X post from cycling group: Avoiding right hooking bicyclists

[Sedona]

I recently moved to Los Angeles after living in rural Sedona, AZ for 20 years. To say that I had to re-learn to drive all over again is an understatement!

I'm adjusting well for the most part but I'm still unclear about how to handle right turns across a bike lane when it is occupied by a bicycle. This happens almost every day. The letter of the law states I must "merge into the bike lane" before turning right.

Turning Across Bicycle Lane-21717. Whenever it is necessary for the driver of a motor vehicle to cross a bicycle lane that is adjacent to his lane of travel to make a turn, the driver shall drive the motor vehicle into the bicycle lane prior to making the turn and shall make the turn pursuant to Section 22100. Added Ch. 751, Stats. 1976. Effective January 1, 1977.

http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21717.htm

I've noticed even after using my right turn signal and merging on several occasions bicyclists have passed me on the right! I've had two near misses and I'd be apoplectic if I hit someone on a bike not to mention what my 2000 pound car would do to him. The first time was a night on very busy Venice Blvd! I was loudly cussed out by the bicyclist.

Who's got the right of way in this situation? Do I slow behind a bike for hundreds of feet before my turn? I've just made it a habit to check my right side mirror one more time just before I make my turn.

I also have difficulty with all the parallel parking on the road sides. The bikes have to get into the right car lane to get around them. I slow behind the bikes until I can safely pass only to get honked at by the people in cars behind me. I'm supposed to give the bikes three feet of space, right? Better to get honked at than hit my super healthy environmentally conscious fellow commuters.

I just want to do the right thing. Can the DU California group offer some advice for this brand new Angelino?

[NV Whino]

1. Personally, I think bicyclists need to take driving tests

Just as motorists do. Passing on the right, for instance, is a no no. So many of them breeze through intersections without stopping. They ride two abreast into the motorists' lanes. Sharing the road works both ways, but many bicyclists think motorists are the only ones required to share.

As for your dilemma, give them whatever space they claim and hope for the best. Until we create safe bike routes and bicyclists accept some of the responsibility for road safety, that's the best we can do.

I live in a rural area where roads are mountainous, narrow and windy. So called bike lanes are sometimes no more than inches wide. Roads are full of debris, which can throw a cyclist into your path with no warning. I cringe when I see a cyclist ahead of me, and coming upon one around a curve is terrifying.

Our roads are not designed for cyclists, and that has to change. Until it does, giving way to cyclists under all circumstances is the best way to avoid disaster.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. Um - when the bike lane is on the right there is no other place for a bike to "pass". nt.

[NV Whino]

5. Reread the op

He was properly making a right turn (from the bike lane) when a bicyclist, who should have lagged behind him or passed him on the left as he turned, passed him on the right, inhibiting his turn and endangering himself.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. I rather doubt that, but it is a possibility.

If he had truly merged into the bike lane, while it might have been possible for a cyclist to squeeze in on the right, it is pretty unlikely. Much more likely is that his merge attempt found a cyclist in his blind spot. That certainly happens.

However you made a claim that nobody should ever pass on the right, and cyclists where the bike lanes are on the right have no other choice.

[NV Whino]

7. In that instance they are not passing

They are a simply a lane of traffic. I think it's time to stop picking nits.

[pinto]

2. I think good common sense and caution are a good approach. Just as with other cars on the road,

bicycles are increasingly common vehicles on the road. I've seen both entities disregarding basic rules of the road. And bike lanes need to be clearer both in design and standards of use. I like the suggestion of riding tests for bicyclists.

[JayhawkSD]

8. That would be great if cyclists used common sense

and caution themselves, but they seldom do.

[Auggie]

3. I treat them as if they're pedestrians ...

give them the right-of-way and always yield. Many are going to take it whether they're in the right or not.