HOW DO MOTORISTS ENDANGER BICYCLISTS?

Solving Motorist/Bicyclist Conflicts

This is a DRAFT (Version 5) of a document being compiled by the Marin County Bicycle Coalition in response to a California Highway Patrol request for bicyclist input regarding their most frequently encountered dangerous interactions with motorists. It also offers bicyclists' suggestions for improving road safety.

The vast majority of complaints from bicyclists centered on either motorists failing to give them right of way, or on motorists breaking vehicle code law.

Beyond enforcement, perhaps one of the most effective ways the CHP can help improve the situation is by appealing to auto makers to eliminate car advertising that promotes aggressive driving. Car commercials are one of the most prevalent categories of commercial. Many of these commercials promote the false notion that cars own the road (or more accurately, that each individual car driver owns the road) and this leads to many of our problems.

Additionally, there is little denying that some bicyclists are bicycling's worst enemies, riding through stop signs, etc. Please see the "Bicycle Etiquette" section on our website: www.marinbike.org. Over the past twenty years, proper bicycle education in schools has been reduced or eliminated due to school budget cuts. An appeal on behalf of the CHP to the California State Board of Education for better bicycle education would be helpful.

Bicycling is the most efficient form of personal transport known, and should be encouraged for its benefits to personal, economic and environmental health. Every day more people are discovering the fun and fitness of getting places by bicycle. Medical studies show that bicycling, even including hazards, is healthier than not bicycling. Some day there will be safer roads and routes that encourage more people to bicycle, but until that time: Many thanks to the California Highway Patrol for its interest in safety!

I. DANGEROUS MOTORIST MANEUVERS AND SAFETY ISSUES

A. California Vehicle Code Awareness Many motorists endanger bicyclists because they are unaware of common cyclist behavior and/or ignorant of the law.

1. Many motorists are unaware that bicycles, with few exceptions, are accorded by the CVC the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicles. This leads to resentment and refusal to share the roads at times.
2. Drivers are mostly unaware of CVC 21202, which allows bicyclists to use an entire traffic lane when the lane is too narrow to be shared by motorists and bicyclists. In that case, motorists must change lanes to pass or wait until it is safe to do so.
3. Motorists don't realize that cyclists frequently have to move to the left in a traffic lane to avoid road debris, glass, uneven pavement, culverts, etc.
4. Bus drivers regularly disregard the DMV-recommended 3-foot safe passing distance from cyclists, often cutting cyclists off when entering back into the lane.

B. Inattention Motorists endanger bicyclists often by not paying attention. They don't expect bicycles to be there with them on the road or are distracted by phone conversations, etc. Generally there is a low regard for the safety of other road users. Drivers often:

1. Travel above the posted speed limit.
2. Pass motor vehicles when bicyclists are using the opposing half of the roadway.
3. Fail to yield to bicyclists who stop at stop signs.
4. Fail to yield to bicyclists who walk in a crosswalk.
5. Open car doors without looking back or without looking in their side-view mirrors when parked.
6. Exit driveways and/or parking places without looking for pedestrians or cyclists.
7. Fail to look for cyclists in bicycle lanes before making right turns.
8. Fail to signal before and during turns.
9. Cross the centerline in blind curve situations.
10. Cross the centerline to cut the corner.
11. Allow their trailers to go beyond the road's edge.

C. Passing One of the more common problems encountered by bicyclists is motorists passing cyclists unsafely. Drivers often:

1. Pass on blind curves.
2. Pass too close for safety.
3. Move into the oncoming lane to pass a cyclist without being aware of oncoming traffic and/or speed of the cyclist, oftentimes making it necessary to prematurely re-enter the lane, forcing the cyclist off the road.
4. Are unaware that they may, where safe, cross a double line to pass a slower moving vehicle; in such cases they tend to get angry at the cyclist for the delay.

Suggestions for passing a cyclist safely:

1. Check carefully to make sure that there is no oncoming traffic.
2. Signal your intention to pass to those behind.
3. Pass at least 3 feet from the cyclist.
4. Cross a double yellow line only when it is safe (MVC 21751).
5. Signal to move back into the lane.
6. Leave enough room after passing to safely re-enter the lane.

D. Turning Motorists frequently fail to yield the right of way in turning situations. Motorists make turns across the path of cyclists without properly assessing a bicyclist's speed, perhaps unaware that some bicyclists ride at 20 mph on flat terrain and 50 mph on downhills. The following are common examples of improper turning:

1. A motorist will speed up to pass a bicyclist and then turn right immediately in front of the cyclist.
2. A motorist travelling in the opposite direction to a bicyclist will make a left turn immediately in front of the cyclist.
3. Please refer to the item below on freeway egress and exits for another example of motorists endangering bicyclists in a turning situation.

