Taking the lane

One of the most important things to know in road riding is when to take the lane.  And it’s a subject that brings a lot of controversy with it too, usually related to the fact that motorists typically don’t understand the laws relating to cyclists.  (But heck, even some cyclists don’t understand the laws relating to cyclists.)

The way the law works (at least here in Florida) is like this:  in simple terms, the law states that cyclists have to stay as far to the right of the lane as possible, and follow all aspects of the law as though they were cars.  And that right there is where most people often want to leave it.  Oh, that may sound good on the surface, at least to most motorists.  But the thing is, there are (at least in Florida) four exceptions to that law, and people, especially motorists, often don’t know about these exceptions. 

The exceptions are that cyclists are not required to stay to the far right side of the lane if 1) they are avoiding a road hazard, like a pothole or debris in the road, 2) they are passing a slower vehicle, 3) they are not impeding the flow of traffic, or 4) if it is a sub-standard lane, that is, one which is not wide enough for a bike and a car to safely be side-by-side.  The two big ones here are the 1^st and the 4^th.  When motorist think of road hazards, they think of things that would be hazardous to a car.  They don’t realize that even just a little bit of sand on the side of the road can be extremely hazardous when you’re on 2 tires that are only 23 cm wide.  If there is sand on the side of the road, cyclists will need to come out into the lane to avoid it.  And here’s the deal on lane width:  A car requires 10 feet of lane width.  A cyclist requires 3 feet.  That’s right—3 feet.  Our tires may be skinny, but that doesn’t mean we can fit in 8 or 10 inches of shoulder on the side of the road.  So in order for a lane to be wide enough for both a car and a bike to safely be side-by-side, the lane needs to be 13 feet from the inside of the white line on the right to the inside of the yellow line on the left.  If a lane is smaller than that (as the vast majority of lanes are) then it goes into the exceptions category and the cyclist is no longer required to stay as far to the right as possible.  To be clear, we do stay as far to the right as possible, but that means we stay in the right-hand 3 feet of the lane.  And if the lane is only 10 feet wide then many motorists will think that we’re taking up way too much of it.

This all gets intensified as we approach an intersection, especially if there’s a red light.  In this situation, it’s usually best for the cyclists to move over and take up the whole lane.  This is, first, allowed by law, because we at that point are not impeding the flow of traffic (the cars have to slow down too when they approach that red light) and second, it’s the smart thing to do to prevent cars from coming up alongside of us.  It doesn’t do either the motorists or the cyclists any good for the cyclist to be squeezed in between a car and the curb.

This is a tricky subject, but the bottom line to it all is that motorists and cyclists have to share the road.  To all my road-riding partners I say, use eye contact, hand signals, whole arm signals, or whatever it takes to make sure the motorists know what you intend to do, especially when you’re coming to an intersection.  And to all my car-driving partners I say, relax and give a cyclist a break.  You’ll still get there in plenty of time.