Bike lane at Willow & Highland: is this legal?

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

I've never quite understood the auto rules for the bike lane at the intersection of Willow & Highand (one of life's little mysteries).

I was driving there yesterday approaching the light and preparing to turn right (east) on to Highland. I was in the left-most lane (to the left of the bike lane in the image). Cars were passing me on the right in the far right lane and making the right turn. Needless to say, something felt off.

Usually the right-most lane has parked cars but it was street cleaning day so it was empty.

Was I in the wrong lane to make a right turn or were the drivers passing me on the right being jerks?

Comments

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

The bike lane markings are dotted near the intersection to indicate that cars can use that area to make a turn if there aren't bicyclists already there using it (see also, Broadway at Cedar). Generally, if you're making a right on to Highland at that point, get in the right lane. People who're in the left lane are planning to go straight across the intersection or turn left. This way traffic doesn't stack up back down Willow quite so badly. It also helps if you have the correct turn signal on, so folks behind you can have some idea of your intent.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Since there's no right on red at that intersection, when I'm driving I won't use the right lane if I'm about to be stuck at a red light. I figure that allows easier passage for bikes.

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

When I was taking driving lessons (many years ago), one of the first things they taught me was that when you are making a right turn, you want to get over as far to the right as possible. (Use common sense, of course, and look out for bicycles.)

They also taught me that when making a left turn, you want to pull into the intersection and wait until it is clear to make the left turn. Sometimes this means you wait until your green light turns red, and then you turn. This ensures that at least one left-turner per light cycle gets through the intersection.

One other thing that drivers seem to get confused about is four-way stops. Again, when I was taking driving lessons, they taught me that the two cars facing each other on Road A go at the same time. Then the two cars facing each other on Road B go at the same time. In other words, people on your street take turns with the people on the perpendicular street. (Some people seem to think that you go around in a circle, and your turn comes every fourth time.)

I've never completely figured out what you do at 5-way stops, which I encounter every now and then. Mostly, be careful, go slow, and take turns.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

This is an interesting question. To speak as a biker who has turned right from that bike lane many times, I have to voice an opposing opinion. Please note that this is only my opinion and has no bearing on the legality of cars using the parking lane to turn right there.

When I'm on my bike in a bike lane and I want to turn right, I need a clear path from where I am to the bike lane (or in this case, right half of shared travel lane) on the street I'm turning into. If there's a car on my right wanting to take a right turn, that car is aiming for the car travel lane, which means our paths would cross, which has the potential to cause a collision.

I would hope and expect that any driver who moves into the parking lane in order to make that right turn would be aware of any bikers in his vicinity, and the proximity between the biker and the driver would allow for clear communication about who will go first. So I think the risk of collision is fairly low, but I still think it would be better if cars stayed in the car travel lanes so that bikes can safely travel in bike travel lanes.

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

> They also taught me that when making a left turn, you want to pull into the intersection and wait until it is clear to make the left turn. Sometimes this means you wait until your green light turns red, and then you turn. This ensures that at least one left-turner per light cycle gets through the intersection.

YES. THIS. This is one of the most annoying things about Boston traffic to me. People either don't pull into the intersection when making a left turn or they are too far over to the right. When making a left turn you should be as far over to the left as possible - within inches of the yellow line. What is worse than at least one car not getting to make a left turn per light cycle is when there is a line of cars trying to to straight stuck behind the person who doesn't know how to make a left turn.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

I learned to do it that way, too, but it's been pointed out to me that there are states where that behavior is illegal and you'll be ticketed for it. The theory is that you're not supposed to enter an intersection unless you have a clear exit, and then when the light turns red and you haven't made your turn yet, you're blocking the intersection.

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

It's also illegal to drive 66 on the Mass Pike or 56 on 128.

Some laws just have to be broken ...

More seriously, if someone can point out which states this (IMO) rational behavior is illegal in, I'd be curious to know.

[irilyth]

Yeah, I think the weird thing in this case is the large space between the bike lane and the curb. In other places, I feel like if a car shifts right to turn right, into the bike lane, they block the bike lane, which seems good because it's more clear what's going on.

On a bike in that situation, if I was turning right, I think I'd be inclined to block the driving lane to the right of the bike lane, to make sure that a car didn't come whizzing past me on the right (making a right turn, and decking me as I turned right across them).

"Take the lane" is often a good idea, as long as you can withstand ignorant people honking and/or shouting at you. It's pretty unlikely that a car won't see you if you're right in front of them, and also pretty unlikely that they'll actually hit you.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. It's possible that if I arrived at the intersection and nobody was parked in the parking lane, I would move all the way over to the curb to take my turn. I tend to do these things according to spur-of-the-moment intuition about what seems safest.

I've seen cars block the bike lane in order to turn right at this intersection sometimes, and that's annoying (and illegal) but as you point out, at least it's safe.

[irilyth]

Well, I think the dotted lines mean that cars are allowed to cross into the bike lane if they're turning right; which is somewhat annoying, but I think isn't illegal, and is probably safer than expecting them to stay out of the bike lane and turn right across it, in front of (and/or through) cyclists who *aren't* turning.

[irilyth]

CA definitely considers you to have run a red light if you aren't out of the intersection by the time the light turns red. You're probably less likely to get busted for it if you're turning out of the intersection, than if you're racing into the intersection just as the yellow turns red trying to beat the light.

I thought MA actually had the same law, but am too lazy to check.

(The CA law changed over the course of my lifetime, I think in between two of the times I lived there.)

[42itous.livejournal.com]

safer than expecting them to stay out of the bike lane and turn right across it, in front of (and/or through) cyclists who *aren't* turning.

