One of the Nation’s Best

The Philly Bike Expo is celebrating its 12th year. This remarkable event, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia, brings together outstanding exhibitors from throughout the country. These include dealers, distributors, advocacy organizations, and specialty frame makers. There will be valet bicycle parking. For general information, check out the Expo’s Web site. Here’s a panoramic view of the exhibitor area in an earlier year’s Philly Bike Expo. (Click photo to enlarge.)

CyclingSavvy at the Philly Bike Expo

Don’t forget to visit the ABEA/Coalition for Appropriate Transportation booth (number 3510, just to the right of the food court). You’ll be able to “drive” a human-powered vehicle through a busy intersection and see how to avoid the hazards.

Rides

We’ll lead a sightseeing ride ride Saturday morning — 7:30 AM from the Ellen Phillips Samuel Monument. More detail is here. The ride arrives at the Expo as it opens. We’ll also lead a ride from the Convention Center to a big Saturday evening party.

Workshops and demos

John Allen will give his talk Riding Philly Streets Saturday at 10:30 AM, and Pam Murray will give a demo on setting up a bicycle for everyday use Saturday at 1:30 PM. The full workshop schedule is here.

Street Smarts, Autographed

Bicycling Street Smarts, CyclingSavvy Edition will be available in the CyclingSavvy/CAT booth at the Expo. Yes, autographed by the author!  At booth 3510!

Philly Bike Expo Kids Arena

Bring your kids! There will be an indoor riding arena where children can try out bikes and practice riding.

Be There or Be Square!

The Philly Bike Expo is the only big bicycling event of its kind on the East Coast. It is not to miss.

See you there!

In our “Beginner’s Guide” series, we are attempting to bring all facets of basic bicycle safety together::

1. Equipment & Accessories: Is The Bike Safe to Ride?, plus lights, mirrors, bells, and other optional equipment and clothing.
2. Skills: The Top 3 Bike Handling Skills, Braking and Cornering, Using Your Gears, and (coming soon) Emergency Maneuvers.
3. Bicyclist Behavior: How what you know and what you do can keep you safe.

In this post, we start to discuss the third broad topic, bicyclist behavior.

We see a wide range of bicyclist behavior in the real world, and we can probably all agree that some of it is not so good. I don’t blame the cyclist, in most cases. Given the general lack of bicycling education in North America, many people grow up with little idea of how best to keep themselves safe while cycling with other traffic. We’re told as kids that the street is for cars and is dangerous. We usually get some basic-level training in how to use crosswalks.

But most cyclists do not get any formal cycling education beyond grade school, if even then. As teens and adults, they fall back on what their parents may have taught them when they were little, what they observe others doing, and what seems like “common sense.” So it’s understandable that many bicyclists adopt a “pedestrian on wheels” approach to getting around by bike. Like pedestrians, these cyclists try to stay out of the road as much as possible. These cyclists do not feel welcome on the road, they do not know what they are allowed to do or should do, and maybe don’t even think they belong there. They use sidewalks and crosswalks where available.

Bicyclist Behavior: Driver, Edge, Pedestrian.

CyclingSavvy identifies three categories of bicyclist behavior, as suggested by bicycling educator Dan Gutierrez. These are not intended to label the cyclist, just the behavior. The same rider may adopt any combination of these strategies during a single trip.

1. Driver behavior: Use the road, following the normal driver rules, on the correct side and not always at the edge.
2. Pedestrian behavior: Stick to pedestrian infrastructure wherever possible.
3. Edge behavior: Ride on the road but stick to edge as much as possible (including riding against traffic).

Driver Behavior

The CyclingSavvy program builds on John Forester’s assertion that “cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles,” that is, driver behavior. But we recognize that driver behavior can be daunting at first. Not every bicyclist immediately has the knowledge and confidence to take it up. Also, becoming a pedestrian, and operating in pedestrian space, may be unavoidable or more convenient for parts of a trip.

Pedestrian Behavior

So, part of our instruction covers safe pedestrian behavior. This basically amounts to “go slow, and look carefully in all directions at driveways and intersections.” We also recommend dismounting in crosswalks, and on sidewalks if they are busy. Stay far away from doorways. If you are prepared to accept these limitations, and if sidewalk riding is legal where you are riding (check your state laws and municipal ordinances), then we won’t flat out tell you not to do it. But you have to go slowly to stay safe, and even beginners can go too fast sometimes. There may be too many pedestrians (the rightful users). And often, there isn’t a sidewalk anyway.

Edge Behavior

Of the three behavior types, edge behavior is probably the hardest to practice safely. While it generally allows for faster riding than pedestrian behavior, it renders the bicyclist less visible, less relevant, and less predictable than does driver behavior. It frequently leads to conflicts at intersections.

Despite all these limitations, it’s the default behavior for most beginning cyclists. Pretty much all of us began as edge cyclists, if not pedestrian cyclists. Remembering my early days, I had a limited understanding of bicyclist behavior options. I had a vague notion that I should obey all the same rules as car drivers, and not use the sidewalk. Yet, I did not yet have either the knowledge or the model for how to do anything beyond stay at the edge, even at intersections.

