[SDCBC] Oregon bicycle laws for the California-bred?

[Tony Pietsch]

Mike,

Just one word of caution -- watch out for roads heavily used by lumber
trucks!  They get paid by the load and are extremely aggressive on narrow
two lane roads, even to other automotive traffic. On tour, I learned to
listen for their "Jake breaking" which you can hear a mile off and find a
place to safely pull off the road (no shoulder) for when they went by, then
continue on calmly.  Otherwise you may find yourself being forced off the
road by their "anti-environmentalist" attitude, even to the point where I've
heard of several collisions that seemed deliberate and even if you're not
hit they come so close as to be a near-miss, and they don't stop or even
slow down if you have an accident as a result of their behavior!

There is some really nice scenery in Oregon and I enjoyed my cycling there
very much, particularly in Eugene (college town) where bicycles were
respected.  I just adapted to the really aggressive drivers by relaxing and
pulling out of their way -- I figured there was just too much to lose by
being "right", and it was much easier on my nerves to stop and smell the
forest.

Tony

-----Original Message-----
From: sdcbc-bounces at bikesandiego.org [mailto:sdcbc-bounces at bikesandiego.org]
On Behalf Of Mike Elliott
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 8:18 AM
To: Sdcbc
Subject: [SDCBC] Oregon bicycle laws for the California-bred?

My wife and I are moving to Bend, Oregon, this summer. Today's issue of the
local Bend paper (the Bend Bulletin) has an article about how more people
are wanting to ride bikes these days,* and that they are discovering that a
lot of roads lack amenities such as bike lanes, or are scary narrow to ride
on. As a native Californian, I know my rights and responsibilities w/r/t
riding in traffic, and don't mind taking the lane when conditions warrant
it, but reading the article made me consider that what I know about the CVC
might not apply to the OVC. Here's the bicycle/pedestrian portions of the
Oregon Vehicle Code:

http://www.massbike.org/bikelaw/oregon.htm

Near as I can tell, my riding habits don't need to change: same
responsibilities and rights as a motorized vehicle (within reason), take the
lane when you need to, signal, etc. But before I act all knowledgeable and
say that to my wife, I'd probably do well to ask folks here to point out
anything that might get your average California road bikie into trouble up
there.

Many thanks!

==============
*Such articles are probably appearing in most newspapers these days what
with fuel prices being the way they are....

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott

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