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	<title>Comments on: Cyclist May Use Full Lane&#8230;But Should We?</title>
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	<link>http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/cyclist-may-use-full-lane-but-should-we</link>
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		<title>By: David Knapp</title>
		<link>http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/cyclist-may-use-full-lane-but-should-we/comment-page-1#comment-13020</link>
		<dc:creator>David Knapp</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lovingthebike.com/?p=10763#comment-13020</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If a bicycle is too close to the shoulder, motorists where I live will give no room when going by thinking that they can&#039;t cross the center line, If I don&#039;t take enough space in the lane they will pass within inches. Making motorists aware of the LAW is a great idea. I&#039;ve had motorists tell me that they thought I would move over more, even with no oncoming traffic in sight.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If a bicycle is too close to the shoulder, motorists where I live will give no room when going by thinking that they can&#8217;t cross the center line, If I don&#8217;t take enough space in the lane they will pass within inches. Making motorists aware of the LAW is a great idea. I&#8217;ve had motorists tell me that they thought I would move over more, even with no oncoming traffic in sight.</p>
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		<title>By: Darryl is Loving the Bike</title>
		<link>http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/cyclist-may-use-full-lane-but-should-we/comment-page-1#comment-12608</link>
		<dc:creator>Darryl is Loving the Bike</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Dec 2012 11:04:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lovingthebike.com/?p=10763#comment-12608</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks for your input on this, John.  We really appreciate hearing your point of view, your stories, and tips.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks for your input on this, John.  We really appreciate hearing your point of view, your stories, and tips.</p>
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		<title>By: John Brooking</title>
		<link>http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/cyclist-may-use-full-lane-but-should-we/comment-page-1#comment-12607</link>
		<dc:creator>John Brooking</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 23 Dec 2012 22:02:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lovingthebike.com/?p=10763#comment-12607</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[That road does not look like the lanes are shareable to me, at least not with traffic in both directions at once. Look at that white van. Now imagine a similarly-sized vehicle going the other way. Is there room for a cyclist at the side too? I don&#039;t think so. You could do the math to show this if you knew the lane widths.

As someone else said, it&#039;s &quot;may&quot; use full lane, not &quot;must&quot;. You don&#039;t necessarily have to use the full lane all the time, but there are times that it&#039;s definitely advisable, the times that it&#039;s not safe to be passed. When it is safe to pass, you can ride more to the right to facilitate passing.

I find on 2-lane roads like this that motorists are entirely willing to cross the double-yellow line to give enough passing distance *if* there is no oncoming traffic. (I am in Maine, our 3-foot law says that motorists are allowed to cross the double-yellow, but OTOH, I don&#039;t think very many of them know that; I think they just do it anyway.) The key is to be aware of the situation ahead that would prevent them from moving over, either oncoming traffic or blind spots such as curves or hill crests. When approaching these situations, it is best to move over to the center of the lane at an opportune time, giving any following traffic adequate time to react. I find it helpful to give a &quot;stay back&quot; signal (left hand out, pointing down, palm back) as I do this, and at frequent intervals while controlling the lane. Communicating this with the motorist behind you reinforces what you are expecting of them, and they very likely understand the reason. Once the oncoming traffic has passed, or you are past the blind spot, when the way ahead is clear for them, you can move back over slightly more to the side, like maybe 1/3 into the lane, and give them a friendly wave, communicating both that it is now safe to pass, and that you appreciate their patience. This actually works really well. Once I was even thanked by the motorist for helping him, when we happened to meet at the restaurant parking near the road where this happened. (Maybe he was a cyclist himself and understood what I was doing better than most.)

