Motorists don’t understand the laws

The Oakland Press ran an article on Keith Riege, owner of the Paint Creek Bicycles in Lake Orion. The Oakland Press’ focus on bicycle safety certainly isn’t going to help bike sales. The words “death”, “killed”, and “hit” appear a total of 14 times.

“People drive by, yell, swing their car door open, throw bottles or come up right behind you, put their car in neutral and gun their engine to scare you,” said Riege. “People don’t think bikes should be in the road at all.”

Riege said he rides on the side of the road because all of his near-death experiences have occurred on sidewalks.

“I was almost killed last summer. I got to the entrance of the senior center, and I went to go across the sidewalk. A car turned right in. How could they not see me? They were traveling the same direction I was,” he said. “My life flashed before my eyes, and the vehicle just kept going.”

Riege said, when he talks to anybody who rides a bike on a regular basis, “most everyone has been hit.”

Bill Gilboe, a mechanic at Paint Creek Bicycles, said he has been hit about seven times while riding his bicycle.

This article inaccurately paints cycling as a great way to get hit, if not killed.

Bicyclists don’t follow the laws

The Detroit News printed a half-baked letter to the editor on bicycles.

I agree with the bumper stickers I saw last year, depicting cars and bicycles that said: “Same road, same rules.”

Yes, they are the same rules. Under Michigan law, use of a vehicle negates the “pedestrian” right of way. In other words, if you choose to ride a bike in the road, you have to obey the rules of the road. Such rules are seldom followed by anyone other than the “professional” bike riders (the ones with reflectors, helmets and even electronic signals), and I’ve never seen the laws enforced by police.

Huh? Bicycles are not vehicles in Michigan. Bicycles are not pedestrians.  And bicyclists “seldom” follow the rules other than professionals with electronic signals? Really!

And please, can we stop using those incorrect “same roads” bumper stickers from the out-dated vehicular cycling movement?

From turn signaling to vulnerable user legislation, we want different rules. Rules that make bicycling more efficient and safe. We want to see the Idaho rolling stop law in Michigan as well, which Mia Birk recently wrote about. It’s time for new stickers.

American’s don’t know the rules of the road

According to a CNN Money report:

More than one in five Americans — some 36.9 million — are not fit to drive and would fail a driving test if asked to take one today, according to a new survey of the nation’s drivers.

According to GMAC Insurance, which conducted the survey, the results mean that a great number of people on the road still lack basic driving knowledge, an ignorance that leads to dangerous driving habits.

For example, a full 85% of those surveyed could not identify the correct action to take when approaching a steady yellow traffic light.

Michigan ranked 20th among states with an average of 78.3% correct answers, just a slight bit higher than the 77.9% national average.

If this survey is accurate, why are twenty-some percent of Michigan drivers still on the road? Is GMAC Insurance denying coverage to this failing group?

Or is real life more like the “Mayhem” commercials from Allstate Insurance where you can drive distracted, make poor decisions, and if you crash, the other policy holders have you covered.

Google knows the rules of the road

Google is continuing their research on self-driving cars. They are lobbying for legislation in Nevada to make self-driving cars legal.

While the concept sounds scary at first, imagine cars that didn’t speed or run you off the road? With Google’s vow to do no evil, this might not be a bad idea.

The Colbert Report has clever coverage of the unicycle issue in New York City (below).

Here in Michigan, state law allows bicyclists to ride on the sidewalk though we don’t recommend it for most cyclists, most of the time.

However, Michigan law also allows cities to prohibit them if they chose to. This has led to a lack of consistency. For example, it’s legal to ride on most Detroit sidewalks but not on any Royal Oak sidewalks.

Sometimes cities prohibit bicyclists only on sidewalks within their central business district or other specific areas.  As seen in the photo, the city of Detroit has this “Cycling” prohibition on Auditorium Drive’s sidewalk, but only for those heading uphill towards Jefferson. We did not see a similar sign for those cycling down the not-so-steep grade (and towards the fire hydrant located in the middle of the sidewalk.)

