Frank Krygowski writes:

On Oct 18, 4:40*pm, Phil W Lee wrote:
Frank Krygowski considered Mon, 18 Oct 2010
11:39:39 -0700 (PDT) the perfect time to write:



I say they should be told "This is how to safely cycle even when there
is no bike lane," and instructed how to ride as a legal vehicle
operator. *But if they learn that... why do they need the bike lane in
the first place?

At least locally to me, many bike lanes are situated in places where
they allow the cyclists to bypass queuing motor traffic.

Take the bike lane out (as sometimes happens temporarily during
resurfacing of roads) and the drivers queue in zigzag formation,
blocking the road to all but the most experienced cyclists.

I can visualize how that might happen. However, it's not part of my
experience. That is, in all my decades of riding, I've almost never
bothered to pass a queue of motorists. My standard has been this: I
would do it if it prevented me from making the green in the current
traffic light cycle. IME, that's just a very rare occurrence.

Even then, the usual lane widths permit me to pass stopped cars very
slowly if I choose to do so. (And doing so at speed would be risky in
any case.) When cars are stopped, it takes less than 3 feet of space
for me to ride through slowly. I don't see motorists randomly queuing
so crookedly as to prevent that much passage space.

I don't think your experience is typical of rush hour commuters, at all.
Traffic is a local phenomenon, both in space and time. The first week
of August is not the first week of September. Sunday afternoon is not
Wednesday morning. 7:00am is not 9:30am.

Cycle touring across the country, or the world, does not provide a
transect of rush hour conditions. Tourists seldom choose routes that
hit all the local industrial parks. When on vacation, morning rush hour
seems like a fine time to have breakfast.

When I cycle to work, at least at this time of year, the first thing I
see is a line of cars, moving at walking speed, right past the building
where I live. They are waiting to cross a bridge, about half a mile
down the street. The school on the way does not speed anyone up.

I would no more get in their line on a bicycle than I would stop to
taunt loose cattle with a cycling cape, and for many of the same
reasons. On the other hand, no one is surprised or upset that I pass
them on the right. I do watch for cars entering and leaving parking
lots, and for opening doors. Near the bridge there is a left turn lane,
so room is tight and I may use the sidewalk (at walking speed).

After I clear my town I pass through a series of successively leafier
and more prosperous looking streets, most of them quiet. I think Peter
Cole might call some of the "rural", and in living memory they are.
Nowadays, with a few exceptions, the land grows but children, poison
ivy, and property taxes; people have to commute to work.

Depending on how early I am (this post is not a complaint, my schedule
is reasonably flexible), I come upon a traffic back up of up to a mile,
waiting for a four way stop not far from where I work. The drivers
expect it, so they are not too impatient. They pay enough attention to
keep between the lines, and keep moving, again at walking speed. But
some only just pay attention -- they oscillate slowly from side to side,
producing exactly the zigzag pattern described above. There is no
shoulder, so I either pass the rightmost of them on the left, on a grass
verge, or on the sidewalk.

Sometimes drivers do move deliberately out of my way, I give them a
wave. It's hard to tell if anyone purposefully obstructs me, if they do
they're pretty subtle. No one complains audibly about being passed. If
I were to get in line most would think me dangerously insane.

If I pass this area an hour or so later, there are just a few cars
waiting, and I do fall into line and wait my turn.