Oregon Cycling Magazine

by Ray Thomas

The two recent fatalities in October of 2007 resulting from large trucks being driven over bicyclists in a marked bicycle lane illustrates that we have a long way to go before bicyclists are safe to ride on the street, even in bicycle lanes. The “right hook,” caused by a right-turning motorist who fails to see and provide the right-of-way to approaching cyclists, is one of the most common accident scenarios for bicyclists. These collisions also illustrate the mistaken ideas many folks have over the law and safe driving practices for motorized and non-motorized traffic.

The Law of Bike Lanes
Oregon law grants bicyclists in bicycle lanes the right-of-way over motorized traffic as if the bicycle lane were another traffic lane, which it is – except that it is a hybrid since it is reserved for bicycles. Oregon law quite clearly grants a right-of-way to bicyclists in, and defines which vehicles can use, bike lanes:

ORS 811.050 states:

811.050 Failure to yield to rider on bicycle lane; penalty.

(1) A person commits the offense of failure of a motor vehicle operator to yield to a rider on a bicycle lane if the person is operating a motor vehicle and the person does not yield the right of way to a person operating a bicycle, electric assisted bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, moped, motor assisted scooter or motorized wheelchair upon a bicycle lane.

(2) This section does not require a person operating a moped to yield the right of way to a bicycle or a motor assisted scooter if the moped is operated on a bicycle lane in the manner permitted under ORS 811.440.

(3) The offense described in this section, failure of a motor vehicle operator to yield to a rider on a bicycle lane, is a Class B traffic violation.
A Class C traffic violation results in a maximum fine of $360.00.

Oregon law allows motor vehicles to operate on a bicycle lane but only when making a turn or entering or leaving an alley, private road, or driveway. However, the law clearly requires motor vehicles to first yield the right-of-way to bicyclists occupying the bike lane, just as vehicles changing lanes on a multi-lane roadway must first yield the right-of-way to other vehicles occupying the lane the driver would like to enter.

ORS 811.440 states:

811.440 When motor vehicles may operate on bicycle lane.

This section provides exemptions from the prohibitions under ORS 811.435 and 814.210 against operating motor vehicles on bicycle lanes and paths. The following vehicles are not subject to ORS 811.435 and 814.210 under the circumstances described:

(1) A person may operate a moped on a bicycle lane that is immediately adjacent to the roadway only while the moped is being exclusively powered by human power.

(2) A person may operate a motor vehicle upon a bicycle lane when:

(a) Making a turn;

(b) Entering or leaving an alley, private road or driveway; or

(c) Required in the course of official duty.
(3) An implement of husbandry may momentarily cross into a bicycle lane to permit other vehicles to overtake and pass the implement of husbandry.

(4) A person may operate a motorized wheelchair on a bicycle lane or path.

(5) A person may operate a motor assisted scooter on a bicycle lane or path.

(6) A person may operate an electric personal assistive mobility device on a bicycle lane or path.
Evolution of the Bicycle Lane Law
The bicycle lane law also mandates that bicyclists use a bicycle lane when one is available. This means that if a bicyclist is outside the bicycle lane without legal justification then the bicyclist can be ticketed. In 2005, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance Legislative Committee succeeded in convincing the legislature to change the bicycle lane law to provide legal recognition of the circumstances when a bicyclist should be allowed to leave the bicycle lane, such as when attempting a left turn or avoiding debris or a vehicle blocking the bicycle lane.

ORS 814.420 states:

814.420 Failure to use bicycle lane or path; exceptions; penalty.

(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, a person commits the offense of failure to use a bicycle lane or path if the person operates a bicycle on any portion of a roadway that is not a bicycle lane or bicycle path when a bicycle lane or bicycle path is adjacent to or near the roadway.

(2) A person is not required to comply with this section unless the state or local authority with jurisdiction over the roadway finds, after public hearing, that the bicycle lane or bicycle path is suitable for safe bicycle use at reasonable rates of speed.

(3) A person is not in violation of the offense under this section if the person is able to safely move out of the bicycle lane or path for the purpose of:

(a) Overtaking and passing another bicycle, a vehicle or a pedestrian that is in the bicycle lane or path and passage cannot safely be made in the lane or path.