Also, the city of Detroit bans bicycles (and unicycles!) from Hart Plaza:

Sec. 40-4-7. – Wheeled vehicles prohibited.

No wheelbarrow, handcart, automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, motordriven cycle, go-cart, unicycle, moped, solex cycle or other wheeled vehicles are permitted in Hart Plaza except as approved by the civic center department or recreation department for a scheduled event. This section shall not apply to a handicapped person in a wheelchair nor to emergency or service vehicles.

Yes! Even solex cycles are banned!

Prohibitions must be posted

Michigan state law does require communities to post signs indicating any bans on sidewalk riding. Without the signs, the law is not enforceable.

So what about unicycles in Michigan? Like most other states, they are not considered bicycles under state law. (Note that some cities have their own definitions of bicycle.)

257.4 “Bicycle” defined.“Bicycle” means a device propelled by human power upon which a person may ride, having either 2 or 3 wheels in a tandem or tricycle arrangement, all of which are over 14 inches in diameter.

So it’s a gray area for unicycles with the exception of Hart Plaza. If you are the “Enemy from within”, use your best judgement.

Novi passes non-motorized plan

Congratulations to the city of Novi!

On a 7-0 vote, the Novi City Council adopted the proposed non-motorized master plan which we’d mentioned earlier. This is the first non-motorized plan passed in Oakland County. While Troy developed one earlier, the plan was never adopted by their city council. Royal Oak’s plan is still under development.

Novi  city counilmember Andrew Mutch adds, “The plan provides the framework to guide the continued development of the city’s non-motorized transportation system and includes detailed recommendations for changes to our design and construction standards and ordinances for implementing the recommendations. It also includes concepts plans and cost estimates to implement various aspects of the plan.

The master plan is available on-line along with the presentation made by the consultant before city council.

This plan was developed by the Greenway Collaborative, Wade-Trim and the Active Transportation Alliance.

Berkley adding bike racks

The city of Berkley is installing six new bike racks as part of a SMART grant.

“It’s something we’re seeing more of, and we want to see even more of,” says Tom Colwell, facility manager and parks and recreation director for the city of Berkley.

“Ultimately we’re going to put some of the racks closer to bus shelters and around town,” Colwell says. “What we want to promote is people not driving their own cars everywhere, but getting around by biking. We want to promote a healthier lifestyle.”

The city is also looking at how it could make its roads safer for bicyclists. They also passed a Complete Streets resolution recently.

West Bloomfield extending trail

The Spinal Column has an update on plans to extend the West Bloomfield trail westward to the township border near Haggerty Road.

“We will hire a design coordinator that will work with the commission on developing a design plan and preparing construction drawings,” said Parks and Recreation Commission Director Dan Navarre. “The coordinator will then monitor the construction process so it’s done according to plan.”

When it is completed, the West Bloomfield Trail will stretch out to 6.5 miles.

“We should have the design and the bids done in the fall and we may begin building in the spring of 2012 and hopefully have it finished in June 2012,” Navarre said.

Clawson examines ordinances

In 2009 we noted some of the more ridiculous rules of the road that some local municipalities have. One was Clawson’s ordinance which made it illegal to take your hands off the handlebars while riding.

This article in the Royal Oak Review talks about Clawson’s recent efforts to remove these types of ordinances.

“We are looking into all of our outdated ordinances,” Pollock said. “These are laws that are not going to be enforced.”

The city, like many others in the area, has many old and odd ordinances on the books. They range from the funny — for example, it’s unlawful to ride a bicycle without both hands on the handlebars — to the possibly illegal — it’s against the law in Clawson for a liquor license owner to allow his business to be frequented or become a gathering place for homosexuals.

With new bike lanes being added in the city of Detroit this year (and many more planned for next year), the question has come up: What are the state laws and local ordinances pertaining to them?

The answer in Detroit is there are none. It’s an issue that needs to be addressed.

Unfortunately that’s probably true in many cities, villages, and townships (CVTs) across Michigan that are “maintaining” their own traffic law language. We quoted “maintaining” because most CVTs aren’t. While state laws and national model traffic laws for bicycles have been updated, in many, if not most cases local ordinances have not.

