If a Motorist doesn’t see you, he can’t avoid you

Motorists look for danger in the roadway. That ‘danger’ typically comes from other motor vehicles, not from bicyclists. People tend to “see” only what they are looking for, not what is necessarily within their field of view. ‘Danger’ to a motorist appears in the form of an obstruction in their lane or from a vehicle that may oppose them in an intersection and this danger comes from predictable places. As motorists we train ourselves to be keenly aware of these places.

Studies of people on cell phones have shown that they tend to tunnel-vision down to the lane that they’re in even further narrowing their focus.

A major precept of vehicular cycling is to be visible and predictable to motorists. We wear bright colored jerseys and light ourselves up to that end, but does that really mean that we are visible? I think not. We are only visible if we are also where the motorist is looking for danger.

In a through traffic lane, the danger is an obstruction in the lane, such as a cyclist clearly planted in the lane. For instance, 2-3 feet left of the white line. An approaching motorist will see and register the cyclist as an obstruction and make a conscious decision to slow and when it’s safe, go around. By going around, the motorist makes a conscious decision to make a full or partial lane change and unconsciously gives the cyclist the three feet or more clearance that Florida State Law provides for.

A cyclist sitting on or close to the white line (we call them gutter bunnies) poses no danger to a motorist and therefore, requires no decision process. The cyclist may not even register on the motorist’s mind as something to be avoided. They’re not “in the lane,” so they can probably be passed without a lane change. The cyclist has a different perspective. “That @%&?@ just dusted me off!”

Florida law requires a cyclist to ride right or in a bicycle lane only when riding slower than the prevailing traffic. When approaching a stop sign or red traffic light, the prevailing traffic is slowing to bicycle speed. How many times have we ourselves, or seen fellow cyclists slide up to the right of and alongside motor vehicles at the intersection? This is a dangerous practice because it puts the cyclist in the driver’s blind zone and invites a right hook when the light turns green.

A better place would be directly behind the last car in the queue that you can safely snuggle in behind, in the through traffic lane. The motorists behind you will clearly see you.

As you transit the intersection in the through lane, you’ll be in plain sight to opposing cars turning left, rather than hidden from their view by cars traveling with you and to your left in the traffic lane. For motorists entering the intersection from your right and wanting to turn right on red, you will be observed more easily because you’ll right square in their ‘danger zone.’ They will give you the right of way. As you clear the intersection, you can safely move over to the right.

On a one-way road with multiple lanes in Florida, which may be assumed to be traffic lanes in one direction, with some kind of barrier to the opposing lanes (such as an island or a two-way left turn lane), bicyclists who are planning a left turn are allowed to move to the left-hand side as far as practical, of the left lane. When you do this, you’ll find that the traffic flows around you to the right, just as it did previously to the left, when you were near the right-hand side of the road. Again, this puts you in a position where motorists will observe and avoid you.

So how soon do you move? Think about what you do in your car. As you approach your left turn intersection, you ease on over to the left through lane in anticipation of turning into the left turn lane, or turning left at the intersection. The strategy on a bicycle is very much similar. But you have to look for the traffic holes.

“Urban streets, controlled by traffic lights, no matter how busy, have these traffic holes.”

Look at Figure 1. What do you see? Most Traffic Skills 101 students see a busy urban road. I see a half-empty road. Figures 2 and 3 were snapped within moments of Figure 1. Figure 2 looks forward past the stopped traffic and Figure 3 looks back. Notice that the westbound

lane in Figure 2 is pretty clear. The whole road is clear in Figure 3.

Motor vehicles move in pods from light to light. Between the pods are these stretches of empty road that can last for from 30 to 90 seconds.

It’s in these traffic holes that cyclists may safely and easily cross lanes in the road. So as you approach your intersection, when a traffic hole appears, take advantage of it. Even if it means peddling in the left lane for an extra 100-200 feet.