What Cyclists Wish Drivers Knew #6: That White Line is not a Force Field

If you're a cyclist and you live anywhere there are on-road bike paths, you've been there, too. Let me recount: you're pedaling merrily along in the middle of a bike lane: maybe 30 to 40 inches of space next to the curb, marked by a thick white line between you and traffic moving 20 to 30 MPH faster than you are. Maybe there are arrows and icons of cyclists on the pavement, maybe there's a sign along the roadside that says something to the effect of "No motorized vehicles in bicycle lane."

To some drivers, that narrow strip of road represents a sort of "theft" of the roadway that is their right. You know the ones, the people who write irate letters to newspapers claiming that roads are built with fuel taxes and vehicle registrations so bicycles that pay neither have no business on the pavement.¹ "Lycra Losers go home!" is their rallying cry. Whether it's aggression on the part of these anti-cyclist grumps or just garden-variety inattentive drivers;² sooner or later you, a cyclist, will feel hot exhaust on your left leg: you've just been passed by a driver who seems to think that the white stripe on the road is all that's necessary to protect a vulnerable user.

I'm here to remind them, "It does not!" The mere presence of a stripe of white paint a few inches wide and a couple of millimeters thick does not mean that the state and local "safe passage" laws (such as they are) are suspended. A lot of cyclists refuse to ride in marked lanes (or on bike paths) because they're so poorly maintained and full of debris. Imagine trying to dodge an 18-inch pothole in the middle of a 30-inch bike lane with a Chevy Tahoe roaring up behind you at 55 MPH, 10 inches from that white line!

Nope, drivers, the lane marker is not a force field generator, and you are still required to pass a cyclist at a safe distance – even cyclists who are in bike lanes!

¹ They're wrong. Construction and maintenance of the local roads that cyclists and pedestrians use are mainly funded by general use taxes; which includes sales, property, and state/local income taxes.
² I don't know about other cyclists, but a surprising number of the vehicles with which I have near misses are carrying handicap plates (especially disabled veteran).

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