Defensive cycling proponents in the state fear that some of the recently proposed law changes aimed at improving traffic safety may have the opposite effect if enacted.
And at least one local cyclist also questions some of the proposals.
The N.C. Department of Transportation submitted a report to the General Assembly on Jan. 8 that recommended several changes including: limiting a bicyclist’s right to ride on the left half of a travel lane, allowing a vehicle to cross a double-yellow line when safely passing a bicycle, and requiring a permit for informal group rides involving 30 or more.
The proposal to restrict a cyclist’s position in the roadway is a primary point of controversy that contradicted the recommendation of its own advisory group established for the specific purpose of guiding new policy.
Enacted in June 2015, HB 232 mandated the formation of a working group representing several industries and interests to study and evaluate existing laws for potential revisions.
It consisted of representatives from law enforcement, government, the bicycle, agriculture and trucking industries, BikeWalk NC (a pedestrian and bicycling advocacy group) and NCDOT agents, who voted unanimously to make no changes to the current law which grants cyclists full use of the roadway.
According to the BikeWalk NC website, all major bicycling programs in the United States, Canada and Britain teach variable lane techniques because they reduce the risk of several bike-type crashes by improving a bicyclist’s sight lines, visibility and maneuvering ability.
The practice also discourages motorists from trying to pass cyclists while staying in the same lane, which was identified as a major safety concern by both the NCDOT and the working group.
With that in mind, the NCDOT proposal included a recommendation that language be added to the statute allowing vehicles to cross the double-yellow line when passing cyclists in otherwise safe conditions, for which the working group approved.
The question of whether bicyclists should be required to ride single file also affects their position on the roadway.
While the advisory group unanimously voted to recommend no change to existing statutes regarding that topic, NCDOT’s proposal to limit the number riding abreast to two riders reflects agreement that the practice increases bicylists’ visibility and allows for groups to ride in a more compact formation.
BikeWalk NC criticized the NCDOT for proposing limits to a bicylist’s use of the roadway in a Jan. 10 blog post.
“NCDOT provided no credible rationale or data to support its recommendation, leaving the bicycle community to speculate that perhaps NCDOT wants the left half of the lane empty in order to support same-lane passing by motorists.”
Although certain exceptions would allow cyclists to travel in the left area of the lane, the law change “would make for needless harassment and ticketing of the safest bicyclists on the road and would have a chilling effect on bicycling safety education by potentially restricting teaching of effective bicycling techniques.”
Other components of the NCDOT study report and resolution:
• That there be no requirement for cyclists to carry identification.
• That bicycles be equipped with rear lights visible from a distance of 300 feet.
• That cyclists be allowed to signal a right turn with their right hand as well as arm.
• That education and outreach efforts be established to improve awareness of best practices.
The final study report, which can be viewed at www.ncdot.gov/bikeped/lawspolicies, contains a draft resolution for changes to HB 232.
Public comment was collected through email from Dec. 21 to Dec. 29 and was submitted to the joint transportation oversight committee as an appendix to the study report.
Local perspective
Robert Marion is a professional competitive cyclist and owner of Cycleworks bike shop on West Pine Street who weighed in on the topic. Marion said he was wary of a law that would limit a cyclist’s position in the road.
“There do need to be laws in place to protect both,” he said. “To say you can’t ride past the center of the right lane to me seems completely ignorant.”
Though beginners tend to want to hug the white line, “personally, that’s not what we teach,” said Marion, who recommends riding about where the left tire track of a vehicle would be.
“What that does, to cars behind me, it puts me in the line of sight,” he said.
This falls in line with what motorcycle training courses teach and what the state motorcycle license test asks.
“When I know the car has seen me, I move over to the right side to allow the car to pass safely,” Marion said.
A motorist may not know the safest way to pass a bicycle rider, but a considerate and safe cyclist can help engineer the situation in the safest way possible f0r everyone involved.
“Seventy percent of cars are going to try to squeeze between you and an oncoming car,” putting not just the cyclist but the drivers and passengers of both vehicles at risk.
“If they think there’s a hole there, they’re going to go,” he said. “It’s not just the life of the cyclist, there’s three different vehicles involved at that point.”
Marion said that riding near the white line on a curving rural road is also dangerous.
“If you’re going around a corner you’ve got to spend time towards the yellow line,” he said, adding that the road conditions are also more hazardous near the shoulder.
Group permits
Marion was also skeptical of NCDOT’s proposal to establish a permitting requirement for informal groups rides of 30 or more.
“That is lower than any other state I’ve ever heard of,” Marion said, noting that Florida requires a permit for group rides of 100 cyclists or more.
“That doesn’t mean they’re not out there,” he added.
“Around here, the biggest are about 25 riders for the road,” while most group rides average about 10 people.
“We’d like to see them grow to 30 or 40,” he said of the group rides, which range from regularly scheduled standing dates to impromptu events announced on Facebook a few hours before the group leaves.
“Cyclists like to eat and drink a lot,” he said, explaining that group ride growth is not only good for the sport but for local businesses that benefit from what is also a social gathering.
“Having to get a permit is just going to help clamp that growth,” he said.
If the permit requirement becomes law, “at that point, I’m not posting a ride. I’m not going to want to deal with it.”
Surry County relationships
The sport has grown locally since Marion opened Cycleworks in 2005, with the Mount Airy greenways and Fisher River Park’s Mountain Bike Park encouraging folks to hop on a bike.
“For the most part our motorists are considerate,” he said, and cyclists in the community are good about using best practices when riding.
“You have to be considerate as a cyclist as well as have common sense,” he said. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t a bad apple in every bunch.”
He reasoned that life in the county, where most cyclists own vehicles and motorists aren’t facing two-hour traffic jams on the way to work, fosters a better relationship between the two.
According to NCDOT, an average of 19 bicyclists are killed and 664 crashes occur on North Carolina roadways annually, with urban areas experiencing more crashes and rural areas more fatal crashes.
According to UNC Highway Safety Research statistics, one fatality involving a bicycle was reported in Surry County from 2001 to 2014.
“I’ve been riding since 2004. I spend about 15 to 20 hours (a week) on the bike, with about 50 percent of that on the roads. I think I felt like my life was in danger two or three times in that amount, and most was not cars, but a big truck or tractor-trailer.”
Robert Marion, right, climbs a Surry County road during a 2012 charity event. Marion, a professional cyclist and owner of Cycleworks bike shop in Mount Airy, estimated that he spends 15 to 20 hours a week cycling, with about 50 percent of that on the roads.
http://mtairynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_160111_BikeLaw.jpg
Robert Marion, right, climbs a Surry County road during a 2012 charity event. Marion, a professional cyclist and owner of Cycleworks bike shop in Mount Airy, estimated that he spends 15 to 20 hours a week cycling, with about 50 percent of that on the roads.
Submitted photo
By Terri Flagg
tflagg@civitasmedia.com
Reach Terri Flagg at 415-4734.