After reading many blog and forum comments yesterday about last week’s bike accident on Mandeville Canyon Rd., it became apparent that there are many misconceptions about traffic laws regarding bicycling in California. Those misconceptions need to change, because there are more and more cyclists hitting the road every year.

Biking is better for the environment, better for health, more cost effective, and just plain fun, and Americans are way behind the rest of the world when it comes to realizing this. Paris has the Velib program, which is putting over 20,000 public bikes on the streets that can be rented for less than a bus fare. Copenhagen, Lyon, Barcelona, and Berlin all have similar programs, and London, Rome and Montreal are planning to follow suit. It’s time for Los Angeles to wake up and get bicycle-friendly!

So, here’s the rundown of bike laws, for everyone’s safety:

Taking the Lane

“Where a lane is too narrow for a following vehicle to overtake and pass a slower bicycle safely within the lane, the rule permits bicyclists to occupy the center of the lane. Although it may seem counterintuitive to noncyclists, this is the recommended practice, called “taking the lane.”[51] It does not present any increased hazard to the bicyclist, since by assumption the lane is too narrow to share even when the bicyclist is as far to the right as possible. Taking the lane enhances safety by making the cyclist more visible and discouraging attempts to pass within a lane that is too narrow to allow safe passing. On a multilane road, overtaking traffic can still pass by using the adjacent lane; on a two-lane road, overtaking traffic can pass by changing lanes if visibility and oncoming traffic permit.

Under some conditions, such as a winding or hilly two-lane country road where visibility is restricted, overtaking traffic may be temporarily unable to pass. Thus, these narrow roads are a significant source of friction between motorists and bicyclists. Broader understanding by motorists of bicyclists’ motivations and the legal rationale for their actions would help to reduce this friction.”

(Source: VCBike.org)

From the California Department of Motor Vehicles:

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There was a really bad bike accident at Sullivan Canyon this weekend. We apparently arrived just moments after it happened, because emergency vehicles blew past us while we were getting on our bikes. We briefly talked to one rider who said he was asked to call 911 because a biker was down and that fall was so bad that his helmet had been cracked. We rode down a little to see what was going on, and met an off-duty Mountain Bike Unit rider (MBU) who told us that they were clearing the area for the helicopter. He mentioned a few more accident details, and it didn’t sound good at all. I really, really hope that rider is OK. An on-duty MBU soon came down the trail to set up a barricade to prevent hikers and bikers from approaching the accident site. We didn’t stick around too long after that.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Sullivan Canyon can be a dangerous place, but I want to reiterate. By all means have fun, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be cautious. Don’t over-estimate your ability, or under-estimate the terrain. This accident happened only around a mile from the lower entrance to the canyon, but the emergency vehicles were stuck about 150 yards away from the accident due to the rugged trail.

Here’s some information on building a great bike first aid kits and bike safety in general:

• Utah Mountain Biking has DIY first aid kit instructions, plus a great first aid index of injuries
• Bicycle Touring 101 includes homeopathic remedies
• Bike Safety Tips from WebMD
• 10 Ways NOT to Get Hit by Cars from BicycleSafe.com