• Zamboni_Driver@lemmy.ca
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    20 hours ago

    You shouldn’t ride in a bike lane on the left side of the road. You should only ever ride in a bike lane on the right side of the road. I know that people like to walk on the left for safety, but this isn’t that.

    One of the best reasons is simply other cyclists who would be trying to use the lane correctly. There usually isn’t enough room to safely pass by eachother. So someone going the wrong way doesn’t work.

    • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      Z, you’re not understanding. I know how lanes and directions work.

      I’m referring to when I don’t have a bike lane and have to use the main roads. I get in the lane I ultimately will need to turn from, which until last week felt like the safest idea, but not anymore.

      Can’t exactly go 30 mph on sidewalks.

      • Zamboni_Driver@lemmy.ca
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        9 hours ago

        Yea, that’s not safe. It makes you much more vulnerable to getting into an accident with another user. People honking at you are probably trying to let you know being on the wrong side of the road is not safe.

        Careless people making a right turn onto your road don’t think to check if there is wrong way traffic coming from the bike lane to their right. They mostly look left to see if traffic is coming from the left and then they pull out. Going 30mph against the flow of traffic is a recipe for disaster.

      • th3dogcow@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        It’s generally safer to perform a hook turn when turning across traffic (turning left for you, since you’re in the U.S.). By doing so, you always stay in the outside lane. In Japan, all cyclists and scooters must perform hook turns by law. Is this not common in the US?

        • Simon_Shitewood@lemmy.ml
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          13 hours ago

          I don’t know about the US but in the UK a lot of road layouts actively prevent hook turns, so you either cycle in the outside lane or dismount and use the pedestrian crossings (if they exist).

          • th3dogcow@lemmy.world
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            12 hours ago

            I don’t mean to sound argumentative but I can’t imagine how the layout could prevent a hook turn. Are there physical barriers? I’m genuinely curious.

            We also have the option to cross by walking across the crosswalks, but many have a space for bicycles, so it is ok to cycle across (but if on a scooter, you must walk it).

            In addition, I forgot to mention that hook turns are only mandatory for here for roads which are larger than one lane in each direction.