4 ms·

As someone who spends a lot of time driving, I really don't like E-bikes. I also have no problem with pedal bikes. They take up very little room on the road an

As someone who spends a lot of time driving, I really don't like E-bikes. I also have no problem with pedal bikes. They take up very little room on the road and parked. This is my problem. I do not find this to be the case at all. They are becoming more popular in my city, and the people riding them seem to feel the need to take up an entire traffic lane with their bike. Since these bikes are generally not as fast as a car, and do not accelerate as quickly they end up being a large nuisance to the traffic system and actually prevent things from running smoothly.

EliRivers 13y ago
people riding them seem to feel the need to take up an entire traffic lane with their bike. In the UK, the highway code indicates that if you're overtaking a bicycle, you should in fact leave as much room as if it was a car; that is, what you're complaining about is intentional in the UK. I know that many cyclists (in other countries as well) deliberately take up the entire lane for their own safety.
lightbritefight 13y ago
Bicycles should and will take a lane when they feel otherwise unsafe. Large sums of debris is swept into bike lanes/ gutters that can and will puncture tires/ cause wrecks. Many bike lanes are next to parked cars as well, and being doored is one of the number one ways to get seriously injured on a bike commute. Its a real, valid fear. Even if the lane is safe, often times drivers will completely ignore you, blinking safety lights or not. Once, I kindly took the edge of an uphill slope, no bike lane. On my right, parked cars. On my left, cars going up the slope. Half way up the hill, a car literally pressed me up against the parked cars to my right, while in motion. My right leg was forced against the parked cars, my left against his. I could have reached into his window and turned the wheel for him, he was so close. Its the day someone not paying attention almost killed me. I took the lane on that road from then on. If someone is in the lane, its for a reason. I know it can be a nuisance, but an unsafe biking environment means no one bikes, which means more cars are on the road, which means you'll be more inconvenienced in the long run by worse traffic.
- penrod 13y ago
  Seconded. Riding too close to parked cars is extremely dangerous, as doors open without warning, and if you don't have sufficient space you then have to make a sudden swerve into the middle of the lane. Cycling in the middle of a lane is not dangerous (although annoying to drivers.) Making a swerve into the middle of the lane without checking for overtaking traffic is very dangerous, and is the usual cause of cyclists getting hit from behind.
chao- 13y ago
>and the people riding them seem to feel the need to take up an entire traffic lane with their bike. Cycling around my city in the South, where people tend to think bicycles belong on the sidewalk, the only way I can ensure my safety is to aggressively take the entire lane. It is when I pedal sheepishly on the furthest third of the lane that I have the most issue with cars trying to squeeze past me in an unsafe manner. I try not to be unreasonable, though. In a one-lane road I will gladly work with the cars behind me and let them pass whenever the distance allows. But two lanes or more? I'm going to err on the side of my own safety and take the lane, as is my legal right as a street vehicle.
Mikeb85 13y ago
> They are becoming more popular in my city, and the people riding them seem to feel the need to take up an entire traffic lane with their bike. < Well, where I live bikes must follow the same traffic rules as cars when on the road, so they're entitled to a lane and you deal with it. Thankfully though, we also have many dedicated bike paths which enable commuting from nearly any part of the city, so the only place you ever really encounter cyclists is downtown, where most of them are capable of reaching the speed limit quite easily...
gohrt 13y ago
Bikes take up less space front to back, and two bikes together will share a lane. And they obviously take up less space parking Care to adjust this statement?: > I do not find this to be the case at all.

EliRivers 13y ago

people riding them seem to feel the need to take up an entire traffic lane with their bike. In the UK, the highway code indicates that if you're overtaking a bicycle, you should in fact leave as much room as if it was a car; that is, what you're complaining about is intentional in the UK. I know that many cyclists (in other countries as well) deliberately take up the entire lane for their own safety.

lightbritefight 13y ago

Bicycles should and will take a lane when they feel otherwise unsafe. Large sums of debris is swept into bike lanes/ gutters that can and will puncture tires/ cause wrecks. Many bike lanes are next to parked cars as well, and being doored is one of the number one ways to get seriously injured on a bike commute. Its a real, valid fear. Even if the lane is safe, often times drivers will completely ignore you, blinking safety lights or not. Once, I kindly took the edge of an uphill slope, no bike lane. On my right, parked cars. On my left, cars going up the slope. Half way up the hill, a car literally pressed me up against the parked cars to my right, while in motion. My right leg was forced against the parked cars, my left against his. I could have reached into his window and turned the wheel for him, he was so close. Its the day someone not paying attention almost killed me. I took the lane on that road from then on. If someone is in the lane, its for a reason. I know it can be a nuisance, but an unsafe biking environment means no one bikes, which means more cars are on the road, which means you'll be more inconvenienced in the long run by worse traffic.

penrod 13y ago
Seconded. Riding too close to parked cars is extremely dangerous, as doors open without warning, and if you don't have sufficient space you then have to make a sudden swerve into the middle of the lane. Cycling in the middle of a lane is not dangerous (although annoying to drivers.) Making a swerve into the middle of the lane without checking for overtaking traffic is very dangerous, and is the usual cause of cyclists getting hit from behind.

chao- 13y ago

>and the people riding them seem to feel the need to take up an entire traffic lane with their bike. Cycling around my city in the South, where people tend to think bicycles belong on the sidewalk, the only way I can ensure my safety is to aggressively take the entire lane. It is when I pedal sheepishly on the furthest third of the lane that I have the most issue with cars trying to squeeze past me in an unsafe manner. I try not to be unreasonable, though. In a one-lane road I will gladly work with the cars behind me and let them pass whenever the distance allows. But two lanes or more? I'm going to err on the side of my own safety and take the lane, as is my legal right as a street vehicle.

Mikeb85 13y ago

> They are becoming more popular in my city, and the people riding them seem to feel the need to take up an entire traffic lane with their bike. < Well, where I live bikes must follow the same traffic rules as cars when on the road, so they're entitled to a lane and you deal with it. Thankfully though, we also have many dedicated bike paths which enable commuting from nearly any part of the city, so the only place you ever really encounter cyclists is downtown, where most of them are capable of reaching the speed limit quite easily...

gohrt 13y ago

Bikes take up less space front to back, and two bikes together will share a lane. And they obviously take up less space parking Care to adjust this statement?: > I do not find this to be the case at all.