This topic frequently comes up in discussions with our State Director of Bicycle and Pedestrian Access in removal of mandatory bike lane and shoulder law, his claim is that we can leave the right/shoulder/bike lane if any hazard exists as stated in law. But exactly what is clearly a hazard and what is not? One case we discussed is what is there is a dog near the right side of the roadway, can we legally avoid or not? He claims a large dog yes and a small dog no. And if it’s a medium sized dog, what then? And really does a small dog represent no hazard at all to a cyclist?
Which brings up; does something have to be a clear hazard or just have the potential of being a hazard? For example I avoid all storm drains as there are just too many that are not flush with the road surface and are a hazard but what if I get a ticket for being out in the lane avoiding that 1 in 100 storm drain that really is not a hazard at all? Does the law really require that a spend all my attention qualifying one specific spot on the roadway over and above safely negotiating with traffic conditions around me?
Additionally there is nothing in law that recommends riding in a straight and predictable line between hazards. Most of us know not to weave in and out of parked cars but what about other things? In the St. Mary’s cyclist fatality the police initially stated that the shoulder was where the cyclists should be riding despite its narrow width and frequent hazards that a cyclist would have to weave in and out of traffic in order to avoid.
Anyway there are a lot of gray areas but is any best practices clearly illegal in Maryland? We would love to hear your thoughts and especially if you were ticketed and/or lost a court case while ridding in accordance with best practices.
I would also like to point out that there is a section for clearly legal behavior that is not best practices and I strongly suspect that there are cyclists being found at fault in accidents even though their actions were 100% legal. To put this problem in a motorist perspective; best safety practices recommend driving with your lights on during the day so should a motorist driving with their lights off during the day be at fault in an accident simply because they were not following best practices?
Again any personal experiences please let us know. I strongly believe police have a problem with best practices that are outside the clearly legal box and they have a problem with clearly legal behavior that is not in the best practices area. They can’t have it both ways, and this needs to be fixed! oldId.20100123223446752