I'm always seeing reminders that cars should give bicycles four feet
of clearance when overtaking, but I seldom see a reminder that
bicycles should give cars four feet of clearance.

Ample clearance is particularly important when the car is parked. A
moving car seldom throws open a door, nicks the end of your handlebar,
and steers the bike out from under you, whereupon you fall under the
wheels of a bus.

Example:

There is, not too far from my house, a street with two lanes exactly
wide enough for cars, and two bike lanes that look to be about a yard
wide.

(I haven't actually measured the bike lanes in this stretch. About
half a mile further out, I measured the other bike lane at sixty-nine
inches including two four-inch white stripes in one place, and
fifty-four (again including stripes) in another.)

Three observations: An overtaking car cannot pass a bicycle in the
bike lane without taking part of the oncoming lane. Traffic in the
oncoming lane is nearly continuous. Good pavement extends well beyond
the edge of the "bike lane".

When eastbound on this stretch of road, I ride just outside the bike
lane.

--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
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