Does the Law Allow Driver Behavior by Bicyclists?

Like all traffic laws, laws about bicyclist behavior vary from state to state; check your state laws to be sure. But we can categorize them generally here, noting exceptions where we are aware of them.

Rights of a Driver

In all states and provinces in North America, bicyclists have generally the same rights and duties as other drivers. Some states define the bicycle as a vehicle, while others grant bicyclists the rights of drivers. The end result is the same, legally.

This is the starting point. Additional statutes may modify it.

As Far Right as Safe or Practicable?

Most, but not all, states have some kind of law stating that a bicyclist must ride as close as safe or practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway, followed by a list of exceptions. “Practicable” —  an unfamiliar word meaning that something is workable in practice. It is not the same as “far right as possible,” although impatient motorists and even some law enforcement officers may think of it that way.

It seems reasonable for drivers of slower vehicles to be considerate of drivers of faster vehicles. But what is really reasonable bicyclist behavior, and what is not? Ever since this law first appeared in the 1940s, exceptions (or, if you prefer, examples of impracticable situations) have been explicitly added, until in most states, the exceptions take many more words to define than the law itself!  (In Maine, where I am, the basic law is 44 words, with 173 words, nearly 4 times as many, to describe the exceptions!) You could say that the exceptions outweigh the rule.

Exceptions Are the Rule

In most states, bicyclists are not required to keep to the right when :

• passing other slower traffic;
• preparing for or executing a left turn;
• proceeding straight in places where right turns are permitted;
• avoiding hazards at the edge (including but not limited to sand, debris, potholes, surface hazards, grates, glass, puddles, opening doors of parked cars);
• the lane is too narrow to share side by side within the lane.

The word “practicable”, correctly interpreted, encompasses these definitions, too. It comes down to this: You are never required to sacrifice your safety for someone else’s convenience! The “Bicycle May Use Full Lane” sign is a reminder of this. The sign does not have to be posted for this to apply.

We spend a great deal of time in CyclingSavvy on opening doors of parked cars, and how to handle narrow lane situations. For now, suffice it to say that we may legally use driver behavior, riding far enough away from parked cars to avoid not only the door itself, if it opens, but also to avoid being startled into swerving, which can be just as deadly. Indeed, whenever keeping to the right portion of the travel lane is not required, bicyclists have the right to use the full lane, that is, to ride anywhere they wish in the lane.

Bicyclist Behavior and Lane Widths

Here is the basic math:

• 4 feet: Bicyclist operating width, per U.S. Federal Highway Administration definition
• 3 feet: Minimum passing clearance
• 7 feet: Bare minimum width of a passing car; trucks can be 8 or 9 feet wide with the mirrors!

4 + 3 + 7 = 14 feet, the minimum lane width shareable with most cars and small SUVs. A standard lane is 12 feet wide, and some are narrower. The following diagram shows the minimum lane widths needed for safely sharing with motor vehicles of different types at different speeds.

A car is about 7 feet wide with its side mirrors. You can picture this total as wide enough to accommodate two small cars side by side, parked! Larger motor vehicles take even more room.

Required to Use Special Facilities?

Some states which have put a lot of effort into building bike lanes also have passed laws requiring bicyclists to use them. These laws tend to use the same kind of “practicable” language and exceptions as the Far Right as Practicable laws, so the decision is like whether to ride at the edge of a travel lane. Often, the same kind of hazards exist. Unfortunately, laws that presume to dictate bicyclist behavior can lead to both motorists and law enforcement not understanding good reasons for why a cyclist may not be using a bike lane.

We say, don’t let the paint think for you!!

Getting adequate passing distance is important in choosing lane position, but there are other considerations. More about this in a follow-up article.

This article introduces the topic of circular intersections, also called traffic circles, rotaries, and roundabouts. Wikipedia has a detailed description of them.

I hail from Massachusetts, which is notorious for its circular intersections — called rotaries here. Most date back to the early decades of the 20^th Century. A few are modern roundabouts, with entries and exits that deflect and slow motor traffic.

This article will cover the basics of riding a bicycle through a small rotary. We’ll deal with complications later.

Mastering a small circular intersection

You can think of a circular intersection as a one-way street wrapped around into a circle, with T intersections from the outside of the circle. At a T intersection, entering traffic yields to traffic on the top bar of the T. This rule is especially important in a circular intersection. If traffic in the circle had to yield, it would pile in but couldn’t keep moving: instant traffic jam!

Be glad that you are a bicyclist as you approach a circular intersection. Bicycle drivers have a much easier time than pedestrians with these intersections. The secret of success? Stay away from the outside edge. If you are at the edge, drivers entering the circle have to turn their heads sharply to see you. Exiting vehicles go nearly straight and do not have to slow down much. Keep far enough toward the inside to allow motorists to enter and exit on your right. No entrances or exits at the inside, and so no vehicles will cross your path. I have sometimes demonstrated this by riding two or more times around a rotary before exiting!