That's definitely true!

[lizforalderman.livejournal.com]

As a cyclist, I've actually always been confused about how to safely turn *left* at that intersection, coming from Willow and turning left onto Highland towards Davis. Since there's no left-turn light for the cars, bicycles turn left at the same time as some cars are going straight and some are turning left. In order to be far enough ahead of the cars for them to be able to see my signaling of my intention to turn left (and my existence), I can't see if they are planning to go straight or not. I don't drive, so I'm not entirely sure what the driver perspective on this situation is. Other than just being confident and making eye contact with everyone, what else should I be doing here?

-Liz-

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

(sorry if this appears twice... LJ seems to be eating my comments at the moment.)

When I'm at an intersection in my car, I can clear the turn faster than the bikers can. If they're all in front of me, it's mostly an obstacle. If I'm in front of them, I'm out of their way in a few seconds, and they can take whatever time they need to make the turn safely. The only time I've seen this not be the case is when a bicyclist whizzes thru the intersection (turning or not) while the light is still red. [My understanding of bike lanes also makes me think that there isn't an official bike lane through an intersection...at least I haven't seen them marked explicitly.]

I generally give bikers a wide berth and try very hard to be ahead of them, because when they're travelling in the same direction as me and behind/beside me, their size and position on the road make them largely invisible, so I'm even more twitchy about them than normal.

(PS - I'm walking away from this thread lest this turn into Yet Another Iteration of the Driver-vs-Biker discussion I've seen several times on this community.)

[irilyth]

"Take the lane", is my advice. Be exactly where a left-turning car would be, i.e. to the left, leaving enough space for straight-going traffic behind you to pass you on your right and continue straight. Since you're narrow, you don't want to get so far over to the left that *left-going* traffic tries to pass you on your right -- you want a left-turning car to pull in behind you, just like they would if you were a car or a motorcycle.

[sairaali.livejournal.com]

It's pretty strictly enforced in NYC, but that's definitely rational because otherwise all the intersections would be blocked forever and ever. Also most intersections have protected left turn signals.

[irilyth]

Oh, and corollary to that: If there's already a left-turning car there, pull in behind them, don't try to creep around them. Sometimes you can get away with that, but if you're not sure if you can pull alongside the car so you can both turn left together, don't bother -- the five seconds you'll save isn't worth the risk that you turn invisible by moving into a space where cars don't expect someone to be.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the faster vehicle should go first. And you're doing all the right things, giving bikers plenty of room and not letting them sit in your blind spot if you can help it. When paths cross or there are other ambiguities in right-of-way, communication (turn signals, etc.) and predictability go a very long way toward safe road-sharing.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

I turn left from Willow onto Highland (in a car) every day and I strongly agree with this. The closest I have ever come to hitting a bike is when I was waiting at that green light to turn left, got my opportunity, and started turning only to see a bicycle flying into the intersection passing me on my left. Please don't do that.

The best option for a bicycle who wants to make that left turn unfortunately is probably to seek an alternate route, and I think almost all of them do because I rarely ever see bikes try it. It's going to be easier to make that left off Cutter (with two lanes) or even from the stop sign on Hancock.

[totient]

This is a frustrating intersection not only for the reason you mention but also because the "straight ahead" lane is not aligned with the lane on the far side of the intersection and so many people seem to think that means it is a left turn lane. I've pulled up to this light intending to continue straight and had drivers also going straight pass me on the right. If I'd been turning right that'd have been even worse. I would definitely avoid turning right from what many drivers think is the left lane of what they think is a two lane road, whether they're right about that or not.

Anyway, now any time I am not turning left, I signal right to keep people from passing me (I suppose I'm kind of about to perform a lane change there). I'd feel worse about this if turn signals in Massachusetts ever meant anything other than "if you loiter in my blind spot on that side I will probably hit you".

[rmd.livejournal.com]

I'm curious if NYC tickets the opposite, where people jump the light and head into the intersection just before a red light turns green.

There's a driving cultural thing where a region has to choose only one of the two options. Option one is for people to run the light just after it turns red. Option two is for people to jump the light just before it turns green. NYC has settled on the latter, and Boston on the former. Trying to have both is a recipe for disaster.

[dcltdw]

"It depends." :) Namely, I don't consider paint-on-road to be sacrosanct. It's a guideline, it's a good way to convey assumptions, but it's not the holiest of holies. Prime Directive, to me, is Look Around And Be Aware.

So yes, I'd agree that, in your situation, something would feel off, at which point, if possible, I'd edge into the right lane to also make a turn from that lane. As someone else commented, try to make turns from as close to the right as possible.

---

Speaking more generally, I think bike lanes are (usually correctly) putting bikes in a more visible location (namely, middle of the road as opposed to the edge), which makes it harder for cars to Just Ignore them. If someone is biking down the middle of the road, I am less tempted to just zoom around them, which is good, because the relative speed difference is very dangerous to the bicyclists. See also whoever mentioned bicyclists taking up the whole lane when needed.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

As a general rule, you should do whatever everyone else is doing. That's because being unpredictable (that is, acting differently from others) is one of the most dangerous things.

The one time I got rear-ended (in a car) was from stopping for a red light.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Yes, this. The bike lane is striped for going straight. Right turns should take place from the right lane, regardless of what sort of vehicle you are operating.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

As mentioned above, this is illegal in California which drives me crazy, because how else are you supposed to turn???!?!

[cden4.livejournal.com]

Exactly. When the bike lane is dashed, that means that car drivers should merge over it before turning right.