roads, the crosswalk is the safest way to cross. And cyclists do, afterall, need to begin and end their rides on foot, so maybe they are walking to their vehicle or destination.

And yes, the far right is often riddled with potholes and glass and debris. I'll take a little bit of a buffer, thank you.

bhtooefr · Apr 2, 2012

Also, there are some 55 mph rural roads that I feel safer on than 35 mph city roads, due to traffic volume.

I tend to prefer either low or very high traffic volume - low means it's easy for traffic to safely pass, very high means traffic is moving slowly enough that I can keep up.

Road Hazard: Bicyclists' Disregard of Traffic Laws

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