waiting for them to make their right-hand turn

November 18, 2006 11:34 PM

Car driver making right-hand turn at an intersection in front of cyclist with a lot of pedestrians in the crosswalk. The driver steers to the right, stops, and blocks the entire right-hand lane from left-hand lines to the line of the crosswalk. What should the cyclist do? And why do (some) drivers do this?

Usually a cyclist can pass non-moving traffic on the right (remembering the blindspots), but there is no "right" because the driver has all the pavement. So then what? Do I wait (and miss the light)? Jump off my bike and cross like a pedestrian? Pass on the left? (I don't like passing on the left because I find I have to move from a (near) standstill into the faster traffic lane, go through the intersection on an angle, and maybe get caught in the middle lane, if say the driver changes their mind and wants to go straight.)

posted by philfromhavelock to Travel & Transportation (24 answers total)

When you're sharing the road by riding a bike in the street, you are a vehicle, and should behave like other traffic. While someone is waiting to turn right, other vehicles will pass them on the left. So, if it's safe, you should pass on the left. If not, you should wait -- just like you would if you were on a motorcycle or a narrow car.

Passing to the right of a car that's going to turn right is dangerous. If they don't see you, and start to complete their turn, bang.

As for why drivers do this... Some Driver's ed classes actually teach you to do this (get to the right, make the half-turn and wait there), because it shows your clear intentions to turn, and depending on the situation, gives the traffic behind you sufficient room to pass you (on the left). Also -- it means that you've entered the intersection, so you're legally entitled to compete your turn when the light turns yellow and then red (because you entered on green).
posted by toxic at 11:57 PM on November 18, 2006 [2 favorites]

Pass on the left. Traffic will be slowing and watching what the right turning car is doing anyway, plus the cars behind you will expect you to go to the left...

Every interaction with traffic is different there are times in your scenario when I'd squeeze past on the right even if that means dodging peds in the crosswalk... but then again I bike in downtown Chicago where cyclists are expected to be aggressive jerks. ymmv.
posted by wfrgms at 12:10 AM on November 19, 2006

From experience, expect to get honked at by angry drivers behind and to your left, if you bike around the car's left side.

In some venues this can be a dangerous move, because:

• Cars behind the right-turning car will swerve out to the left and back to the right to get around the intersection, potentially cutting right into you

• Said cars' drivers with road rage will do their utmost to hit you along the next few blocks, if they think you violated their space
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:16 AM on November 19, 2006

The driver is not blocking you any more than he's blocking a car behind you both.

You're a vehicle in the same lane. You don't get special rights for being a narrow vehicle. There is no imaginary bicycle lane to the right of the rightmost lane, no matter how it may look.

So imagine you're in a CAR behind the driver in your example, and answer it for yourself. :)
posted by rokusan at 12:18 AM on November 19, 2006 [2 favorites]

I do this when bike lanes are involved because I don't want to accidentally clip a cyclist trying to pass on the right. When I'm cycling, I always pass on the left in these situations. In California, it's a law that requires a car taking a right-hand turn to move into and block the bike lane..

When you are making a right turn and are within 200 feet of the corner or other driveway entrance, you must enter the bike lane for the turn.
posted by rajbot at 12:39 AM on November 19, 2006

Bicycles are no more allowed to pass on the right in such a situation than any other wheeled vehicle would be.

Cars do it so the pedestrians know what's coming, and because cars behind them can get a chance to get past them on the left if safe, which is what cyclists should do, if for no other reason than the car driver is making a turn and trying not to kill pedestrians and the last thing s/he needs is a cyclist moving up on the right -- its good defensive cycling to stop or pass on the left. I may be in a minority but when driving I like to deal with good assertive cyclists claiming their space in the road, and not weaving in and out and all around.

Remember the general rule that it is the vehicle behind which is responsible for maintaining safe distances and separations.
posted by Rumple at 1:22 AM on November 19, 2006

how good is your bunny hop?
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 2:00 AM on November 19, 2006

Usually a cyclist can pass non-moving traffic on the right

This is where you went wrong. NEVER, EVER, EVER PASS A CAR PLANNING TO TURN RIGHT ON THE RIGHT, NEVER!!!!!!!!!!! (unless you want to be run over). Take the lane, take your turn, live.
posted by caddis at 2:10 AM on November 19, 2006

I don't think there is a clear-cut answer Metafilter can give you - local driving culture prevails. How it works in NYC is different from how it works in LA, Mexico City, Bombay, Amsterdam...

Watch the other cyclists, and how they interact with traffic and peds. Do like them.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:16 AM on November 19, 2006

Go around the car on the left. The driver is not being unreasonable and is not doing anything to spite you. Paasing stopped cars on the right means it's just a mater of time before you get hit.
posted by fixedgear at 3:39 AM on November 19, 2006

Be as assertive as you like, but always be aware that the laws of physics are on the car's side.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:13 AM on November 19, 2006

Pass on the left.

You should never put yourself in the path of a car that might be turning right. Here you've got one that you are certain is turning right.