BTW, there is an updated version of that Facebook graphic:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=306443252797468&amp;set=a.283448488430278.59826.281417585300035&amp;type=1&amp;theater]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>That road does not look like the lanes are shareable to me, at least not with traffic in both directions at once. Look at that white van. Now imagine a similarly-sized vehicle going the other way. Is there room for a cyclist at the side too? I don&#8217;t think so. You could do the math to show this if you knew the lane widths.</p>
<p>As someone else said, it&#8217;s &#8220;may&#8221; use full lane, not &#8220;must&#8221;. You don&#8217;t necessarily have to use the full lane all the time, but there are times that it&#8217;s definitely advisable, the times that it&#8217;s not safe to be passed. When it is safe to pass, you can ride more to the right to facilitate passing.</p>
<p>I find on 2-lane roads like this that motorists are entirely willing to cross the double-yellow line to give enough passing distance *if* there is no oncoming traffic. (I am in Maine, our 3-foot law says that motorists are allowed to cross the double-yellow, but OTOH, I don&#8217;t think very many of them know that; I think they just do it anyway.) The key is to be aware of the situation ahead that would prevent them from moving over, either oncoming traffic or blind spots such as curves or hill crests. When approaching these situations, it is best to move over to the center of the lane at an opportune time, giving any following traffic adequate time to react. I find it helpful to give a &#8220;stay back&#8221; signal (left hand out, pointing down, palm back) as I do this, and at frequent intervals while controlling the lane. Communicating this with the motorist behind you reinforces what you are expecting of them, and they very likely understand the reason. Once the oncoming traffic has passed, or you are past the blind spot, when the way ahead is clear for them, you can move back over slightly more to the side, like maybe 1/3 into the lane, and give them a friendly wave, communicating both that it is now safe to pass, and that you appreciate their patience. This actually works really well. Once I was even thanked by the motorist for helping him, when we happened to meet at the restaurant parking near the road where this happened. (Maybe he was a cyclist himself and understood what I was doing better than most.)</p>
<p>BTW, there is an updated version of that Facebook graphic:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=306443252797468&#038;set=a.283448488430278.59826.281417585300035&#038;type=1&#038;theater" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=306443252797468&#038;set=a.283448488430278.59826.281417585300035&#038;type=1&#038;theater</a></p>
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		<title>By: John Brooking</title>
		<link>http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/cyclist-may-use-full-lane-but-should-we/comment-page-1#comment-12606</link>
		<dc:creator>John Brooking</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 23 Dec 2012 21:42:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lovingthebike.com/?p=10763#comment-12606</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The point of riding in the middle of the lane is to prevent unsafe passing. That way it doesn&#039;t matter if the motorists have read and obey the signs, if you&#039;re in front of them and they don&#039;t have room to move over, they can&#039;t pass. They don&#039;t *want* to hit you, if for no other reason than they don&#039;t want the hassle. My hope is that the signs will educate motorists that we have the right to be there, but regardless of what they think or even whether they see the signs, they won&#039;t hit if they can see you, and they are more likely to see you in the middle of the the lane than off to the side.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The point of riding in the middle of the lane is to prevent unsafe passing. That way it doesn&#8217;t matter if the motorists have read and obey the signs, if you&#8217;re in front of them and they don&#8217;t have room to move over, they can&#8217;t pass. They don&#8217;t *want* to hit you, if for no other reason than they don&#8217;t want the hassle. My hope is that the signs will educate motorists that we have the right to be there, but regardless of what they think or even whether they see the signs, they won&#8217;t hit if they can see you, and they are more likely to see you in the middle of the the lane than off to the side.</p>
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		<title>By: Darryl is Loving the Bike</title>
		<link>http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/cyclist-may-use-full-lane-but-should-we/comment-page-1#comment-12085</link>
		<dc:creator>Darryl is Loving the Bike</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 2012 11:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lovingthebike.com/?p=10763#comment-12085</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks for your comments, Susan.  I hope your recovery goes quick but it&#039;s great to see you still out there on the recumbent.
I think you&#039;re right about better signs and education.  It&#039;s not the signs I&#039;m not sure about...it&#039;s about the drivers not knowing what to do or how to use them.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks for your comments, Susan.  I hope your recovery goes quick but it&#8217;s great to see you still out there on the recumbent.<br />
I think you&#8217;re right about better signs and education.  It&#8217;s not the signs I&#8217;m not sure about&#8230;it&#8217;s about the drivers not knowing what to do or how to use them.</p>
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		<title>By: susan swope</title>
		<link>http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/cyclist-may-use-full-lane-but-should-we/comment-page-1#comment-12081</link>
		<dc:creator>susan swope</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 2012 04:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lovingthebike.com/?p=10763#comment-12081</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I live in suburban St. Louis directly located off of a five lane (4 traffic lanes plus a suicide lane) state highway so I have no other option than to be a part of the traffic.  I have found it safer to ride in the center of the lane I am traveling in at all times.  Motorist will generally move over earlier when they see me and realize that the lane is not wide enough to share.  Those who don&#039;t change lanes earlier may have to wait a minute or so to change lanes later.  Some motorists have appeared irate but as of yet no one has run me down.  Recently I have been using a recumbent tricycle due to a broken arm.  When I have traveled the neighborhood highway using the center of the lane more motorists than usual changed lanes earlier and no one laid on the horn.  My theory is that the drivers realized that it would be impossible to share the lane with a tricycle so they made no attempt to shove me into the three inches of glass that lies to the right of the white line.  We don&#039;t have May Use full Lane signs but I would welcome them.  I think further explanation in the form of another sign that reads &quot;Change Lanes To Pass Cyclists&quot; would be appropriate too.  Still loving the bike, even if it&#039;s a trike right now!]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I live in suburban St. Louis directly located off of a five lane (4 traffic lanes plus a suicide lane) state highway so I have no other option than to be a part of the traffic.  I have found it safer to ride in the center of the lane I am traveling in at all times.  Motorist will generally move over earlier when they see me and realize that the lane is not wide enough to share.  Those who don&#8217;t change lanes earlier may have to wait a minute or so to change lanes later.  Some motorists have appeared irate but as of yet no one has run me down.  Recently I have been using a recumbent tricycle due to a broken arm.  When I have traveled the neighborhood highway using the center of the lane more motorists than usual changed lanes earlier and no one laid on the horn.  My theory is that the drivers realized that it would be impossible to share the lane with a tricycle so they made no attempt to shove me into the three inches of glass that lies to the right of the white line.  We don&#8217;t have May Use full Lane signs but I would welcome them.  I think further explanation in the form of another sign that reads &#8220;Change Lanes To Pass Cyclists&#8221; would be appropriate too.  Still loving the bike, even if it&#8217;s a trike right now!</p>
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		<title>By: Darryl is Loving the Bike</title>
		<link>http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/cyclist-may-use-full-lane-but-should-we/comment-page-1#comment-12013</link>
		<dc:creator>Darryl is Loving the Bike</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Oct 2012 17:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lovingthebike.com/?p=10763#comment-12013</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks Janice.  Yeah, it all depends on the situation and in some places it does make sense to be in the lane.  Most important is that a cyclist does what they feel is most safe...and that drivers understand what&#039;s going on and keep them safe.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks Janice.  Yeah, it all depends on the situation and in some places it does make sense to be in the lane.  Most important is that a cyclist does what they feel is most safe&#8230;and that drivers understand what&#8217;s going on and keep them safe.</p>
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		<title>By: Janice in GA</title>
		<link>http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/cyclist-may-use-full-lane-but-should-we/comment-page-1#comment-12011</link>
		<dc:creator>Janice in GA</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Oct 2012 17:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lovingthebike.com/?p=10763#comment-12011</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I kinda disagree. There are a few routes I travel where there are 4 lane streets (2 lanes in each direction.)  If I DON&#039;T move into the lane, I get more close, dangerous passes.  It actually makes me anxious to do this, because I hate worrying about whether I&#039;m pissing some car driver off. :(  And you get the occasional jerk who will come up behind you and honk their horn EVEN WHEN THERE ARE NO CARS IN THE LEFT LANE.  IOW, just a creep who thinks he/she needs to make a point. O.o 

