Road Rules: Get On Your Bikes and Ride!

This is part four of a five-part series this week entitled Road Rules.

Bicycle!  Bicycle!  I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike!

OK, so I'm not Freddy Mercury, nor am I in any shape to ride a bicycle with my foot the way it is.  But a lot of people are.  And I fear that many of them shouldn't be.

Bicyclists and joggers are a bit of an issue for me.

Bicycles are a vehicle of the road, and should be treated as such when it is on said road.  Many streets in Orem have bike lanes (next to that ubiquitous parking lane that everyone assumes is an infinite right turn lane), but for the ones that do not, a bike has just as much right to be on the road as a car.

For car drivers, that means you DO need to treat them with respect.  But for bicyclists, that means you need to know how things work, too.

That's right, the bicyclists need to know a thing or two.  Most regular bicyclists DO know how to be on the road.  Many, unfortunately, do not.

If you're going to ride on the street, you need to be with the flow of traffic, not against it.  Why doesn't this seem like common sense?  And, no, you'd think it might be some kid or the guy who rides a bike to work because they revoked his license.  No, these are people dressed in biking gear with nice rides.

Stop signs and stop lights apply to bikes as much as it applies to cars.  Crosswalks are for walking, however the city does allow a bicycle in the crosswalk if it's NOT BEING USED ON THE STREET.  At all.  In fact, locally, the only time you can be against the flow of traffic IS on the sidewalk, but if you get on the pavement you better be on the right side of the road.

And don't get me started on hand signals.  I wonder if most riders even know what they are.

Here's how I explain it to people when I'm dealing with this gripe in conversation: would you ride a motorcycle in the opposite direction of traffic?  What makes a bicycle any different on the road than a motorcycle, legally?

And then there's joggers.  I took a jogging class in college (you wouldn't know it looking at me).  One of the first things they tell you is if you're going to jog on the street, jog facing oncoming traffic.  It's opposite of bicycles.  The reason is so you're aware of what's coming by you, and the driver is more aware because they can see your face.  Imagine having to change course to avoid something in your path, not knowing that a car is about to be in the same space you'll be in your path correction.  It makes much more sense to be able to see oncoming traffic, or simply run on the sidewalk.

Yes, the sidewalk CAN be used for that.  Why joggers use the street when there's a perfectly usable sidewalk is beyond me.

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