It's important to know the various laws pertaining to bicycle operation
on the road if we're to discuss them clearly, and it's even more
important to do so if we want to influence motorists and law makers.
Frankly, there's a lot of wiggle room and gray areas. We have a right
to use the public road provided we do so legally, so the following
always leads to discussion in a Smart Cycling class.

All of this can be found at:
http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/index.asp?ftdb=STOKST&level=1
I've included it in case the hyperlinks are stripped away by Yahoo.

Impeding traffic:

§ 11-804. Minimum Speed Regulation

<http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=82324>
Note that it says "No person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow
speed as to impede..." Under Oklahoma law, bicycles are devices
propelled by human power, not motor vehicles. We have all the rights
and all the duties of any other vehicle operator "except to those
provisions of this title which by their nature can have no
application."


As far right as is safe - NOT as far right as possible - it's not the
same:
§ 11-1205. Riding on Roadways and Bicycle Paths

<http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=82367>
11-1205 also addresses riding two abreast, and says that it's OK
provided it doesn't impede the normal and reasonable flow of traffic.
I'd think that on a typical 12 feet wide Oklahoma lane where an
overtaking motorist will have to straddle or cross the centerline even
if there's a single cyclist, riding two abreast doesn't change this
'normal and reasonable' practice. But then again, I'm not an attorney.


Overtaking bicyclists - the three foot law:

§ 11-1208. Overtaking Bicycles - Penalties
<http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=447064\
>
That piece Chuck posted may be the first-ever enforcement of the 3 feet
passing law, though it didn't specifically say so. My opinion - the 3
foot law is largely a feel-good measure because even obvious violations
- like the one in Tulsa recently - don't result in charges. That could
still change if the DA adds to the charges.

OK, I'm done. Now you can argue amongst yourselves!

Ed Wagner
League of American Bicyclists
Instructor 1065

--- In earthbike@yahoogroups.com, "Eric Doswell" <trailjedi@...> wrote:
>
> I believe by law cyclists are allowed two abreast. Three, four and
five abreast as is commonly seen is not cool. We cyclists are as guilty
of most infractions as the motorists we rage about. We're also motorists
most of the time as well. If everyone stopped thinking about it as "us
and them" things would probably go a lot smoother. We as cyclists also
need to police ourselves, and ride according to the traffic laws we wave
in the faces of angry drivers.
> E



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