[SDCBC] Pet peeve: cyclists have "no choice" but to be unsafe/crazy

[Serge Issakov]

[WAS: specific information about Encinitas community meetings re: Coast
Highway]

As long as we're sharing pet peeves, I am going to share mine here, which is
when bicyclists promote the false but widely held notion that cyclists often
have to be crazy and are often forced into unsafe situations while trying to
"survive" in traffic.   This is a major pet peeve of mine because the idea
that traffic creates situations that are necessarily crazy/unsafe for
bicyclists is not only false, but it's very bad for bicycling advocacy.  We,
of all people, should not be doing that.  Please don't take this personally
Danette, I'm just using your post as an example because I think it serves as
an eloquent example of the opinions shared by many in the cycling community
(not to mention the population at large - many of whom will not take up
cycling precisely because they think it is too inherently dangerous).  I'm
sure many on this list nodded in agreement as they originally read these
words on their screens, words that I now take to task.

On Feb 17, 2008 8:23 PM, Danette Hoffert <danettehoffert at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>    - Sometimes the bike lane just vanishes and a bicyclist is caught in
>    the "gauntlet."  It reminds me of the crazy motorcyclists flying in between
>    lanes.  Yet I have no choice and am put in a crazy motorcycle type
>    position.
>
>
No choice?  We DO have a choice: instead of sharing the lane, control it.

There is nothing crazy about controlling a lane when a lane sharing position
is not safe and reasonable for one reason or another.  Exactly what that
means and how, when and why to do it, is the essence of what is taught in
the League of American Bicycling courses.   I just spent Saturday and Sunday
this weekend assisting in such a course up in Orange County (Saturday) and
Long Beach (Sunday), taught by Dan Gutierrez and Brian DeSousa,  in which
the students were all members of the Orange County Wheelmen.  Dan and Brian
have created their own material that incorporates a variety of video clips
filmed using helmet cams illustrating all the key concepts - it really helps
to see the videos to visualize what they are talking about.  I witnessed
eight seasoned/experienced cyclists (okay, seven, one already "got it"
before he took the class, but even he admitted he learned a few things)
transform their whole way of thinking about cycling in traffic, in two
days.  It was really amazing.  Their big problem now: how to persuade other
OCW members to take such courses.  It's hard to create interest in training
with someone believes he or she is already doing most if not everything they
can reasonably do, and the environment around them is what needs to change.

For example, while these students (some of them are seasoned double-century
riders) might have agreed with the above "no sane choice" statement early
Saturday, by late afternoon Sunday they would be sure to point out: when
there are lots of mid block places for traffic to turn in and out of on the
right side, as is the case for most of southbound  Coast Highway 101 in
Encinitas, often a lane-controlling position out in the traffic lane is
safer and more appropriate than off to the right where a bike lane positions
you.  This is the reason for exception (a) (4) in CVC 21202 (California's
"cyclists keep right" law), obviating the requirement to keep right "when
approaching a place where a right turn is authorized".   Because of 21202
(a) (3), the keep right rule also does not apply whenever a lane is not wide
enough to be safely shared by a bicycle and vehicle side-by-side both fully
within the lane.  Here is the link to 21202:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21202.htm

Reviewing the exceptions in 21202, and thinking about why they are there,
and how often they apply in your own riding (and how rarely none of the
exceptions apply), can be illuminating.

For most  of southbound Coast Highway 101, either the condition of
"approaching a place where a right turn is authorized", or the lane "is too
narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the
lane" apply (if not both), which means the legal obligation to "keep right"
in the lane is not present, and for excellent reasons.


>    -  I have traffic on my left and parking on my right. If you are
>    dealing with SUV, trucks, buses, tourists driving on the left, you have
>    enough to contend with.  The mirror on a RV once came within inches of my
>    head.  This is the reality of the ride along the PCH especially in parts of
>    Encinitas.
>
> This is not the reality on that ride if you control the lane habitually
when it's too narrow to be safely shared (and getting hit by mirrors is
almost certainly an indication of attempting to share a lane that is too
narrow).  It's not intuitive, but close passes are much less likely to
happen when you're in a lane-controlling position than when you're off to
the side trying to share a lane that is too narrow to be shared.  In the
latter case you're inviting drivers to try and squeeze into the lane with
you, so while overtaking they're trying to stay out of the adjacent lane.
But if you're out there near the center of the lane, making it clear that
you are not willing to share that lane, then they know, with plenty of
advance space and time, that they need to prepare and plan in advance to use
the adjacent lane to pass  (slow down and/or change lanes to pass).  How
much control you have by using your lane position to affect the behavior of
overtaking traffic cannot be over emphasized.  I should add that it cannot
be fully appreciated without a rear view mirror.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth ten thousand
words. To that end, Dan and Brian have created a page on their website
devoted to the issue of why* *Bicyclist Lane Position Matters Most with
respect to how motorists overtake bicyclists, and if you scroll down a page
or two, I think you'll find the first video clip illustrating the point
quite effectively.  Here is the link to the page:

http://cyclistview.com/overtaking/index.htm

While you're there, you might want to check out there whole intro
presentation:

http://cyclistview.com/ITC-Intro/index.htm


>    -
>    - Traffic on the right is even more dangerous.  Car doors, runners,
>    pedestrians, strollers, pets, etc..  I used to try the three foot rule for
>    avoiding the car doors which swing open at random, but you need the five
>    foot rule for some of the bigger trucks and SUVs.  I attempt to look at
>    cars/trucks to see if someone is in the drivers seat and may swing open a
>    door, but with tinted windows, cars hidden behind SUVs/trucks, this is often
>    difficult. This then makes the cars on your left angry so some come
>    dangerously close or stay behind and get angry.  It is a lose/lose.
>
> The five foot rule (track at least five feet from parked cars) is the way
to go, all the time.  Three feet is usually not enough space, and it doesn't
help to ride in an "accordion fashion" (moving left and right relative to
the adjacent lane based on the width of the parked cars, and the length of
their doors).  Sometimes five feet is not enough either: when five feet
happens to put you in a position that leaves just enough room for, again,
motorists to try to squeeze in, but not enough space to do that safely.
This is definitely the case on southbound 101 south of Java Depot in Solana
Beach, and through much of downtown Encinitas.  If you stay just out of the
door zone you're inviting squeeze-in close passes, so you have to ride
further left and control the lane (yes, it works even at 15 mph in 45-55 mph
morning commuter traffic, like on eastbound La Jolla Village Drive between
Lebon and Regents Road).  There is a reason the outside lane is called the
slow lane.  And remember, any place with onstreet parking has cars actually
slowing to a complete stop and even reversing from time to time (in order to
park).  Think about how that affects other traffic.  A 15 mph cyclist
controlling the lane is much less of an obstruction than that.


>    - I saw a bicyclist with a camera on her helmet riding along the
>    PCH.  I think a picture is worth a thousand... you know. * If we
>    could find someone to video tape the riding experience
>    through Encinitas on a week-end morning they might get an idea of the chaos
>    and danger.  I think it would be powerful.*
>
> That's a great idea.  We should try to get Dan and Brian down here with
their equipment to demonstrate the orderliness and safety of bicycling there
in the manner that they teach.  I will CC them.

Serge

-- 
NOTE: Any opinions expressed above are mine and not necessarily shared by
any organization in which I am involved.
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