E. Freeway Egress Drivers need to be aware of yielding to bicyclists at freeway entrances and exits. Bicyclists are often unable to proceed straight ahead on roads intersecting freeway on-ramps, because motorists fail to give them right of way. Many people mistakenly believe that a right-turning motor vehicle has the right of way over a bicycle heading straight in these circumstances.

F. Driving Under the Influence Driving while intoxicated by alcohol and illegal drugs is addressed by current law. Driving under the influence of prescription medications that cause inattentiveness or poor reflexes while driving needs further regulation, to increase awareness and reduce accident occurrence.

G. Motor Vehicle Design There are many vehicle design inadequacies that lessen road safety. Some are:

1. Overly wide and tall vehicles that take up road space and make it difficult for their drivers to judge how near a bicyclist is.
2. Tinted glass that is so dark it's difficult to make eye contact with the driver at intersections or other appropriate times.
3. Trucks that have long, tall gaps between front and rear wheels without guards (e.g., tanker trucks, logging trucks, and flatbed trucks).

II. ROAD HAZARDS

1. Glass and fallen rocks on the shoulder.
2. Poor road conditions: potholes, patches, no adequate shoulder or one that disappears.
3. Parked cars in the shoulder or in designated bicycle lanes.
4. Double-parked cars.
5. Poorly planned streets and a lack of bicycle lanes.
6. Lack of good signage designating bicycle routes and paths.

III. HARASSMENT FREQUENTLY ENCOUNTERED BY BICYCLISTS

1. Throwing objects (beer bottles, cans, food, etc.) at cyclists.
2. Yelling out of the car, obscenities, insults, etc.
3. Honking loudly.
4. Barking dogs in trucks.
5. Touching cyclists.
6. Passing and moving in front of cyclists and then slowing abruptly.
7. Purposely driving too close to bicyclists.

IV. BICYCLIST EDUCATION

1. Include a packet of rider information with every bike sold. These materials should include how to ride safely in traffic, bicyclists' rights, and the fact that riders need to obey traffic laws.
2. Make bicycle safety education more comprehensive at the elementary school level.
3. Work with more bicycle organizations (especially clubs that ride on the weekends) to encourage bicyclists to follow all laws. Please see the "Bicycle Etiquette" section on our website: www.marinbike.org.

V. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE DMV

1. Add information to the Driver Handbook and questions to the written and driving tests related to cyclists' "rights to the road", cyclist behavior, and commonly encountered problem situations. The DMV needs to do a better job of getting across the importance of safely operating two tons of machinery. In general, the test should be much more comprehensive and tougher to pass.
2. Remind drivers that bicyclists and pedestrians pay road and highway taxes too. Each bicyclist represents one less car to add to congestion, consume resources, and pollute air and water.
3. Driver Training classes and Traffic Schools should include specific information on sharing the road with cyclists, cyclists' rights, and safety around cyclists.
4. Test elderly drivers more frequently for the mental and physical capacity to operate their vehicles. An increasing number of motorists are elderly and do not have the same reaction time, vision or attention that they did when they were younger.
5. Review the vehicle code with regards to crossing a double yellow line so that motorists can pass bicyclists safely without feeling that they are breaking the law.

VI. RECOMMENDATIONS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT

1. Identify problem roadways (particularly in West Marin) where there are known safety issues involving automobiles or motorcycles or dairy trucks, and cyclists or pedestrians.
2. Work with motoring associations and dairy truckers to see if something can be done to foster safer driving.
3. Issue more tickets to vehicles caught speeding, especially in known problem areas such as West Marin and on curvy Mt. Tamalpais roads.
4. Cite motorists at key locations for failure to yield right of way (e.g., Paradise Drive freeway on-ramps, Tiburon Blvd. freeway on-ramps).
5. Educate peace officers and highway patrolmen on the rights of cyclists and typical problem situations involving bicycles and automobiles.
6. Provide stricter law enforcement when a motorist has seriously injured a cyclist or pedestrian. Do not assume a bicyclist is at fault in an accident just because the motorist says so and the cyclist is too injured to defend himself/herself. For example, a driver making a left turn immediately in front of a cyclist going 30 mph is undeniably at fault and should be charged to the fullest extent of the law.
7. Allow cyclists to use specific sidewalks to avoid hazard and endangerment to cyclists and motorists. (e.g., when a bike path ends in the opposite lane of traffic).
8. Develop a publicly available accident database of incidents involving bicyclists or pedestrians and automobiles.

