Frazz by Jef Mallett for March 23, 2012

Actually, bicyclists are advised to take the left turn lane when they’re making a left turn. Turning across traffic from the right shoulder means that they’re having to dart through moving traffic to make the turn.

Also, many shoulders are filled with trash and road debris, which increases the likelihood of an accident. They’re not actually bike lanes; they’re meant for emergency use and parking.

Annoying as it may be, bicyclists do have the right to occupy a lane. You, however, also have the right to pass them, when it is safe and legal to do so.

“I honk to annoy people.”

My desire to visit the USA is draining away :(

You can have the UCI, in exchange for Frazz & friends.

I think there’s a difference between kids on bikes and cyclists, at least where I live. Not a real populated area, but we have our fair amount of riders. Never ran into any obnoxious ones, they obey the rules are courteous , wear their rear view mirrors,see you coming up on them and give you as much room to pass as they can. Hardly ever see an obese one! I am in awe of those that tour and carry all that gear with them. Little 90 lb women pedaling all that stuff across country, amazing!

Share the road..

All you can ask of us motorists is that we operate our heavy machinery without distraction, in accordance with all the laws, and courteously. All you can ask of us cyclists is exactly the same thing (except the heavy machinery part). Notice there is no “us” & “them”. The real “them” is irresponsible road users, whatever the manner of conveyance they choose. Share the road.

When I rode bike years ago in Maine, the rural roads were (and still are) in very bad shape, rough with no shoulders – they are narrow, paved to only the minimum width to save asphalt, and often very rough and jagged along the edges….horrible for a 10 speed bike. I gave up riding after nearly being hit several times by large heavy trucks over 80,000 lbs who had to use these roads, since they were banned from using the interstate. Many rural roads are simply not designed for bike riding.

>>> “2-mile sight line … double-yellowed … at 45 mph. Until just about 10 years ago, … 55 mph and had a single broken center line.”Thus demonstrating the core problem: It’s not about drivers being stupid about bicycles; it’s about drivers being stupid, period. Some idiots probably drove that stretch at 70, passing anyone doing the speed limit, and/or caused a head-on by cutting their margins too fine; so the authorities tried to enforce safety by restricting everyone including the sensible people, who now feel they can’t even break the yellow to avoid pedestrians or cyclists. Similar thing in my area: a road that was not quite two lanes on each side, but wide enough for stupid people to pass dangerously, now has a concrete island in the middle that narrows each lane WITHOUT a bike or pedestrian shoulder (and I’m just waiting for the first flat tire / breakdown that now can’t be passed).

…and zipping through stop signs and lights without stopping and speeding past cars making left-hand turns on their left side is also not being visible and predictable

Legally, bicycles are considered vehicles and must obey the traffic laws just like cars or motorcycles and use the appropriate lanes and hand signals. They are not supposed to travel 2 or 3 abreast but in single file.

Note to all.

Know the law.

Obey it.

But, MOST importantly:

Enjoy Jef’s dig at Stephan Pastis’ expense.

You’re going to have jerks, whether they’re on bicycles, driving in cars, or jaywalking into traffic. I don’t know if it’s stupidity or selfishness but the gene pool could use some chlorine.

I live in Tucson, I drive up to Mt. Lemmon frequently to go hiking. (This is a winding road with a 5000 foot elevation gain over about 20 miles, popular with cyclists, and mentioned at least once in Frazz.) It’s single lane, with very few places where a car can safely or legally pass. But most of the way there’s a clear shoulder and regular turnouts. However, the cyclists often use the whole road, even when traveling single file, not even pulling over onto the shoulder when they have a line of 10 cars following them at 15 mph. And ignoring the signs which clearly spell out “Slower traffic use turnouts.”

Then on the way down, these same cyclists become joyriders, screaming along at 35 mph… still blocking the cars who want to go the legal limit of 45 mph. Still not using the shoulder or turnouts.

To tell the truth, 90 percent of the cyclists are fine. But the 10 percent who are basically road hogs are the most visible, and make the non-cycling public dislike all of them.

