As a cyclist, two people cycling side by side while other vehicles are waiting to pass is a bit of a dick move tbh.
Not illegal, and nothing compared to the shit that drivers do to cyclists, but still a bit of a dick move.
I disagree since overtaking a cyclist in the same lane is unsafe anyway. In the city I always cycle in the middle of the lane because it prevents unsafe takeovers and dooring.
Yes illegal, depending on the country.
Wrong, it’s easier and safer to overtake two cyclists abreast because you don’t have to be in the oncoming lane for as long
Cycling two abreast is better for the driver, since they can overtake much quicker.
That image is quite a niche scenario and doesn’t represent the situation in the original image.
Obviously it’s different with a group of eight compared to just two people…
niche scenario
Never been to a country where road cycling is massive then? Try living in anyplace that has Alps in it lol
You’re right. I live in a city and have never seen more than four people cycling together.
It’s almost like cycling in the alps is a niche situation, and cycling in cities happens much more frequently 🤔
If cyclists can use the whole lane (common situation in the United States for example), it is (almost always) illegal for a driver to leave their drivable portion of the road to pass someone, bicyclist or otherwise. That includes crossing any lines, going to the opposite side of the road, being on the shoulder or sidewalk, etc.
Without a separate bicycle lane, it is not permitted to pass a bicyclist.
Which is why everyone hates cyclists. Y’all are the left lane campers of the freeway.
If a sign is posted saying ‘Bicyclists may use full lane’ then that lane is now a bicycle lane with cars being allowed on it for some reason. Check your car brain.
Bro you’re just getting in peoples way. Regardless of your opinion they’re not going to like you.
Regardless of your opinion, it is illegal
There’s a line between following the law and being a dick
And transit and emergency vehicles can wait. Fuck them amiright? You don’t sound irrational and spiteful at all.
Transit should ideally be on its own section anyway (preferably on rails) and literally everyone has to pull to the side and yield to emergency vehicles. If their lights and siren are off and they are driving on a road/bicycle path in this case, yes they can wait.
Don’t hate the cyclists, hate the government. We all want separate cycle lanes.
In my city people are literally protesting new separated bicycle lanes by slashing the tires of rental bikes… Ridiculous
Some of those same people will then unironically complain about being “stuck behind a cyclist”.
I’m not sure I’m understanding… as a driver you can legally pass by going into the opposing lane momentarily, as long as the line in the center is dashed (not solid) on your side and there is no oncoming traffic. That’s kind of the whole reason the center line is painted like that, combined with those signs that say “do not pass” and “pass with caution” when the line goes solid and back to dashed.
In that scenario, that would be part of the drivable area yes. However, that is exceedingly rare in the United States at least from my experience in smaller cities/suburbia (east coast). I regularly see people breaking the law by driving on the shoulder to go around someone turning left, and illegally crossing a solid double yellow line to pass a bicyclist.
In my experience in midwest suburbia the center line is almost always dashed unless there’s poor visibility (seeing around a tight curve or over a hill) or more than one lane of traffic in each direction (eliminating the need to overtake in opposing traffic). Or its a pedestrian zone, with reduced speed regardless.
True, some people break the laws. I don’t see it nearly as often as you claim to, and usually not in especially unsafe conditions, but the point stands that those people are selfish and impatient. I don’t see why bicyclists should have to sacrifice either their freedom (to bike to where they please and utilize existing public infrastructure) or their safety (by leaving the illusion that a full size vehicle might squeeze by at cruising speed) for such people. It’s not bicyclists’ fault that the infrastructure fails to serve all of its users equally.
Where do you see another vehicle “waiting to pass”? There’s absolutely nothing in this picture telling you how much traffic there is, how wide the road is, etc. Nothing.
What can be seen in the picture, however, is a car that, no matter the speed, is tailgating way too close. Which is a misdemeanor in some countries.
And just so we’re clear, the reason it’s a dick move is the car can move faster than the bike so blocking the car robs the people in the car if its full utility. They’re now forced to go your speed, which is probably less than the speed limit.