CyclingSavvy student Ian Whiting captured the ride shown in the image above at a small rotary in Waltham. The video belowillustrates all the points I have made.

More…

Circular intersections are well-known to achieve smoother traffic flow and greater throughput than signalized intersections, because traffic does not have to stop moving. But — there are also problems. Another article addresses these, and describes how to navigate larger, multi-lane circular intersections.

If you would like to check out the very intersection shown in the video, sign up for a future course with me. I have courses in the warmer months every year.

For years, the American Bicycling Education Association has used words and pictures to show how bicyclists can avoid truck-bicycle crashes. Sometime in 2019, CyclingSavvy Instructor John Schubert suggested that we go further and create a mirror image version of a British video. (Over there, they drive on the left, y’know.) That video showed a large number of cyclists invisible to the driver in the blind area of a truck, — in the British video, the left side.

John shared the idea with ABEA co-founder Keri Caffrey, and she expanded on it. Our video could show on-road encounters. A bicyclist, a car, a pedestrian walking dogs could make appearances. The truck could go around the block for repeated takes. Multiple cameras could record the scene.

We published that video and introduced it with a Savvy Cyclist post.

And now…here’s a “making of” video describing the technical details of our shoot. Keep reading below the video for the story of our teamwork.

Planning for the Video Shoot

Almost all other CyclingSavvy traffic videos are unstaged. A bicyclist riding with a camera, sometimes two cameras, captures normal traffic situations while riding. This approach demonstrates that the situations are real — but produces a huge amount of useless, boring and irrelevant footage.

As is clear from the Making Of video, our truck-video shoot was planned and staged. The people, materiel and planning resources were substantial. Capturing video of the same encounters during normal riding would take a prohibitive amount of time. I went up on a ladder with my camera; John Schubert stood in the street, sheltered by his parked van, with his camera on a tripod. Keri rode in the truck cab shooting video. That doesn’t happen by chance.

But — we took pains that the staged encounters would be entirely normal. Actually, several vehicles do appear in the video unstaged, and they add to the story. We did have to discard a couple of runs when they interfered with it.

The task of planning for the video shoot fell mostly to John Schubert. CyclingSavvy Instructor Scott Slingerland recruited truck driver Bob Dolan, a champion in national competitions for driving precision. He arrived in a super prop for the shoot, a huge semitrailer truck. Lehigh University police chief Jason Schiffer would ride his e-bike in encounters with the truck. Scott also recruited a crew of extras, with their bicycles.

The shoot was set for September 4, 2019 when Keri would be on her way back to Florida from a vacation in Maine. She could pick me up outside Boston, and we would join the crew in Pennsylvania.

Mirroring a British Blind Area of a Truck Video

Everything went more or less according to plan on the day of the shoot. A morning session mirrored the British video with bicyclists in the blind area of a truck.

Shooting the Riding Sequence

For the riding sequence, John Schubert and I would record video from outside the truck, while Keri recorded from inside the truck cab. Bethlehem police on motorcycles held the street open. Communication was maintained with walkie-talkies, cell phones, and Scott Slingerland serving as bicycle messenger.

Chief Schiffer made several runs showing different tactics, safer and less safe — but never riding into the danger zone next to the truck. The Making Of video shows two of those runs.

As is usual with a crowdsourced event, there were surprises. Some led to difficulties, others to happy discoveries.

Thanks to champion truck driver Bob Dolan, not only did we have a very big truck to store bicycles, but also — if you hold a driver’s license, you may remember how tough parallel parking was at first. It took me about ten tries for my own license exam. Somehow I got my license anyway. Now imagine backing up a semitrailer truck, where steering to one side turns the lonnnggg trailer to the other side. Bob Dolan got the result in the photo below in a single try.

Difficulties, Discoveries

It was great how many volunteers showed up. That went as planned, but there were some unexpected turns. Cars came out of a side street, as already mentioned. But also, only rarely can it be said that a liquor store serves the interest of road safety. As we set up to record video, I noticed that a liquor store’s changeable LED sign offered a perfect cue to synchronize clips from the different cameras. This coincidence was so improbable and so helpful that I have to wonder what forces might have been shining down on us, other than the sun, breaking through in a partly cloudy sky. Rain would have spoiled our plan.

After an hour or so and several trips around the block by the truck, we figured that we had enough material, and repaired to a local restaurant for a late lunch.

…Editor’s Work, a “Making of” Video and a Director’s Cut

I took the video clips home to Massachusetts to assemble and collate. Color matching four cameras was a headache, but synchronizing the clips was a piece of cake, or maybe I should say beer and chips, thanks to the liquor store sign.

Video effectively lets a viewer be in more than one place at the same time. Once I had synchronized the clips, the sound of the turn-signal clicker in the truck cab matched the flashing of the turn signals outside. I think that is sort of cool.

I sent the collated and color-adjusted clips to Keri. She spent many hours distilling our work down to a three-minute release video. That is how video editing goes. But a good time was had by all.

A previous Savvy Cyclist post includes the finished video.