Why is it important for bicyclists to ride on the right side of the lane?

[Kazza_765]

You know what is hard, riding a bicycle in a city with tram-lines.. a bicycle wheel fits exactly into the tracks and you can come down pretty hard.

Lol. I did that about 3 weeks ago. I fell sideways into a taxi, then picked myself up and got out of there real quick before he could check and notice the big scratch I left.

 

[Moonbear]

Hey, if bike couriers can make it in Manhattan, you can ride a bike on the road anywhere. It's easy here. All the big roads have bike lanes, and the small roads usually don't even have any vehicle traffic.

I wonder what a bike courier lifespan is? :tongue: Actually, I've driven in NYC, and it's probably one of the better places to bike. Nobody can go very fast because of the traffic and the drivers are all on high alert for pedestrians, bikes, cars pulling out from parking spaces, erratic last minute turns of lost tourists who should've just taken a taxi, oh, and taxi drivers. I'd rather bike there than on the roads by my house out here in the suburbs of Cincinnati where drivers just don't pay attention to where they are going at all even though the traffic is substantially less (though, they are driving 45 mph through a 30 mph zone).

 

[cronxeh]

I wonder what a bike courier lifespan is? :tongue:

:rofl:

I've actually had a carmageddon kind of dark thought when I read that

 

[brewnog]

Oops, apparently not enough smilies to indicate sarcasm.

There was a very good reason for that! :tongue:

 

[Evo]

There are some roads in America where this simply cannot be done. Some of the rural roads don't have bike lanes, and traffic may be heavy at some times (intercity highways). Usually the shoulder of the road extends to perhaps 0.3048 metres (meters :tongue2:) on average if there is no bike lane, and that isn't enough for a bicyclist to sufficiently manoeuvre.

Where I live the roads have no shoulders, the lanes are narrow and the shoulders drop immediately off into deep ditches. The roads are hilly and winding, which means passing is illegal (and impossible) most of the distance. Bicycles simply cannot go fast enough and I'll be damned if I'm going to drive 10 miles at 6mph because some idiot on a bike wants to go on a joy ride. Out here people have farms and there are often slow moving farm vehicles, but the drivers have BRAINS and COURTESY and will pull over periodically to let cars go by. The bicyclists however seem to have NEITHER BRAINS OR COURTESY and stay on the road and never allow traffic to pass.

 

[Evo]

There is absolutely no problem with a bike being ridden on any road (short of a motorway) providing both the cyclist and any motorists are following the highway code. End of story.

Well, if the speed limit is 45mph, any bicyclist able to keep up with the flow of traffic is welcome to do so.

 

[CaptainQuaser]

In cities you are generally supposed to ride with traffic, as to not interfere with pedestrians, in small towns, the sidewalk is the way to go.

 

[brewnog]

Well, if the speed limit is 45mph, any bicyclist able to keep up with the flow of traffic is welcome to do so.

This is why bikes are narrow, and also why you're supposed to ride them a foot from the kerb!