(b) Preparing to execute a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

(c) Avoiding debris or other hazardous conditions.

(d) Preparing to execute a right turn where a right turn is authorized.

(e) Continuing straight at an intersection where the bicycle lane or path is to the right of a lane from which a motor vehicle must turn right.
(4) The offense described in this section, failure to use a bicycle lane or path, is a Class D traffic violation.
The 2005 legislative change to the bicycle lane law legalized riders’ real world riding behavior.

What Has Happened To Us?
Experienced bicyclists know that the bicycle lane creates inevitable transition between motorists and bicyclists every time a motorist crosses over the bicycle lane. Since most motorists did not learn in driver’s training classes back in high school about bicycle lanes, there has been a slow learning curve for drivers in figuring out how to drive in league with bicycles. Driver reactions range from attempting to pretend that bicycle lanes do not even exist to excessive efforts at avoiding ever placing a tire on a bicycle lane divider line. Portland and other cities have attempted to assist drivers by creating broken painted lines to suggest places where motorists may merge over and across the bicycle lane in order to make a right turn. Some bicycle lanes also continue the broken painted line across intersections. Finally, some bicycle lanes now have bicycle collector areas modeled on the Netherlands model at the front of several test intersections in the Portland area. These “bike boxes” place bicyclists at the head of the line of stopped motorists for visibility.

It is clear that bicyclists frequently have the experience of motorists either failing to see them or refusing to yield the right-of-way in the bicycle lane. As I sometimes joke during presentations about bicycle law, if bicycles in bike lanes weighed the same as locomotives on railroad tracks (where the legal right-of-way principles are quite similar) there would be fewer motorists cutting us off because the result would be catastrophic for the motorist. However, the laws of physics (mass and velocity) dictate that when we get cutoff or pinched off in a bicycle lane we slow down and try to avoid painful contact with a car. Recent events have shown that when the bicycle lane system works well it works very well, but when a large truck rolls over the bicycle lane oblivious to the presence of a bicyclist, the results are horrific.

Oregon Right Turn Law For Vehicles
Some law enforcement experts, notably the folks in Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division, have suggested that Oregon adopt the California model which requires motorists to move over and onto the bicycle lane in the last 100 feet before the right turn. This “California rule” proposal has met with some resistance by bicycle community leaders who point out that maintaining a clear bicycle lane is important for bicyclists who want to go straight in an intersection where a line of stopped right turning cars would block and cork the intersection if they were required to drive onto the bicycle lane before turning.

Oregon law, however, already requires that vehicles move as close to the curb as possible when approaching or making a right turn:

ORS 811.355 states:

811.355 Improperly executed right turn; penalty.

(1) A person commits the offense of making an improperly executed right turn if the person is operating a vehicle, is intending to turn the vehicle to the right and does not proceed as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway:

(a) In making the approach for a right turn; and

(b) In making the right turn.
(2) The offense described in this section, improperly executed right turn, is a Class B traffic violation.
Since the Oregon statute does not provide any exceptions for moving to the right hand curb or the edge of the roadway when there is a bicycle lane in place, it is reasonable to argue that the law requires the motorist to move over and on top of the bicycle lane. Whether “making the approach for a right turn” mandates that motorists stop next to a bike lane while waiting to make a right turn or move over and on top of the bike lane, thereby blocking approaching bicyclists who wish to go straight, is a troubling question that has not been answered by any legal cases. Certainly, one of the laudable goals of bicycle lanes was to allow bicyclists to pass stopped cars without having to wait in the exhaust fumes of idling cars.

At What Point Does Oregon Law Require Motorists to Move Toward the Curb Before a Right Turn?
Proponents of the “California Rule” suggest changing Oregon law to require motorists to move onto the bike lane 100 feet before the turn. The Oregon statute mentions no specific distance except that the vehicle must move to the right curb when “intending to turn the vehicle to the right” and is either “making the approach for a right turn” or “making the right turn.” ORS 811.355.

