Ok I have a question. So I am biking down a main street in my town. As I approach the largest intersection, one lane becomes 3. The lane on the right is a right turn only. The middle lane go straight. The left lane a feft turn only. If I want to go straight what should I do. Stay in the right lane and jump accross when I can? Get in the middle lane just like a car?

I got in the center lane but I got crazy looks from everybody. As if they were thinking what is a bike doing in this lane. If it matters it was a 50 mph zone. So I would really slow cars down in that lane.

What is the right thing to do?

In most states a bicycle has all of the rights and responsibilities of a vehicle. So you should be in the middle lane on the right side of the lane and go straight through the intersection. If you are in the right lane you would need to make a right turn. Let everyone look funny at you and do the right thing.

Find another route!

Otherwise, get in the middle lane.

how far is it from the widening to the intersection?

to be proper,
ride in the right lane. Merge to the center lane before the white line between the two becomes solid.

If you are going forward through the intersection, you ride in the through lane (in this case the middle lane).
If you are tuning right, you ride in the right turn lane.
If you are turning left, you ride in the left turn lane.
Whatever lane you are riding in, you ride on the right hand side of that lane.

If you are going forward through the intersection, you ride in the through lane (in this case the middle lane).
If you are tuning right, you ride in the right turn lane.
If you are turning left, you ride in the left turn lane.
Whatever lane you are riding in, you ride on the right hand side of that lane.
+1. That's how you do it.:yesnod:

be like a vehicle. think of it like this: if you're in the right turn lane, go straight, and get hit by a car in the middle lane, the guy in the car won't be liable for anything (as long as he's driving like he's supposed to be) cause you went straight from a right turn lane.

Think like your on a motorcycle!

OT: i wonder if motorists get more impatient with bikes going 20 mph than scooters going 20 mph

i have another question? you are at a light turning left and are in the left lane. the light is a motion light and you are the only person turning. the light will not work because you are not large enough for it to change to green. what you you to do?

i have another question? you are at a light turning left and are in the left lane. the light is a motion light and you are the only person turning. the light will not work because you are not large enough for it to change to green. what you you to do?
Go when safe. That is the law for a malfunctioning light. - TF

The right thing to do is find another route. A 50 mph zone is dangerous to be biking on.

In most states a bicycle has all of the rights and responsibilities of a vehicle. So you should be in the middle lane on the right side of the lane and go straight through the intersection. If you are in the right lane you would need to make a right turn. Let everyone look funny at you and do the right thing.

^^^^^^ for sure here in California that is what the vehicle code dictates. But be sure to make clear hand signals to the motorists to let them know what’s going on.

The right thing to do is find another route. A 50 mph zone is dangerous to be biking on.

Nah, Lawrence Expressway is perfectly safe to bicycle on. You just need to watch out for ladies in minivans talking on cellphones.

i have another question? you are at a light turning left and are in the left lane. the light is a motion light and you are the only person turning. the light will not work because you are not large enough for it to change to green. what you you to do?

Proceed when the intersection is safe to proceed through. I’ve seen motorcyclists have to resort to this before. If a traffic cop stops you and writes you a ticket, show up in court to fight it.

But then there’s the ground-loop (electromagnetic pickups) metal sensors for cars and bikes at certain turn lanes. I know for sure my bike has too little ferrous metal to be detected by them. My old 1985 Specialized Rockhopper Comp on the other hand, that would trip the car ground loops.

Most of the "motion" lights have a metal detector in the road... If you can see cuts in the pavement you will see there are often three lines parallel to the direction of travel, the best chance you have to get the light to turn is to put both your wheels on the cut in the center. With aluminum rims you can frequently get the light to turn if you do that, it doesn't need to be ferrous metal (they work the same way a metal detector does).
Of course if they have paved over the cuts it is hard to tell where you are supposed to be. Check the laws in your state they often have a provision to let you run the light.

The right thing to do is find another route. A 50 mph zone is dangerous to be biking on.
In many cases, that isn`t possible. Remember that rbr posters cover the whole US and Canada with some even from further afield. I see posts sometimes that absolutely don`t pertain to where I live. Undoubtedly, some of my posts are 100% irrelavent to some other readers. It`s quite possible that the 50mph road in question is the only way to get where the OP needs to go.