While we’re at it let’s just block emergency vehicles cuz they are even bigger taking up more space. Boo them for not all just havin bycycles and saving on emissions
You left out the part where the ones on the bikes are going the fraction of the speed
Also the methane exhaust from the bikers anuses
That’s only used in bike races, to act as a booster for extra speed/acceleration, much like a rocket does
Great image, however slightly wrong. In some countries car pictured should be a huge fucking truck which people use to go and buy Starbucks because of deadly combination of ego issues and laziness.
Removed by mod
I’m obese and I ride a bike. I just like to break the stereotype.
So people saying the bikes side by side are a dick move are implying that you have more right to the road because you’re driving a car?
Generally speaking, to do an overtake, a car needs to leave the lane completely, so it doesn’t matter whether it’s one or two bikes.
It does matter. It’s safer for everyone if cyclists travel side by side in one lane because then the car driver has to spend less time in the oncoming lane to complete the overtake. A long string of bikes takes more time to safely pass.
It’s especially safer for the cyclists who risk getting side swiped and crushed by drivers trying to avoid going into the adjacent lane, and since cyclists have no steel box surrounding them, it’s a one sided battle that the car initiated in the first place. Riding side by side forces the car to do a normal, legal overtake by moving into the next lane.
You are assuming drivers respect the safety distance from a lone biker…
Most of the streets around here were built when the idea that every house could have a car would be viewed as a fantasy.
So you’ve got cars parked up and down each side of the road, and if two cars want to pass each other, then you have to hope that there’s space for one of you to pull over.
If you want to overtake even one bike, forget it. It’s probably got some balaclava wearing kid on it, weaving none-handed up the middle of the road.
Those kinds of streets are actually the safest for everyone because they enforce lower speeds and more attentive driving than any posted speed limit ever can. People don’t give two shits about speed laws and will drive as fast as they feel they can, so when the road is not conducive to driving fast, surprise surprise people don’t drive fast and collisions are rarely deadly.
More info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbqNUqdZlwM
Gurl, what’s with the spooky bike fanfic
If my vehicle had the ability to change its width when I needed to, I’d agree with you, but my car does not have that option, the two bikes do, it wouldn’t take much effort for one to slide behind the other to let the vehicle behind pass, it’s a give and take with society, I’ll actively make sure to keep you safe from my vehicle, while bikes should actively try to allow larger or faster vehicles to pass safely instead of putting themselves at risk over something that takes no effort to do.
I’ll actively make sure to keep you safe from my vehicle
As someone who cycles on the road, I don’t trust you. Not in the slightest. Far too many close calls with cars trying to “sneak” by me because “oh I’m sure there’s plenty of room to the right” even in a bike-oriented city. I ride alone the vast majority of the time but having someone ride beside would actually make me feel safer because it means you actually have to perform a legal overtake which involves moving into the passing lane. Also, drivers are distracted all the time and I absolutely do not trust that every driver will actually notice a bike that’s off to their side when drivers are prone to straight up miss traffic lights that are right in front of their eyeline.
Ohh and I don’t trust the bikes I see riding around, the amount of people on bikes who have crossed In front of me while I’m driving the speed limit while never once looking behind them, causing me to have to slam my brakes on because I don’t want to hit someone on a bike.
Both sides of this argument need to show respect to each other on the road, it’s not a bikes are the problem or cars are the problem, people are the problem.
Like I said I actively try to ensure you guys are safe on the road when I pass you or see you coming up in front.
Are you really arguing that passing two bikes is the same maneuver as passing one? That second bike isn’t going to like it.
How so?
Passing two bikes requires moving over more. If you pass two bikes with the same manoeuvre you use for passing one with enough space, you’ll be far too close to the outer bike.
Why state a car’s length in millimeters? Why state any length over a meter in millimeters?
Why doesn’t the world use the decimeter? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it used anywhere.
Using millimeters is pretty common in engineering.
So is using meters.
millimeters allow these numbers to be displayed as integers
Builders, carpenters, plumbers etc all state any length up to 10m in mm
In countries that aren’t America, we use centimetres and metres. But it was suggested that yanks are a bit thick and might be happier using woodworkers units of millimetres and metres.
No one uses deci anything, in my experience.
I’ve seen deciliters around some places for beverages.
Interesting, only place I have seen them is in science fiction books, and the occasional scifi themed bar.