If you really don't want to pass on the left, take the lane behind the car and wait until it has completed its turn.
posted by adamrice at 5:59 AM on November 19, 2006

I walk my bike with the pedestrians. It's the easy solution.
posted by Xurando at 5:59 AM on November 19, 2006

Response by poster: Okay. Concensus. Thanks.

I don't think I will ever feel comfortable passing on the left to enter an intersection, though.
posted by philfromhavelock at 6:17 AM on November 19, 2006

Note that, at least in my state, by jumping off your bike you are entitled to the rights of a pedestrian, meaning that cars do have to yield to you.

You cannot assume dual rights; do not ride your bicycle in the crosswalk in the U.S. If there is an accident and you are in a "fault" state, you are responsible.

Also, from my reading of the statutes covering bike lanes in my state, if it has a bicycle painted in the lane, which most lanes do not, it counts as a full lane, affording you the right to pass stopped cars on the right. It appears that the city I live in deliberately does not call skinny lanes at the shoulder bike lanes so that bicyclists are 2nd rate citizens.

Also, I would like to take the opportunity to admonish everyone here to stop at all traffic lights, which most jackass bikers do not do (I've actually been yelled at by BIKERS -- !!! -- for stopping at lights on my bike where I live).
posted by sablazo at 6:41 AM on November 19, 2006

In general, I would pass on the left. I will signal by pointing with my left hand at the lane to the left, then I will give a quick look over my shoulder to make eye contact with with the driver behind me. If traffic is tight and moving fast enough for me to be concerned for my safety while performing this move, I will just wait behind the turning car for my opening to cross the intersection.
posted by peeedro at 7:29 AM on November 19, 2006

phil: If you are not comfortable passing on the left, find a cycling organization in your area offering Effective Cyclist bike-commuter skills training.
posted by jholland at 7:34 AM on November 19, 2006

You're a vehicle. Disobey the rules of the road at your own risk. Here's the other side: I'm stopped at a red light facing the Burrard Bridge about to turn right on Pacific. I have my signal on. A cyclist coming down the parking lane on my right is anticipating the light change, and does not see my signal. The light turns green. As I slowly start my turn, he scrapes the side of my old (but mint) Mercedes with his pedal, does not stop, and keeps on riding over the bridge like nothing happened. I track him down, and he forks over twenty bucks, but if I had gone to ICBC, he would have been out a couple of hundred. Pisses me off to this day.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:45 AM on November 19, 2006

I'd pass on the left when safe. If you don't feel comfortable doing that*, wait behind the car and go through after they clear the turn (check nobody's come up behind since then!)

Never, never, NEVER pass a turning car on the inside.

*And get yourself familiar with the theory of Effective Cycling.
posted by Opposite George at 4:15 PM on November 19, 2006

Obcenities, don't forget the obcenities.

The best part of my commute here in Beijing is that I get to scream whatever I want. Most people don't understand/care, those that do deserve it!
posted by Pollomacho at 6:29 PM on November 19, 2006

Bicycles are no more allowed to pass on the right in such a situation than any other wheeled vehicle would be.

A bike lane is still a lane. It's not a shoulder for slowing cars to pull into and stop, but local mores may compel you to act otherwise.

Pass on the left with great, great caution, because you will run into belligerent drivers behind you who want to get around both you and the car turning right.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:02 PM on November 19, 2006

A bike lane is still a lane. It's not a shoulder for slowing cars to pull into and stop, but local mores may compel you to act otherwise.

Pardon if this is a stupid question, but then if the above is true then a car should, when there is a bike lane, make a right hand turn from the middle lane of traffic?

I am certainly missing something so I am eager to be educated.
posted by xetere at 1:53 PM on November 20, 2006

Yeah, I didn't exactly understand this either: A bike lane is still a lane. It's not a shoulder for slowing cars to pull into and stop, but local mores may compel you to act otherwise.

Dunno how they stripe them where you live, but around Philadelphia, PA the left stripe changes from solid to dashed as it nears an intersection. When I took driver's ed they told me that you can't cross a solid white line (which gives me a really warm and fuzzy feeling when I'm in the bike lane, knowing that I'm protected by the full force of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) but you can cross a broken line, and this is what right turning cars are doing.

Now that re-read it, I think what Blazecock Pileon (who is also a Philly person) is saying is that people park and stop and generally do whatever the heck they feel like in the bike lane, and that is true. I've had wrong-way bike cops, without lights, at night, coming at me in the bike lane.

Be careful out there, take the lane when you have to.
posted by fixedgear at 2:02 PM on November 20, 2006

xetere: current recommended practice for bike-lane striping is to end the lane 100 feet (? not sure of the distance) before intersections, and merge bikes with cars. So ideally, this situation shouldn't even be happening.

Of course, the world ain't always ideal, and in fact there's a notorious intersection in my town where there is something that passes for a bike lane (it's not actually called that); the sign at the intersection says something like "right-lane traffic must turn right except bicycles," which encourages naïve cyclists and motorists to do exactly the wrong thing.

If there is a bike lane right up to the corner, cyclists should get out of it and take whichever car lane is appropriate to their direction of travel.
posted by adamrice at 4:26 PM on November 20, 2006