In many cases, that isn`t possible. Remember that rbr posters cover the whole US and Canada with some even from further afield. I see posts sometimes that absolutely don`t pertain to where I live. Undoubtedly, some of my posts are 100% irrelavent to some other readers. It`s quite possible that the 50mph road in question is the only way to get where the OP needs to go.


Exactly, and even if it isn't he still has the right to ride there.

Exactly, and even if it isn't he still has the right to ride there.
Yeah he has the right to ride there, but you can't tell me that he's safer biking on a 50 mph road with high traffic which is how this route sounds than on a 25 or 30 mph road with high traffic.
If he can find an alternative route even if it adds some time he's safer in the long run than trying to navigate through a bunch of cars going 50+.

Yeah he has the right to ride there, but you can't tell me that he's safer biking on a 50 mph road with high traffic which is how this route sounds than on a 25 or 30 mph road with high traffic.
If he can find an alternative route even if it adds some time he's safer in the long run than trying to navigate through a bunch of cars going 50+.

True, but a lot of 25/30 mph roads where I live are windy or hilly with blind corners and people going 50 anyways. Lets face it, when you're on a bike, cars are always dangerous to some degree.

As others have said, the right hand side of the middle lane is the best place to be.

Depending on lane width, in these situations, I'll often ride right on or just to one side or other of the white line separating the middle and right turn lanes.

In slower speed zones (35 or less) I'm more inclined to take more of the center lane, but with faster traffic, riding near the white line gives you a buffer since most cars going straight won't hug the white line when other cars are slowing down to turn right. Similarly, most cars slowing to turn right won't hug the white line when they know faster car traffic is whizzing past to their left. Use that buffer that cars give each other to your own advantage.

The volume and speed of traffic in each lane usually dictates where I'll position myself. If there is a lot more high speed traffic going straight, I may ride just right of the white line separating the middle and right turn lanes. I'd rather put a little extra room between me and the faster moving traffic, and deal with the cars that are already slowing to make a right hand turn (and can hug the shoulder to get past me).

Now, the real trick to it all, is that you've got to cross paths with the right turning traffic at some point. While I'm all for taking the lane when it makes sense and is safe to do so, I don't push my luck and put myself into harms way when I can avoid it.

Just because you have the legal right to take the middle lane, and it's the motorists responsibility to give you the right of way (since you are ahead of them) when merging across to the right lane, it doesn't mean that they will.

Dead is dead, and I'm not going to assert my right of way with some j@ck@ss going 60 mph into a turn lane in a 50 mph zone.

The best bet is to be watching (and listening) for traffic behind you, and time it so that you procede to the center lane between approaching cars by either speeding up or slowing down yourself.

In really heavy traffic, where there is a continuous line of cars merging to the right turn lane, taking the center lane gets much more difficult, and the bigger the speed differential between you and the cars the more dangerous it is for you. The more cars turning right the worse off you are since drivers often assume that since the car in front of them zooms over into the right turn lane that they can do the same without looking.

I generally speed up so that I can merge faster, but I'll also slow down or even do a track stand (if there is a shoulder to the right of the fog line) in order to wait for a safe opening to merge across to the center lane. Having to slow to a crawl or stop is a rarity for me though, as I would typically avoid this type of intersection at rush our if at all possible.

Ok I have a question. So I am biking down a main street in my town. As I approach the largest intersection, one lane becomes 3. The lane on the right is a right turn only. The middle lane go straight. The left lane a feft turn only. If I want to go straight what should I do. Stay in the right lane and jump accross when I can? Get in the middle lane just like a car?

I got in the center lane but I got crazy looks from everybody. As if they were thinking what is a bike doing in this lane. If it matters it was a 50 mph zone. So I would really slow cars down in that lane.

What is the right thing to do?

Ride in the right-most lane that's going where you want to go. If, as you described, the right lane is right-turn-only and the leftmost lane is left-turn-only, then what you do is look behind to make sure that traffic is clear, signal, move over into the center lane to go thru the intersection, then once across, repeat the process to most back into the rightmost lane.

If the lane is "narrow," meaning that it's not wide enough for you to ride side-by-side with a car with at least 3 feet clearance between you, you need to "take" the lane by riding far enough toward the center that a car has to move over into the next leftmost lane in order to get around you.

Yes, drive your bike like a car. It's just too bad that most motorists don't know how to drive their car like a bike.