Middle of the Road
Whenever a person first discovers I bike, they reply with a story. And it’s always the same story.
“I was driving down [insert any road name] when all of the sudden I saw a cyclist in the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!” Inevitably it always ends with them saying they “just tapped on their horn” or “squeezed by” or “yelled out to the cyclist.”
And many many times I’ve been the cyclist in one of these stories- the one sharing the road with a driver that isn’t aware of the basic road rules regarding bikes.
What’s worse is that sometimes reasonable people panic at the sight of a bicycle in the lane… and then all that reason flies out the window.
So I wanted to explain it to those who have never biked in the city:
And there’s more. Bikes are small, but they still need space. Cars should give cyclists the same amount of space when passing as another vehicle, at least 3 ft. However, not all roads allow for that, particularly in Boston:
So don’t panic when you see a bike in your lane. Just treat it like another vehicle. If you can pass safely, that’s fine. If not, most likely you won’t be slowed down much if at all. In the city, I find that car traffic slows me down much more than the other way around.
Wow, you have nicely positioned bike lanes in Boston! That car door is hardly intruding into it at all.
Not like the ones in this part of LA, where any car door will extend right across the entire bike lane (even from a well parked, modestly sized car).
I love all of your cartoons but this has to be one my favorites!
Great post. I was actually hit today by a driver who was as confused as the first driver in your post. I am shaken but ok. I am still baffled that she made the decision to try and squeeze by me. I do wish auto drivers would be required to take full road tests every 5 years.
I’ve been called a “dickhead” once or twice in my life, but the cyclist in the stencil on the road actually does seem to have a penis for a head.
Not sure about MA, but here in CA one can also take the lane anywhere a right turn is permitted (intersection, driveway, parking lot, etc) helping to avoid traffic coming from the right but also the dreaded “right hook” from traffic behind. We can also take the lane when traveling at the same speed as other traffic (downhill, at stop lights, or in gridlock), or on the left hand side of the road on one way streets.
In an urban environment, this means that there is almost constantly an excuse for leaving the bike lane or the right hand side of the road, so a cyclist should never feel constrained or trapped by that little white line.