Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Clive Palfrey on April 4, 2012 at 18:07

Understood, bike lanes wide enough for 2 are a rarity, Montague road has one, frankly I tend to be wary riding 2 abreast at the best of times, not so much because of the law or other traffic just that I find so many cyclists twitch or wander without warning and I prefer not to have ironmongery in my bones.

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Permalink Reply by Gareth on April 5, 2012 at 0:17

Also this is for a bike lane that is in "operating times". If the bike lane sign has no times then the bike lane is in operation all the time and bikes must remain in the lane unless there is an obstruction in the line or they are passing another cyclist. 

If the lane has times allocated to it and it is outside those times then you can ride two abreast with one rider outside the bike lane but not more then 1.5m apart, of course that is if it is safe to ride two abreast.

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Permalink Reply by Alasdair McLellan on April 5, 2012 at 9:50

Actually, they must remain in the lane 'unless it is unsafe to do so'. Exactly what constitutes 'unsafe' is up to the cyclist. For instance, I'd personally assess debris/glass/random litter as 'unsafe' since I may puncture when riding through it. It's a handy loophole.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Wellington on April 5, 2012 at 10:23

Not so sure about this. If you look at the Transport SA website it is very clear about distinguishing between a permanent bike lane and those that only operate at specific times. The obvious interpretation of this is that if you are outside of the bike lane's operating hours then for all intensive purposes it doesn't exist and non of the laws relating to it apply. You should therefore not have to ride in it or have to only ride single file unless it is only safe to do so. having said that you obviously need to ride responsibly and safely.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Wellington on April 5, 2012 at 10:33

Just looked through the "cycling and the law" PDF from the transport SA website. It says "During the bicycle lane operating times, you must not ride outside a bicycle lane abreast of another rider unless you are overtaking". Therefore you can ride two abreast where a bicycle lane is marked as long as it is outside it's operating time.

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Permalink Reply by Alasdair McLellan on April 5, 2012 at 14:06

Ah yes. If it's outside the bike lane's operating hours it's not a bike lane. This stands to reason...

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Permalink Reply by Paul on April 6, 2012 at 12:19

Stands to reason to us as cyclists, but try explaining it to motorists who just see a bike lane and cyclists riding abreast; majority of motorists dont seem to comprehend the law any better than we do, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they dont go in to research, debate and discussion like this to try to analyse and find sense in the law...

Permalink Reply by Eli Southern on April 5, 2012 at 13:09

Good point- going down shepherds hill road I rarely ride In the bike lane for several reasons: speed, I'm usually descending above 50 km per hour, and a bike lane with glass, manholes and patchy bitumen is not acceptable, also cara reversing from driveways rarely look for cycloats here, and when getting close to flinders uni at the bottom, being in the traffic lane allows me to evade traffic heading towards south rd, while I head towards Sturt rd. I still try to ride as close to the left as is safe, but that is usually in the middle Of the left lane...

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Permalink Reply by Jase "Flatty" C on April 4, 2012 at 14:30

A good message and one that everyone on both sides of the fence would do well to embrace.

I regularly see cyclists ride through red lights. In the distant past, I have been known to do it but after getting spoken to, fined and had demerit points applied to my license after hopping on the back of a peleton who did it at Vic Sq a number of years ago, I obey every road rule to the letter. Lesson learnt.

One particular behaviour that worries me, and I've seen it a lot of late, is cyclists joining a road from a driveway or similar and not checking for cars / other road users. I've had a number of cyclists pull out right in front of me simply because they didn't look. Last week, one guy did it to me on First Avenue while I was in my car.  I wound down my passenger window and told him to look before he pulled out in future.  He said I was clearly anti-cyclists.  I laughed, informed him that I ride every single day come rain or shine and that I was actually anti-dead-cyclists.

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Permalink Reply by Alasdair McLellan on April 4, 2012 at 16:01

I can totally understand why they're doing this. Many motorists are assholes but, for some reason, the number of cyclists on the road who are assholes is increasing.

I don't want to stereotype too broadly but it seems that newer cyclists are more likely to be badly behaved. I'm getting the impression that the explosion of participation in cycling is leading to an 'entitlement' attitude among those new to the activity on our roads.

It's getting so bad that I'd now say that I'm seeing over 70% of the riders I see on my commutes breaking road rules. It doesn't exactly lead to a conciliatory attudude from motorists, whether they be nice or assholes themselves.

Seriously, how hard is it to stop before the white line on the road and stay there until the light goes green? How hard is it not to barrel across the road during a pedestrian cycle?

Among other things, these idiots are taking away my ability to take the moral high ground and that's not cool. ;)

 

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Permalink Reply by colin ware-lane on April 4, 2012 at 16:49

you see bad riding/driving everyday but i would guess that nearly every cyclist you see has had NO training at all they just buy a bike and off they go onto the roads,the drivers may have had training but you will never stop the DHs who just think rules dont apply to them.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Jones on April 4, 2012 at 16:57

Actually Colin, some of us did get training. I think I was 8 years old when I got to go to the Elizabeth bike training centre with Scouts. 

Seriously though the problem is the attitude "its my right to do what I want" thats the problem. A good example is old Mt Barker Rd near the Stirling East tennis courts. I ride and drive this road regularly and the attitude of most drivers and riders astounds me.

Yes as riders we are allowed to ride two abreast, but it also doesn't mean we have to. The speed disparity on this road can be quite high and I constantly see drivers illegally overtaking two abreast riders , who if they considered other road users and dropped back to single file for a minute would allow much safer passing maneuvers. Once the cars have cleared, by all means go back to two abreast and continue your chatting. It really doesn't take much of an effort to be considerate. 

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