Opinion: Bike lanes aren’t two-way streets

Ride my bike Photo courtesy Photo by Mauro Gigli on Unsplash

🎧 Why bike lanes have traffic direction rules

Doug Dahl says the law requires cyclists in a bike lane to ride with traffic, but our innate need for survival should compel us to do it anyway

Q: When a road has bike lanes on each side, are cyclists required to ride with traffic? There are arrows in the bike lanes indicating which direction the cyclist “should” be riding, but I see people riding either way all the time.

Doug Dahl

A: If there’s one thing the internet confirms repeatedly, it’s that the link between the dumbness of an activity and a person’s unwillingness to participate in it is tenuous at best. From stunts involving milk crates, mouthfuls of cinnamon, and insanely spicy food, to more severe foolishness I won’t give any print space to, people keep doing dumb things that result in self-inflicted harm. I include myself in that, with gratitude that, so far, my dumb things haven’t been posted on the internet.

My point here is that witnessing cyclists riding the wrong way in a bike lane shouldn’t be taken as evidence that it’s legal. It’s not. But you don’t have to take my word for it; the law makes it clear.

The Revised Code of Washington states that bike riders on the road “shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle,” with some extra rules for cyclists (like hand signals) and exceptions for rules that don’t make sense for bikes. Or more simply, bikes and cars mostly follow the same traffic rules. There’s also the rule that “a vehicle shall be driven upon the right half of the roadway,” with some exceptions for things like passing and avoiding obstructions.

Now, a question – is a bike lane part of the roadway? The roadway is defined in the law as “that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel,” excluding sidewalks and shoulders. A bike lane is certainly designed and used for vehicular travel, so it’s part of the roadway.

Since cyclists follow the same rule as drivers about riding on the right side of the roadway, and the bike lane is part of the roadway, cyclists in the bike lane are required to ride in the same direction as the rest of the traffic.

And why wouldn’t you? Riding the wrong way on a road is seriously dangerous. I’ll grant that doing it in the bike lane is less dangerous than in a vehicle lane. But eventually you’re going to run into some problems (hopefully only metaphorically).

What do you do when you get to an intersection? Traffic control is set up for drivers on the right side of the road. Even if you follow the stop sign or traffic signal of your driving counterparts, you’re still entering the intersection where other drivers don’t expect you. About 65 percent of crashes involving cyclists and drivers occur in intersections. In a comparatively high-risk situation, you want to be as predictable as possible.

And what do you do if you encounter another cyclist in the bike lane riding in the correct direction? On many bike lanes there isn’t enough room for two cyclists to fit. Assuming you pass each other on the right (and I realize that if you’re already riding on the wrong side of the road this is not a safe assumption), you’re going to be forced into a traffic lane. Now you have all the risks of riding the wrong way in traffic, with the added element of surprise for the drivers, because you suddenly appeared in their lane.

Yes, the law requires cyclists in a bike lane to ride with traffic, but our innate need for survival should compel us to do it anyway.