Re: Mercedes driver - bicyclists contretemps

On 1/6/2025 9:31 AM, AMuzi wrote:

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/mercedez-benz-swerves-aggressively- through-crowd-of-cyclists-blocking-los-angeles-street/
\

That's interesting, from a legal standpoint. I don't know about California, but I thought some states (not Ohio) restrict cyclists to positions "as far right as practicable" only when "operating at less than the prevailing speed of traffic," or some such phrasing.
And that limit on the restriction would make sense. If there's no traffic, or if traffic is moving very slowly, there's no reason for a cyclist to be prohibited from using the smoothest portion of the lane.
But what if the "prevailing speed of traffic" is bicycle speed? In that video, the bicyclists _are_ the prevailing traffic. The assumption that a group of bicyclists has to get out of the way seems at least partly based on the idea that being in a motor vehicle automatically makes a person more important than a cyclist. And that is, of course, a very common attitude. Ask almost any motorist!
BTW, the printed report says "Riding side-by-side should only be done when it does not impede traffic." The video does better at explaining that, noting that "California law doesn't prohibit riding two abreast..."
There's a fair amount of discussion of these issues in _Bicycling & The Law_ by Olympian cyclist and lawyer Bob Mionske.
Yeah, the bicyclists should not have blocked the way. The motorist should not have risked their lives to punish them. Idiocy begets idiocy.
--
- Frank Krygowski