However, the other statute in the Oregon Vehicle Code section relating to turns requires that the signal to make a turn be given “continuously during not less than the last 100 feet traveled by the vehicle before turning.” ORS 811.355. The 100 foot requirement is the same for bicycles under ORS 814.440. (Although the bike statute is slightly different in that it only requires that the appropriate hand and arm signals be provided “continuously for at least 100 feet before executing” the stop or turn. The bicycle statute also allows the bicyclist to suspend the signal in order to control the bicycle.)

The auto section of the Oregon turn law requires a signal for the last 100 feet before the turn and the right turn law requires that the motorist move as close to the curb as practicable “in making the approach for a right turn”. If the statutes are interpreted together, then it is clear that Oregon law requires the signal and movement to the right, and that these requirements are to be performed at the same time at some point; whether that “point” is 100 feet before the turn or less is not so clear. Oregon law is also silent in regard to whether the motorist is supposed to actually move on top of the bike lane since the only feature mentioned in the statute is the “right hand curb or edge of the roadway.” Just because the right turn movement requirement fails to mention a bike lane does not negate the force of the statute and it is certainly arguable that the statute requires motorists to move over while making a turn even if it means going on top of a bike lane which is located next to the curb.

If the Oregon law requires motorists to move over and on top of bike lanes next to curbs when making right turns then the large trucks in both of the recent Portland fatalities would have been on top of the bike lane before the turn. While drivers of long-wheel-based vehicles will point out that forcing a long truck to hug the curb before the turn prevents the truck from being able to swing wide and get around the corner without running the rear tires over the curb, it could also be argued that if the corner is so tight that a long truck cannot comply with the law then the long truck needs to go straight through the intersection and find a less congested corner or more gradual corner to make the turn. Bicyclists who expect to be able to proceed straight on a bicycle lane next to a line of right turning motorists will be deprived of that opportunity if the law is interpreted to require rightward movement of vehicles before the right turn. Is this too much of a price to pay?

The Push and Pull of Bicycle Lanes
Bicycle lane advocates have taken a historic step in creating and expanding Oregon’s bicycle lane network. Bicycle lanes have created considerable tension with motorists who often blame bicyclists for removal of a potential traffic lane or on-street parking. When motorists see bicycle lanes that are empty of bicyclists on a roadway choked with backed up automobiles, it frustrates them that facilities have been created “at motorists’ expense” but then not used by bicyclists.

On the other hand, bicyclists take a somewhat possessory attitude toward bicycle lanes and sometimes take offense when motorists dare to drive on top of the bicycle lane. Repeated instances of being car-doored, encountering trucks and cars parked upon the bicycle lane, and episodes where left and right turning motorists disregard visible cyclists in the bicycle lane have led to many minor accidents and upset bicyclists, and, of course, there has not yet been a single motorist injured by a bicyclist in a bicycle lane. The bicycling community feels like it pays with its own skin for the mistakes of motorists.

In 2007 when the legislature was considering various options for bicycle law improvement, I had the idea that the law should make clear that motorists and bicyclists are supposed to cooperate in a fluid and dynamic fashion in sharing the roadway. Since the Oregon statute does not allow cars to use the bike lane to go around left turning motorists, I suggested that Oregon law be changed to allow the practice, so long as the motorist first yielded to bicyclists in the bicycle lane. This proposal met with the same reservation that the proponents of the “California rule” met with from the bike community in that bicyclists were worried that adding reasons for cars to be in the bike lane increased the danger for bicyclists. The proposal was dropped and current Oregon law continues to subject motorists to a potential ticket if they move into a bike lane to move around a left turning motorist.

Conclusion
Oregon law clearly provides the right of way to bicycles in bicycle lanes, and also requires motorists to turn right after signaling for 100 feet before the turn from a position on the roadway closest to the right curb. What is not clear is how to protect bicyclists from right-turning motorists who cross over the bicycle lane.

Possibly Related

• May 2008: Education is the first step
• May 2008: Blow bells and a Bend din
• June 2007: Between the lines
• April 2008: Motorist's repeat harassment of bicyclists
• September 2006: Accidents that result in property damage