Ideally, all CVTs, including Detroit would eliminate their local traffic laws and simply reference the Motor Vehicle Code (state law) and the Uniform Traffic Code (which is a maintained by the Michigan State Police.) By doing this, everyone would be working off the same set of traffic laws and it would be easier this one copy up to date.

But getting back to bike lanes, what does the Uniform Traffic Code say about them?

PART 4. TRAFFIC-CONTROL DEVICES

R 28.1320 Rule 320. Bicycle paths or bicycle lanes; establishment; traffic-control devices.

(1) When the traffic engineer, after a traffic survey and engineering study, determines there is a need, he or she may establish a part of a street or highway under his or her jurisdiction as a bicycle path or lane.

(2) The bicycle path or lane shall be identified by official traffic-control devices that conform to the Michigan manual of uniform traffic-control devices.

R 28.1322 Rule 322. Bicycle lanes; vehicles prohibited; parking permitted under certain conditions; violation as misdemeanor.

(1) A person shall not operate a vehicle on or across a bicycle lane, except to enter or leave adjacent property.

(2) A person shall not park a vehicle on a bicycle lane, except where parking is permitted by official signs.

(3) A person who violates this rule is guilty of a misdemeanor.

One item we don’t like in the above language is the requirement that a traffic engineer determine “a need” for bicycle lane. We would like to see the survey, study and need requirement stricken. It’s an unnecessary cost burden and “need” can be quite vague.

It’s one thing to do a traffic study and determine the need for vehicle travel lanes in order to accommodate traffic flow. One can measure traffic and plug those numbers into a computer model.

It’s quite another to do a traffic study which  determines how unsafe a road is for bicyclists — both perceived and real — without a dedicated bike lane.

We are not providing legal advice. This is our interpretation of Michigan state law.

We’ve previously provided many situations where the rules of the road should be ignored due to their impracticality or unreasonableness. The bottom line is a cyclist’s safety is more important than strictly following the letter of the law.

Here’s another justification for those who ride on the shoulder.

Let’s start with these key definitions under Michigan’s state law.

1. Bicycles are not vehicles since they are “exclusively moved by human power.”
2. “Roadway means that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel.”
3. “Shoulder means that portion of the highway contiguous to the roadway generally extending the contour of the roadway, not designed for vehicular travel”

So, this means shoulders are not part of the roadway. This was reaffirmed in Grimes vs. MDOT (2006).

A shoulder may be capable of supporting some form of vehicular traffic, but it is not a travel lane and it is not “designed for vehicular travel.”

State law does not define “bike lanes”, however since bicycles are not vehicles, bike lanes are not designed for vehicular travel. Therefore it could be argued that bike lanes are not part of the roadway. However, we could not find a Michigan court decision which confirmed this.

Illegal to pass vehicles

State law prohibits passing vehicles while riding on the shoulder.

The driver of a vehicle shall not overtake and pass another vehicle upon the right by driving off the pavement or main-traveled portion of the roadway.

So if you’re biking on a shoulder — paved or not — it’s not legal for you to pass any vehicle on the right.  Let’s say you’re riding on the shoulder of a two-lane road. A car traveling in the same direction as you stops to make a left turn. Under state law, you have to stop behind them and wait for them to turn.

Or, you’re riding on the shoulder along Telegraph and cars are cued in the Michigan left lane. If you want to follow the law, you need to stop on the shoulder and not pass those stopped cars. Same goes for cars stopped at a light. You can’t pass any of them while on the shoulder.

And it seems this same passing restrictions could be applied to bike lanes as well.

Ridiculous, right?

Don’t cyclists have to ride on the shoulders?

Actually, they don’t. The law says:

A person operating a bicycle upon a highway or street at less than the existing speed of traffic shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway.

And as we just learned, the shoulder is not part of the roadway.

Bottom line

Perhaps eventually a definition of bike lanes will get added to the law which says they are part of the roadway, or that roadways are designed for bicycling and vehicular travel. That might fix it.

Until then, we recommend cyclists not take the rules of the road too literally. Bike defensively and smart.

Make your safety the priority.