From what I gather from the pamphlet down at the police station, as an urban bicyclist I am obligated to obey all traffic laws, and keep right whenever possible. Honestly, it was pretty vague.
The streets in the downtown area are one-way in alternate directions, with a two-way street thrown in just often enough to prevent murderous road rage. Now, say I am going south down Street Named After a President (SNAP St.), riding along the right curb. I come to the intersection where SNAP street is bisected by Numbered St., which is one-way going east; i.e., to my left.
In case I haven’t explained it well, here’s a diagram which will only make it worse:
The light is red for me, green for eastbound traffic on Numbered St. Can I just turn left here, or do I need to cross to the far (SW) curb and then go east?
Is it legal to make a left-on-red at that intersection? If so, take the lane and turn when you’re able. If not, take the lane and turn when the light turns green. There’s no reason you’d have to make an maneuver you wouldn’t have to make in a car or a motorcycle at that intersection.
Santo Rugger, thanks for answering. I’m not sure if I know what you mean by “take the lane”, but I know I’ve never seen a “no left on red” sign. Heh, we’re lucky if there’s even a “one way” sign that you can see in this town!
But see, I don’t drive a car at all, never have, so I’m afraid I don’t know what cars can do.
“Take the lane” means to pull into the lane right in the middle of it, so that motorists must (legally) respect your presence and that spot of real estate is yours. I haven’t ridden my bicycle in a large city, but every time I’ve been on my motorcycle and didn’t want people “lane sharing”, I’d stop closer to the middle of the lane so they couldn’t squeeze in.
Concerning what cars can do, just sit at the intersection for a couple cycles and watch. I very seriously doubt that more than 1% of the cars are going through the intersection, making a U-turn, and then making a right turn, instead of just making a left turn in the first place.
It’s legal to make a left turn under those conditions in most states (I assume you are in the US) unless the intersection has a sign indicating otherwise. (The main exception is New York city, where turns on red are illegal.) However, you need to be in the leftmost lane to do so. It’s also legal for you to move over to the leftmost lane before making a left turn. The rule about keeping to the right doesn’t apply when you’re making a left turn. You move over before coming to the intersection – don’t be pulling a left turn in front the stopped cars. Also when you get into the left lane, stay behind any other stopped cars in that lane. Pulling up on either their right or left is a very bad idea as well as probably illegal.
That’s what’s legal. Much more important is what’s safest. You can be 100% in the right legally, but that won’t make you feel any better when your body is laid out in the street waiting for the paramedics. There’s been a rash of bicyclists dying in accidents with vehicles in this city recently. In fact, just a couple days ago, a high school kid got run over by a bus less than a half mile from where I live. In most of these accidents, the bicyclist was in the right. That doesn’t bring them back to life.
The main problem with making a left on red onto a one-way street is that after you make the left turn, you are now in the leftmost lane of Numbered St. So you have to move back over to the far right. There may be other vehicles on Numbered St that aren’t expecting a bike in the left lane or for you to be crossing lanes like that. This is a good recipe for an accident.
So except perhaps in the lightest traffic conditions, the safest way to make this left turn is to stay to the right and cross to the far corner when you get a green and then wait for the green on Numbered Street. Yes, it sucks to have to wait through two traffic light cycles, but better safe than sorry.
In Wisconsin it is not legal to turn left on red in that situation. You can only turn left on red if you are on a one-way street turning onto another one-way street.
In this example you are on a two-way street turning onto a one-way street. Around here you need to wait for the green light to make a left in this situation.
Short answer, read this:Bicycling Street Smarts Really, it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen on how to cycle safely, and says it all far better than I could, and it’s completely worth the time to go through it. You might also want to read the driver’s manual for your state, which is probably available on line as well.
Long answer: As far as your question, I think you’re half right with your understanding of bicycle traffic law. You should indeed always follow traffic laws, not only because that’s the law. but more importantly because then you’re always where motorists are looking for vehicles and that’s the safer place to be.
But you should not always ride as far right as possible. You should only go far right when it’s safe and reasonable for traffic to pass you (the Ohio statute quoted is similar to most states’). If you’re about to turn left, it’s not safe for traffic to pass you (on the left at least), so stay in the center of the left-most lane, and turn into the left-most lane on the new street.
I disagree with diltique. There’s no reason a cyclist can’t safely ride in the left lane, or safely change lanes. Just signal your intention to change lanes, look back to make sure nobody is coming (or if anyone is back there, make sure they see that you’re moving into their lane and are OK with that), then change lanes.
In my state (WA), it’s legal to take a left on red in a car in that situation - so you could do the same thing on a bike - signal, move your bike into the center-left of the southbound lane (take the lane), and then when it’s clear, or if you want to wait (and it might be safer to do so) when the light turns green, turn left and head toward your friend’s house.
Make sure it’s clear. Make sure people can see you. Signal. Do everything you can not to surprise anyone.
Figure out what will be the safest way for you to proceed and do that. If you get ticketed, there is a good chance you can talk your way out of it with either the cop or a judge…if not, it’s only money. If you get injured by a car, it will be much more expensive even IF you can be made whole.
I regularly use my bike to take my dogs (in trailer) to a dog park. There is one point where I ride about 100’ on the sidewalk, then go straight across an intersection that is supposed to be right turn only. By doing this I avoid riding on two 6 lane, 40 mph speed limit roads, (I cross one of them instead) and am able to use only side streets and bike routes instead.
In general I would argue against riding on a sidewalk. In this case it is the most sensible thing to do. Keep that in mind when you read advice about safe cycling. If it says “Always” or “Never” don’t turn off your own good sense.
From what I understand of the bike laws around here, bikes are supposed to stay as close to the curb as is safe. This has almost the same meaning as what you said, but it also means that on a one-way street, you can also ride close to the left curb. Generally, when I find myself on a one-way street, I wait for a good break in traffic, and then merge over to whichever side I’ll be turning next, so I don’t have to worry about (as much) traffic when the time comes to make the turn.
Just wondering, Brujaja, how many southbound lanes on your half of the road you are on?
Is there a dedicated left turn lane?
Does your question include the intention to turn left on the red light or that you plan to wait for the green?
I agree with a poster that you do need to get familiar with the vehicle laws because you do need to know what the motor vehicles “can do” which also applies to your vehicle.