Cyclist can legally ride two abreast on most roads. Just like motorcycles. It really depends on the city and state laws. In Wisconsin totally legal to do so on county and country roads. Cities can have limitations. Bicycles making a left hand turn need to use the the left hand lane when one is present.

As far as cyclist shooting through stops signs and lights. Not all cyclist do those moves. I supposes all drives ignore the yellow light, speed, text, and do not pass cyclists safely.

I live in a Phoenix suburb, and it’s quite a good place to ride a bike. The roads are new (locals actually complain they redo the roads too much), and there is not only a clear bike lane, but sidewalks as well. Very few people go outside to use sidewalks to walk or bike here, despite the nice weather, so the sidewalks are typically empty most of the time. Compared to some places, my area is great for bikers! I’m thinking of buying a bike sometime soon. Happy trails!

There are two cyclists who live along the route I take to work, in a rural area that involves two narrow country roads with pathetic lines of sight, no shoulders, and the entrance to the local community college (where I think they work). I can count on these two hogging the road in the morning as I’m trying to come in. Yesterday morning, as we suffered through the fourth straight day of extremely dense fog, they were out on those rural roads bicycling to work. They’re hard enough to see on a good day even with strobes on; and because of the narrow, winding roads they have a tendency to ride as far out into traffic as possible without crossing into oncoming traffic. For them to be out yesterday with visibility 1/4 mile or less — usually a lot less — was just the height of the ridiculous, which for them is saying something.

Bicycle lanes are just part of a plot by the UN to take over the world, didn’t you know?

In a left turn lane, it’s usually safer for the cyclist to use the center of the lane. After the turn, the cyclist can move right when it’s safe, assuming the pavement is wide enough.

I’ve studied data from hundreds of car-bike collision reports. Riding at night without lights, riding against traffic, riding on sidewalks, and blowing stop signs and red lights results in lots of crashes. Riding at the right edge of a narrow lane results in a fair number of sideswipes. But generally, cyclists riding in the center of the general purpose travel lane in daylight aren’t the ones getting hit. They know something the other cyclists don’t.

Share the road. You won’t see any cyclists eating breakfast, putting on make-up or making texts or cell phone calls. We are not distracted and focused on the journey…not something else.

Love that single file crap. That means that you have to train alone or on a tandem.

Margo: That depends – in many places 2 abreast IS legal for cyclists. It’s not always a good idea, but it’s legal.

Here, bicyclists ride right through an intersection without stopping. Most it seems refuse to obey traffic signs. They ride on the sidewalk. They use the streets without bikelanes and expect special treatment. Plus, honking at them is a law breaker.

I live in a suburban area that has many semi-rural neighborhoods. Most streets do not have sidewalks, many do not have curbs. We have equestrians, pedestrians, buses, kids on bikes, adult cyclists with fancy equipment, motorcyclists. The only ones that consistently disobey traffic laws are the adult cyclists. I’ve never had a problem with the horses, kids, or motorcycles. I don’t mind sharing the road with the cyclists, but they are bound by the same vehicle code I am as a driver. I’m sure all of them drive as well and had to pass the California test. I just want them to follow it.

Here’s the problem, cyclists. I really really don’t want to kill or injure you. But you ride on a road posted for 50 mph traffic just a foot away from me. If you have the tiniest instability I will forever carry the guilt of what my car did to you. So I, not you, have pretty much all the burden of protecting you from my car, even if that means violating the lane away from you. The worst thing is to slow and be behind you, for then I have even more time to need to protect you. It’s not like you bother to ride where a slip won’t result in your head getting scrunched by a tyre. But you are, of course, entitled to my extra concern. Why exactly is unclear.

I remember once I was driving on this narrow, twisting road that has speed limits that go from 35 – 45 – 55 depending on the part of the road. There were 2 bicyclists on the side of the road. I can’t really complain about their conduct except this wasn’t a good road to ride a bike on. The lane in the other direction was full of cars, so I had to wait quite a while, well below the speed limit, with cars following me, before I could finally pass them – there wasn’t room to pass them safely without going into the next lane. Then as I finally got off that road, a bicyclist without even a helmet was pulling into that road.