We use deci-bells to measure sound volume
My decimeters be decimating
Oh gosh, metric that is too confusing. Can you convert it into units we can all understand like yards, feet, inches
/s
yeah, a global standard like imperial units 🙏
How I wish I lived in a part lf the world built and designed for bycicles or proper public transit.
Update the picture to include the particulate pollution from the tires and you got a solid piece
This sub is pointless until it can provide a solution to having to get somewhere 30 miles from here when it’s 10 below outside for most of the winter.
Dont give me that it’s not always 10 below excuse. It is often 10 below or lower for long stretches in the north. Biking is simply not viable or practical.
Look at this example. Looks like it’s 80 and sunny with the top down on a convertible and everyone in summer clothes.
Everyone doesn’t live in Arizona, kar Karen.
Dont give me that it’s not always 10 below excuse. It is often 10 below or lower for long stretches in the north. Biking is simply not viable or practical.
“It’s sometimes cold, therefore you can never bike”
Solid take there.
Chill. We are working on the temperature. It just takes time, but I think we got one or two degrees already
Public transport? Or cars. Some people on here may be militant about getting rid of all cars, but most of us aren’t that extreme. We simply want to have the option to not use cars, which is currently not the case in many regions of the world.
There is no public transport that is even remotely able to serve the rural population.
You always have the option to not use a car if weather permits no one is stopping you. Your last statement is simply not true.
@Dkarma @theplanlessman public transportation can absolutely work for rural populations. As long as it’s designed and built well. But our governments keep robbing us off that possibility. And we keep letting them.
This sub is pointless until it can provide a solution to having to get somewhere 30 miles from here when it’s 10 below outside for most of the winter.
-10F or -10C?
-10C really isn’t very cold. The average low in Oulu, Finland in February is -12C, and ~10% of all trips there in the winter are via bike because they have an extensive network of well-plowed bike paths.
Biking in -10C is really just a matter of having appropriate gear to block the wind - similar to what you’d wear skiing like a jacket, mittens and a neck gator/ski mask. -10C isn’t warm, but people do outdoor winter sports literally all the time in -10C. It’s fine.
-10F needs better cold gear, and is probably going to be pretty uncomfortable for most people. You definitely have to worry about preventing frostbite, and I definitely know skiers who would stay inside.
But most places don’t really stay -10F. That’s like Fargo or Fairbanks cold, not Buffalo or Boston cold. Chicago has only gotten down to -10F in three years in the past decade. Relatively few people live in places that regularly stay -10F.
Although there’s a standard solution for 30 mile trips that works in basically all temperatures: a bus or train. Which isn’t really practical in American style suburban sprawl, but is very practical in denser walkable European towns and cities.
-10 degrees Celsius is about 14 degrees fahrenheit, which by all measures is still fucking cold to human beings.
Edit: missed the -
As someone who lives up north, 14F is definitely cold. I don’t think it’s quite down to fucking cold yet, that’d be more like 9F and colder.
If we assume there isn’t another solution to that, why does it matter? Why does your need for a car for your specific use negate any use of alternatives anywhere? We can still advocate for better transportation and land use in cities, even if the proposed solution doesn’t work for your journey between Plunkett and Blucher.
As a usual biker, i say bikers riding like this why others want to overtake them (even other bikers), are jerks. Same for pedestrians, and everyone…
The picture doesn’t account for the fact that in many places you have to give 3 feet when overtaking cyclists. Not saying that everyone does that but the graphic should show an extra three feet on either side of the cyclists if we want to represent how much space they are actually occupying
deleted
That car must have failed its smog check
it looks like a Chrysler Sebring, so, yeah, by default.
Fuck both groups
exactly.
both groups abuse their power to deny pedestrians their domain over the roads.
Tbh, pedestrians and bicycles can coexist relatively easy, as can horse riders and trams.
It’s cars that just don’t fit in with their significantly higher weight and speed without the predictableness of trams.
Cars don’t drive on the side walk genius
Pedestrians are limited to the sidewalk because of cars.
Yes that’s how roads and sidewalks work… lol
Roads are a little older than cars.
It wasn’t always like this; it’s a recent development of things (starting in the 30s and booming in the 50s)
i wish
