Bike Lane Question

[Heifzilla]

We have a few bike lanes around but they are only on one side of the street. The other day when DH and I were out riding, we rode down one of the streets that has them, and then back again. On the return trip, DH was riding in the bike lane, but against traffic. I told him I thought that was wrong (I was riding across the street, with traffic, but not in the bike lane) and he said basically that "it's the bike lane" and he felt he was supposed to be in it even though he was riding against traffic at that point.

I've looked through my state's rules of the road for bikes and done a search for Illinois bike lane rules and can't really find any info. What is the proper bike lane usage in this case?

Thanks.

[indysteel]

I agree with you. I can't quote you any law, but bikes are generally supposesd to ride "with traffic," and I don't think a dedicated bike lane gives you license to ride against it. Was this on a one way street? We only have a few streets with bike lanes in Indianapolis. The two-way streets offer bike lanes on both sides. The one-way streets only have them on the right side of the road.

Regardless of the law, it's just not particularly safe. One thing to keep in mind when riding against traffic, either on a road or sidewalk, is that motorists pulling onto the road--say from a driveway or parking lot--often don't look the other way for traffic. I've seen any number of close-calls for that reason alone.

[Brandy]

I was going to go into the reasons for not riding against traffic, but this page explains it much better. Perhaps you could show it to your husband...

http://bicyclesafe.com/

It's #4, The Wrong Way Wreck

[Heifzilla]

It's not a one way street, and my husband has been road riding for many years (way more than me) so I don't know what his malfunction was. It is pretty confusing though, and I've never seen it addressed in any of the "rules of the road" that I have read.

Funny thing is that when I was younger and didn't really know any better, I always rode against traffic because I felt it was safer: I wanted to be able to see what was coming at me so I could avoid it. Now I know better (and use a mirror) and it just feels so wrong to ride against traffic.

[indysteel]

It's not a one way street, and my husband has been road riding for many years (way more than me) so I don't know what his malfunction was. It is pretty confusing though, and I've never seen it addressed in any of the "rules of the road" that I have read.

Funny thing is that when I was younger and didn't really know any better, I always rode against traffic because I felt it was safer: I wanted to be able to see what was coming at me so I could avoid it. Now I know better (and use a mirror) and it just feels so wrong to ride against traffic.

I suppose one of the reasons that you may never see it explicitly addressed is that most states treat bicycles like "motor vehicles." As such, they are subject to the same traffic laws as cars. So, neither bikes nor cars are allowed to travel the wrong way along a street.

[Grog]

Unless there is a dividing line on the bike lane, then it's one-way.

[indysteel]

I was going to go into the reasons for not riding against traffic, but this page explains it much better. Perhaps you could show it to your husband...

http://bicyclesafe.com/

It's #4, The Wrong Way Wreck

Thanks for posting that, Brandy. There's lots of helpful information there.

Number 4 illustrates the point I was trying to make.