I get this question a lot and it took on new meaning last night as I was trying to navigate Campbell north of Speedway. The lanes there are narrow and the drivers, for some reason, particularly aggro.
I was very nearly hit by one of those huge limousines made out of semi-trucks. It was terrifying.
According to the Arizona statute, if you are riding at less than the normal speed of traffic you must "ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway" unless you are (1) overtaking another, (2) preparing to turn left, (3) "if reasonably necessary to avoid conditions," and (4) "if the lane in which the person is operating the bicycle is too narrow for a bicyle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane." ARS 28-815
This fourth one got me to get out my measuring tape. I figure that riding any closer than one foot from the curb is obviously dangerous--you need to have at least twelve inches to maneuver before hitting the curb. From elbow-to-elbow I am 24 inches wide. I am owed three feet of space under 28-735 (A). This equals six feet.
According to my random measurements of various SUVs and mini-vans in my neighborhood, you can expect to encounter lots and lots of vehicles on any road that are six feet wide.
This seems to indicate to me that on any lane that is less than twelve feet wide it is per se legal to take the whole lane under ARS 28-815. (However, remember: I am not a judge or a legislator, I am just a bicyclist with a license to practice law in Arizona.)
Any thoughts? Am I right about this, or wrong? Anybody know how wide the lanes on Speedway are between Main and Euclid? How wide a Campbell lane is between Grant and Glenn? I think they may not be twelve feet, but I may go measure them this weekend.
--Erik Ryberg
Friday, April 18, 2008
When can you "take a lane"? Get out your tape measures!
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I led a team to make bicycle safety recommendations for our city - we recommended "Bicyclist may use full lane" signage whenever the outside lane was less than 14 feet from gutter pan to lane stripe.
The other part about (4) is that it states not just side by side but "safely." What is considered safely? There's supposed to be a "5-foot" rule for motorists right? So add five feet to the left of your elbows and I think you'll find that it's far wider than the most lanes. I think legally (and you can correct me if I'm wrong, Eric), it shouldn't be too hard to justify taking a lane if the shoulder is too small, is covered in broken glass, or some other unsafe condition.
I almost think it's more dangerous to ride as far as right as possible and have cars nearly clip you every time they pass without changing lanes than it is to just take a lane and force drivers to switch lanes. Of course then you can be just run over by an inattentive or aggressive driver.
If they stripe a four-foot bike shoulder between Grant & Glenn on Campbell, it would leave only nine feet for the cars which is below the minimum, I believe. Cars get ten feet (the city prefers eleven feet), then they will stripe four or five feet for bikes. So generally, if there is no stripe it means the lane is thirteen feet or less.
And that's pretty narrow when dealing with busses.
Great topic. I don't have any tape measurements to add to the conversation, but I find it interesting that many of my co-workers say they won't ride to work because there's no bike lane on Park between Ajo and Irvington, even though the outside lane in both directions appears to be about 15 feet — plenty of room for everyone to get where they're going. Those same people presumably would not hesitate to bike northward on Campbell from Sixth Street onward because a strip of paint exists. In other words, the lane is suicidally narrow, but the presence of a bike lane somehow makes it "safer."
I don't live in Tucson, so this is a response to one of the comments above. Bike Lanes are required to have a minimum of 4'-0" of continuous pavement, and does not include the gutter pan. Bike lanes on the edge of the road with curb and gutter have to be about 5'-6" wide (depending if it is ADOT curb or city curb).
as always Erik, interesting read.
Wouldn't it be safer and easier for everyone, motorists included, to take Mountain Ave north? Campbell, one of the city's busiest for motorists, wasn't made for cyclists. I think that is why the city spent a ton of money improving Mountain Ave for bicycles. As a 30 mile(rt) daily bicycle commuter, I can only expect motorists to respect us if we don't block an entire lane of traffic when alternatives have been provided.
The Federal alphabet soup agency for this says that anything less than 14 feet from lane marker to nearest obstruction is a sub-standard lane and by definition too narrow to be shared. And the definition of "obstruction" is pretty liberal in this case, "anything that might be a hazard to cycling" is included in that definition. AFAIK the definition of "hazard to cycling" is left up to the cyclist at the scene in most jurisdictions, as LEO are considered to not be knowledgeable about what constitutes hazards to cyclists.
John Moritz:
That is horrible advice. If Mountain doesn't take me where I want to go, why would I willingly ghettoize my route to avoid some car traffic? Whether or not to take the lane isn't necessarily the issue. I feel comfortable (and others may, too) riding 4 feet from the curb anywhere up and down Campbell. This is significantly to the right of the right tire track in most cases and constitutes reasonably necessary behavior to avoid conditions (i.e., broken glass, the possibility of being struck by same-direction traffic that feels it can ram you into the curb. A Take a Look mirror teaches more about motorist behavior than anything I can think of. The bicyclist moves left, the motorist moves left, and if the latter doesn't, you've at least carved out enough room to keep the motorist from carrying out a life-wrecking decision. The fact that the city spent "a ton of money" to ensure sorority girls may blithely ply that stretch on their beach cruisers does not argue for your position. It's irrelevant.
That's useful if the cops start harassing us for taking a lane on major streets on big bike rides, but when I'm riding alone and faced with a choice between being right and being dead, well, here I still am, pushing fifty.
I willingly go out of my way to avoid big busy throughfares, and ride quiet neighborhood streets instead. I don't feel "ghettoized" by that decision; I love to ride my bike and don't mind a slightly longer ride that allows me to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells rather than besieged by cars and constantly being on the lookout for my dear life.
And if there are sorority girls out there on beach cruisers instead of driving BMWs, blow 'em a kiss for crying out loud! They are us.
Interesting comments. I do ride Mountain whenever I can, but if I am going to a business on Campbell I do have to ride at least half a block or so on that awful road.
As for taking a lane, I am also sensitive to the problem of delaying traffic just for me, but like Janet said above, it doesn't hurt to know when you have the right to do it.
--EBR
xoxo
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the need.
Riding down Campbell... You guys have some seriously large balls. You'd have to pay me to ride that road. Being legal doesn't make it smart or safe. Ride/party on!
The rule of thumb we always talk about in California is 11 feet. Whenever we talk with LEO about this, however, they always giggle about the whole concept of taking the lane.
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