VII. RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY AND COUNTY GOVERNMENT

1. Clean debris off roadways and shoulders where bicyclists ride.
2. Pave over rutted, uneven roads.
3. Always include bids for extending shoulders or adding bicycle lanes, in every proposed roadway improvement project.
4. Phase out diagonal parking, particularly diagonal parking that is nearer to perpendicular to the roadway.
5. Rectify legality of riding through diagonally striped "no travel zones" with regards to the CVC.
6. Raise public awareness as to the personal and environmental benefits of bicycling compared to driving an automobile.
7. Raise public awareness in support of bicycle-conscious driving and in support of peace officers' law enforcement efforts.
8. Increase the number of peace officers and highway patrols in problem areas.
9. Increase road signs promoting bicycle awareness.

---

The preceding suggestions and comments were submitted by: Kim Baenisch, Linda Becchetti, Phil Boudrea, Joe Breeze, Alice Butler, Stephen Byrne, Leslie Cook, Kristin Drumm, Samara Dunn, Steve Edgett, Ken Eichstaedt, Dan Freeman, Jocelyn Freid, David Glazer, Diane Greer, Elise Heitur, Debbie Hubsmith, Susan Kelly, Nick Kreis, Ron Leiken, Michael Lotter, Steve McQuinn, Chris Morfas, Dolores Mosqueda, Doug Nelson, Todd Ourston, Tom Peacock, Joy Sasoon, Tom Schmidt, Ray Scruggs, and Nancy Weninger.

Edited by Leslie Cook from a draft by Jocelyn Freid.

Additional material, editing, and organization by Joe Breeze.

---

APPENDIX - SELECTED QUOTES FROM CYCLISTS

• "One of my pet peeves with motorists is the ignoring of a cyclist's right of way or existence." Michael Lotter
• "A few well-publicized incidents of police follow-up on reports of aggressive motorists might serve as a useful deterrent." David Glazer
• "The biggest problem is this growth in so called road rage, an unwillingness to share the road with anyone. People seem to think they need to be there first come hell or high water… Car drivers do not like to be behind a cyclist, even when the cyclist is at or slightly above the speed limit. I find this especially on Mt. Tam and other downhills in the county. When I road in Napa Sunday, I did not find the level of aggression I've seen in Marin. In fact, unless the road widened or there was a clear 1/4 mile passing opportunity, cars stayed behind me on the Oakville Grade. There was not the degree of recklessness I've observed here…The CHP needs to remind everyone to share the road and be more observant. Perhaps an ongoing educational program - TV ads, signage, etc., - in addition to other enforcement efforts should be started. I sometimes have a chance to ride to work and find commuters are only focused on getting on the freeway. They do not watch out for cyclists or pedestrians near freeway entrances." Linda Becchetti.
• "I find motorists turn either right or left in front of me often, forcing me to slam on my brakes and sometimes skid, even when I try to make eye contact first." Diane Greer
• "Always assume there is a hidden cyclist in every blind curve". Tom Schmidt
• "City buses anywhere are the scariest. I've never been clipped so close by cars or even trucks as I have by transit bus drivers, and this is true regardless of community: Marin, Davis, Sacramento." Steve McQuinn
• "I just wanted to say that the biggest way in which car drivers endanger cyclists is that they do not know how to pass cyclists. The correct way is to wait for space in the opposite lane (if necessary) and pass when it is clear and safe. Oftentimes, drivers pass cyclists no matter what or who is coming in the opposite lane, thus endangering themselves, other drivers, and the cylist(s). I have seen this happen countless times. Drivers need to be educated on when and where to pass cyclists and when it is safe to do so." Stephen Byrne
• "My wife and I were almost wiped from the face of the earth by a car coming towards us crossing the center line to pass another car with us in the "open lane". The driver passed within inches of us at about 60 mph. This happened on Highway 1." Doug Nelson
• "First of all, I would say the major problem associated with bikes and cars is that the cars don't see the bicycles… The second most common problem arises from motorists who don't understand the problems bikes have, usually due to road conditions. For example, if the road is especially sandy or covered with glass, bikes will tend to ride away from the shoulder to avoid the hazard. Some drivers will get upset that a bike is encroaching on the road and that is where you get problems." Phil Boudrea.
• "My primary complaint was regarding motorcyclists in West Marin - the "Ninja" or "Road Warrior" type motorcyclists who routinely tempt fate by traveling at speeds over 60 to 70 mph on windy roads such as Lucas Valley Road, Petaluma-Pt Reyes, and Novato Blvd. I often see them crossing double yellow lines to pass cars, including on blind curves such as on Lucas Valley Road." Ron Leiken