First, remember the basic rules about riding in and with traffic:

  1. Drive on the right side of the roadway; never on the left, and never on the sidewalk.
  2. Obey all traffic signs and signals.
  3. When you reach a more important or larger road than you are on, yield to crossing traffic.
  4. When you intend to change lanes or move laterally on the roadway, yield to traffic in the new lane or line of travel. Never move laterally (sideways) on the roadway without checking behind you first to be sure the way is clear.
  5. When approaching an intersection, position yourself with respect to the direction of your destination – Right turners are next to the curb, left turners are near the centerline, straight through drivers are between these positions.
  6. Ride in the right-most lane that’s going in the direction you want to go.
  7. Between intersections, position yourself according to your speed relative to other traffic. Parked drivers are at the curb, slow drivers are next to them, and fast drivers are near the centerline. Never pass or overtake on the right, generally overtake on the left.


Buses and large trucks pose a special hazard to cyclists. First, because they're so derned big, it takes a long of energy to get them moving, and it takes longer for them to stop when they do decide to do so.

Secondly, they have big blind spots... directly behind them and to their left and right rear quarter. You need to recognize these "NO-Zones" and stay well clear of them. The bus driver can't see you there (presuming that he or she is looking out for cyclists in the first place) and can easily right-hook you. Likewise, a number of cyclists have been killed recently when they were riding along the right hand side of the road or in a bike lane adjacent to a bus stop, and were hit when a bus came barreling in there to the stop. Don't put yourself in a position where you can get squeezed into the gutter, or worse, hit.

So here's some basic precautions. When you're riding around a bus or a big truck, imagine that they're a wild elephant, bent on stomping you into the pavement. Give them plenty of room, learn where their blind spots are, and stay out of those areas.

When you come to a bus that’s nearing or stopped at a bus stop, don’t pass on the right. You might get squeezed into the curb or hit a passenger who's bailing off the bus.

When you pass a bus with its rear end angled out into traffic, pass on the left and look around carefully. Pass the front of the bus with plenty of room in case it pulls out suddenly or pedestrians appear.

Don’t pass a bus to turn right immediately in front of it. Buses sometimes speed up suddenly or start moving before the traffic light turns green.

If there's a specific bus lane and buses are always weaving in and out of it, or pulling over for their stops, scan behind you, signal, and move over into the next rightmost traffic lane. It's much better than continually playing leapfrog with the bus...

Dave Glowacs' little book, Urban Bikers' Tips & Tricks: Low-Tech and No-Tech Ways to Find, Ride, and Keep a Bicycle (Wordspace Press, Chicago, IL, (1997)) has some excellent advice, with diagrams, for dealing with buses and other urban hazards. I don't (officially or at least in the presence of witnesses) use or recommend some of the stuff that Dave has in this book, but it's a really good handbook for city cyclists.

Tom