We don&#039;t have lots of bike riders in my area, and I can really tell when I go on a road where they&#039;re not used to seeing cyclists.  People pass much less safely on those roads, and that&#039;s when I move into the lane.

It goes without saying that I avoid roads like this as much as possible, because I hate feeling stressed over this stuff.  But in some places, there just aren&#039;t alternate routes.  Having to cross an interstate highway is like having to cross a river: all the routes are busy, and there aren&#039;t many of them.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I kinda disagree. There are a few routes I travel where there are 4 lane streets (2 lanes in each direction.)  If I DON&#8217;T move into the lane, I get more close, dangerous passes.  It actually makes me anxious to do this, because I hate worrying about whether I&#8217;m pissing some car driver off. <img src='http://lovingthebike.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif' alt=':(' class='wp-smiley' />   And you get the occasional jerk who will come up behind you and honk their horn EVEN WHEN THERE ARE NO CARS IN THE LEFT LANE.  IOW, just a creep who thinks he/she needs to make a point. O.o </p>
<p>We don&#8217;t have lots of bike riders in my area, and I can really tell when I go on a road where they&#8217;re not used to seeing cyclists.  People pass much less safely on those roads, and that&#8217;s when I move into the lane.</p>
<p>It goes without saying that I avoid roads like this as much as possible, because I hate feeling stressed over this stuff.  But in some places, there just aren&#8217;t alternate routes.  Having to cross an interstate highway is like having to cross a river: all the routes are busy, and there aren&#8217;t many of them.</p>
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		<title>By: Darryl is Loving the Bike</title>
		<link>http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/cyclist-may-use-full-lane-but-should-we/comment-page-1#comment-11995</link>
		<dc:creator>Darryl is Loving the Bike</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Oct 2012 14:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lovingthebike.com/?p=10763#comment-11995</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks Peter, riding where you feel is safe is generally good advice.  Keep on riding.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks Peter, riding where you feel is safe is generally good advice.  Keep on riding.</p>
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		<title>By: Darryl is Loving the Bike</title>
		<link>http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/cyclist-may-use-full-lane-but-should-we/comment-page-1#comment-11994</link>
		<dc:creator>Darryl is Loving the Bike</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Oct 2012 14:49:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lovingthebike.com/?p=10763#comment-11994</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks for your input.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks for your input.</p>
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