You read a lot about how cyclists all run stop signs and ignore the rules. Well, this is different. It's about cars.I count and characterize interactions with motorists on my commute. It helps me ride safer. I've now started doing it on the commute to Alliance Airport from Colleyville. One feature of the new ride are two-lane roads with no shoulders. Some of these have double yellow stripes - and in places where it's perfectly safe to pass slower traffic. However, it is plainly & simply not legal to pass in Texas across a double yellow line. Read the statutes. No exceptions if the passee happens to be a cyclist.
On the way to work this morning, I experienced 10 illegal passes. I did not observe a single motorist shadowing me like a jackal waiting for me to fall. Total interactions were 93, so OVER 10% of all motorist interactions involved an illegal motorist behavior. On the way home, illegal passes jumped to 34. On the way home, one motorist DID hang back, shadowing me for a couple of blocks (you really DO notice a car behind you after a couple of blocks), but even she eventually abandoned her law-abiding instincts in favor of a safe and illegal pass. Thank goodness for those scofflaw motorists! EVERY ONE of those 44 passes was safe for me. NOT ONE would be legalized under the Safe Passing Law. Some were a little borderline for the passer.
I'm with y'all in the principle that traffic controls OUGHT to be obeyed & enforced, but I have to say that I'm really CHIKIN about the consequences to cyclists if motorists suddenly started obeying the no passing laws. When traffic controls become illogical, vehicles, whether powered by motors or people, ignore those laws. And that's what we're stuck with - lotsa stop signs & double yellow lines. I feel less righteous toward stop sign runners tonight.
Admit it, if you're driving, don't YOU cross that double yellow, giving a cyclist a wide berth? Perhaps it's the scofflaw cyclist in all of us coming out when we're behind the wheel...
9 comments:
Beside the fact that I have personally seen to 2 bicycle mounted police officers breeze by stop-signs, cars rarely stop for stop signs. And by stop, I mean ceasing all forward momentum. If the intersection is clear and there is little traffic, most do some form of "rolling stop." I don't have much problem with it, but I do object to cyclists being held to a sticter standard.
Bob,
I once stood with police officers at a "cyclists trap" as they wrote tickets for running a stop sign. I was a friendly "on-duty civilian" observing their operation. I carefully pointed out to them that they were ticketing cyclists, but ignoring motorists who rolled through the stops. Their defense was that the cars came to an "almost stop", but the cyclists only slowed a little.
Further gentle discussion allowed me to point out that in many cases, cyclists were being stopped for going the same speed that motorists were not being stopped for. It was a matter of "relativity". A cyclist slowing from 15 to 5 mph doesn't appear to come as close to a stop as a motorist decelerating from 30 to 5 mph.
The officers agreed, and even though their assignment that day was to pop cyclist scofflaws, they raised the threshold dramatically (for that day).
A simple matter of perspective. The best action, however, remains to do a foot-down stop (in most cases).
Who knows, if we obey the letter of the law, maybe motorists will learn from us?
I rarely put my foot down unless I need to do it to clearly communicate my intentions at a busy 4-way stop.
Blogger Keri said...
"I rarely put my foot down unless I need to do it to clearly communicate my intentions at a busy 4-way stop.".
Same here.
POW! <--- That was the sound of a light going off in my head!
Great perspective Steve! Would you say that while those scofflaws broke the the law, they otherwise exercised due care and passed you in a safe manner?
ChipSeal gets the GOLD STAR, providing the exception to the inadvertent second point of the post.
In answer to his question, yes, every single one of those illegal passers exercised due care. Some tried to be polite and slowed down as they passed (NOT A GOOD IDEA!), some sped up which is much safer. If anything, while I didn't collect quantitative separation data, they seemed to give me an even wider berth than on similar roads WITHOUT double yellows. More than one driver's wheels rode the LH fog line as he/she passed.
As a trivia note, 14 of the illegal passes were in the single long block of Westport between Old Denton Road and Alta Vista.
The SECOND, inadvertent point was illustrated by the comments - one can't mention stop sign running, even tangentially, without making cyclists get all defensive!
Later, a LEGAL pass in a double yellow zone.
Okay PM. I'm not a fan of your extreme minority position with regard to bike lanes, but you confronted the cops for busting cyclists for trivial violations at stop signs? I did the same thing while they were writing my ticket, and they pretty much offered to pistol-whip me. So, props, man, props.
Steve,
Hopefully Texas legislature and SmartCycle*Dallas will agree with Ohio's Revised Code:
§4511.31. Hazardous zones
(A) The department of transportation may determine those portions of any state highway where overtaking and passing other traffic or driving to the left of the center or center line of the roadway would be especially hazardous and may, by appropriate signs or markings on the highway, indicate the beginning and end of such zones. …
(B) Division (A) of this section does not apply when all of the following apply:
(1) The slower vehicle is proceeding at less than half the speed of the speed limit applicable to that location.
(2) The faster vehicle is capable of overtaking and passing the slower vehicle without exceeding the speed limit.
(3) There is sufficient clear sight distance to the left of the center or center line of the roadway to meet the overtaking and passing provisions of section 4511.29 of the Revised Code, considering the speed of the slower vehicle.
Comment: Section 4511.31(B) should help reduce tension between cyclists and faster drivers. Now, they can pass in "no passing" zones IF passing is safe.
(from OBF http://www.ohiobike.org/bicycle-law-digest.html)
The law also takes wind out of gas bags who whine "cyclist" are impeding traffic, slowing everyone (ME). Excuse me, a cyclist should NEVER trade safety for another driver's speed and convenience.
Re danc comments:
I'd be happy to dispense with #1 of the conditions to make A not apply. Lots of cyclists go 20MPH on the flat in a 35 zone.
Still, even WITH #1, it'd make law abiding citizens out of a lot of motorist scofflaws!
BTW, I paid closer attention to the sightlines today along Westport where I experienced 14 illegal passes on Monday. I could see down the road a full mile ahead. Lotsa straight roads in Texas!
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