Sharing The Road
Wheel Life column - 16 January, 1999
by Todd Litman and Suzanne Kort - Victoria Transport Policy Institute

Ray Hall is a local cycling guru. He is certified to answer any question about bicycles and bicycling, especially related to safety.

You may absorb his sagacity at Chain-Chain-Chain (the alternative bicycle repair and storage facility on Broad Street) or your local community centre. Those are some of the places where Ray teaches Can-Bike courses, a national cycling skills development program.

Classes range from Cycle Right for children, Introduction to Cycling Skills for novice adults (6-hours, $25), and up to comprehensive Can-Bike II classes (24-hours, $80) which provide advanced bicycle maintenance and riding skills. All courses involve both classroom and on-bike training.

(Ray also teaches motorcycle safety and has taught swimming, canoeing, scuba diving, airplane piloting, and other safety and outdoor skills too, but we won't go into that since this is a cycling column.)

Ray's instructions are wonderfully clear, condensing traffic behavior into a few simple concepts. We recently interviewed him concerning the correct way for cyclists and motor vehicle drivers to share the roadway.

First, Ray quoted the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act: "A person operating a cycle on a highway has the same rights and duties as a driver of a vehicle." Cyclists must follow the same rules as any other vehicle operator. The general traffic rules work well in most conditions, regardless of whether a vehicle is human or motor powered.

At intersections, vehicles choose their position based on their destination. If turning left, cyclists should shift into the appropriate lane for making a left hand turn. If going straight, choose a through lane. If turning right get into the right lane. Don't ride in a right-turn-only lane if you are heading straight, Ray stressed, or you face the risk of a collision with a car turning right.

Between intersections, when the lane is wide enough, slower cyclists should stay about a metre to the right of motor vehicle traffic. Under these circumstances, faster vehicles can pass without changing lanes, as in the top illustration.

Not all roads have sufficient width for automobiles to easily pass a slower bicycle, however. According to Hall, cyclists need at least a metre of clearance from the curb. On streets with parallel parked cars, cyclists need at least a metre of clearance from stationary vehicles, more if riding at higher speeds, to avoid being "doored" (struck by a car door suddenly opening). At higher speeds, more clearance is needed.

Where traffic lanes are too narrow to allow faster traffic to pass within the lane, Hall recommends that cyclists ride in the middle of the traffic lane, as in the bottom illustration, so that motorists will not try to pass unless they can do so safely.

There are a few other situations where cyclists should ride in the traffic lane, rather than at the right side of the road:

• When proceeding straight or turning left through an intersection.
• When there is a hazard, such as a pothole, stormdrain, parked car or debris close to the curb.
• When the cyclist is riding as fast as traffic, as is common in downtown stop-and-go traffic.

He recommends maintaining a straight, predictable course as much as possible. "Avoid lateral movements as much as possible," Ray advises cyclists. Weaving in and out around parked cars puts you at risk of being hit by a passing vehicle surprised by your sudden appearance in the roadway.

So what does all this mean to automobile drivers?

It means that if you drive, there will be times when you must slow down and follow behind a cyclist until it is safe to shift into another lane to pass, just as you would for any other slower vehicle. Leave at least a metre when passing; two or more at high speeds. And please, no horn honking, cursing or tailgating.

"Cyclists should not compromise their safety for the sake of motorists' convenience," Ray recommends. When a cyclist rides in the middle of a narrow lane, they are communicating to drivers that safety takes precedence. It also makes the cyclist more visible, giving motorists more time to react.

And if you still don't want to share the road, fine. Just build your own private road system. When using public roads, though, drivers and cyclists alike need to be willing to share. As Ray says, "People have equal rights to the road because they are people, not based to the vehicle they use."

Of course, there's a lot more to learn from Ray, whether you cycle, drive, dive or fly. He is offering several cycling courses this spring, including in-house corporate classes for local offices in preparation for Bike to Work Week in June.

To partake of the Master's wisdom, call 380-0172 or e-mail rayhall@pacificcoast.net. [Editor: Ray is also the author of the "Riding with Ray" columns that appear in the Cycle Therapy newsletter and which are archived on this website. Click here to go to the Riding with Ray index page..]