Dangerous Bicycle Scenario

[xuth.livejournal.com]

I just ran into (almost literally) a very dangerous bicycle scenario in Davis Square this evening.

I was parked at the (somerville provided) bike parking space between Dover and Day St on Holland/Elm St. I got onto Holland/Elm St and rode southeast through the square right in front of a car on Day St with a green light. The problem is that from my vantage point, I have no stop light or stop sign (they are all behind me where Holland crosses Dover) and from this vantage point, Day St intersecting with Elm St is a completely separate intersection from Holland St intersecting with Dover St. But the traffic signals treat it as one intersection. Without knowing all the details of this intersection (which I should, I just have never dealt with this scenario before), I have no reason to think that I should be concerned about traffic coming from Day St. There really needs to be an additional Holland street light at the corner of Day St.

Comments

Re: You have a problem, but not a solution.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Bikes are subject to nearly all the traffic laws, yes (google on massachusetts general laws, then search for bicycle). "Obey traffic control signals/signs" is the most notable (and most notably violated :/ ) element. "Be in the correct lane (including obeying one-way markings)" is another. There are a few differences; bikes are explicitly allowed to pass on the right and they're not allowed onto limited-access highways. There are also differences concerning lights/reflectors and maybe a couple other things based on the inherent physical differences between bikes and cars. But the short answer is yes, traffic laws apply to bicycles (even if you can't tell from watching 90% of the bicyclists you see, alas).

(disclosure: until very recently I biked a great deal more than I drove, and hope to get back to this asap. :)