Vehicular cycling

In many jurisdictions, a bicycle is legally recognized as a "vehicle". Indeed, the laws conveying this recognition extend to cyclists the same rights and responsiblilities as operators of a motor vehicle. Even though bicycles are chiefly considered vehicles, cyclists are allowed certain privileges that motor vehicle drivers are not — such as traveling on sidewalks in accordance to the pedestrian rules of the road. (Care must be taken with respect to this allowance as some jurisdictions do not permit sidewalk cycling; consult your local ordinances before practicing.) Vehicular cycling (VC), is riding a bicycle on roadways in accordance with the vehicular rules of the road. Sometimes vehicular cycling is referred to as integrated cycling (i.e. integrated with other vehicular traffic, as opposed to cycling in segregated cycling facilities ), cooperative cycling, or bicycle driving.

A vehicular/integrated/cooperative cyclist, or bicycle driver, is a cyclist who generally rides on roadways in accordance to the vehicular rules of the road. Primarily, this means:

Riding on the same side of the road as other vehicular traffic.
Riding outside of the door zone; no closer than five feet to parked cars.
Obeying traffic controls (like stop signs and traffic signals).
Choosing the appropriate lane and lateral lane position according to speed positioning between intersections.
Choosing the appropriate lane and lateral lane position according to destination positioning at intersections and their approaches, including merging away from the side of the road before going straight across an intersection.
Adjusting lateral lane position (moving left and right) relatively often in response to, and in anticipation of, ever-changing conditions and factors.
Using the full lane when appropriate.
Merging, one lane at a time, across a roadway to get to a turn lane, using negotiation with other drivers as required.
Generally feeling and acting like a vehicle driver, albeit the driver of a narrow and relatively low-powered vehicle.

While any cyclist riding on the roadway is bound to be riding "vehicularly" at least some of the time, few cyclists actually ride vehicularly consistently. Some non-vehicular actions commonly taken by cyclists include:

Cycling on the wrong side of the road.
Cycling in the door zone.
Cycling on sidewalks or in crosswalks.
Running stop signs.
Running red lights.
Going straight across an intersection from the side of the road from which right (left in England) turns are allowed and expected, and through travel is not expected.
Turning left (right in England) from the side of the road and darting across the roadway, instead of merging across one lane at a time.
Moving laterally without looking back over the shoulder.
Stopping or cycling on stripes separating lanes instead of taking an assertive position within a lane.
At red lights, moving to the front of traffic and stopping in the crosswalk or ahead of the stop line, instead of taking one's place in line according to the first come, first served principle.
Passing slow or stopped traffic on the right (left in England).
Cycling in the gutter or generally keep to the side, even when there is no same-direction faster traffic present.
Cycling on the side of a lane that is too narrow to be safely shared side by side with other vehicles, thus inviting drivers of vehicles to try to squeeze into the narrow lane unsafely.

Contents

1 Origins of Vehicular Cycling

2 Using the full lane

3 Destination and Speed Positioning

4 Looking Back

5 Negotiation

6 The VC Attitude

7 Misconceptions About VC

8 VC Authoritative Sources

Origins of Vehicular Cycling

The origins of vehicular cycling go back to the 19th century when bicycles were invented and shared the roads with horses and buggies. Cyclists have been riding in accordance to the vehicular rules of the road ever since.

Using the full lane

Using the full lane, sometimes referred to as "taking the lane", is a vehicular cycling technique whereby a bicyclist commands full use of the lane instead of operating at its side. Riding at the side yields the right-of-way in the remainder of the lane, and enables motorists to use it, which sometimes is not safe or desired for the given circumstances. Using the full lane precludes sharing the lane simultaneously side-by-side with drivers of other vehicles. Experienced cyclists commonly use the full lane under the following circumstances:

When there is no other traffic moving in the same direction at the time, to increase visibility to any potential oncoming turning traffic and cross-traffic to prevent unsafe turns across the cyclist's path, and also to increase conspicuity for traffic approaching from the rear,
when traveling at the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time,
when the lane is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane,
when merging across a roadway in preparation for a turn across the opposing lanes,
when overtaking or passing another vehicle or bicyclist,
when approaching a place where right (left in England) turns are authorized in order to increase visibility and predictability, and to prevent motorists making unsafe turns across the bicyclist's path,
or whenever the cyclist feels it increases his safety.

Vehicular cycling, including using the full lane when appropriate, is supported by traffic laws in most countries (California's Vehicle Code section 21202 is an example of this).

Destination and Speed Positioning

Vehicle drivers and cyclists who are traveling in accordance to the vehicular rules of the road use speed positioning between intersections. That is, drivers of slower vehicles generally operate in the rightmost (leftmost in England) lane, and when width allows, even keep far enough to the side to allow faster traffic to share the rightmost lane.

As a driver approaches an intersection, destination positioning comes into play. Here, drivers of slow vehicles choose the rightmost (leftmost in England) lane that serves their destination. For example, if the rightmost lane is right-only, drivers (who are not turning right) merge left into the adjacent lane. Also, lane position for drivers of narrow vehicles (like motorcycles as well as bicycles) is also dictated by destination. For example, in a lane that serves destinations to the left, straight and right, a cyclist would travel along the left side if going left, along the right side if going right, and in between if going straight. In a lane that goes straight or right, the cyclist's position within the lane should be reflected by his destination. However, when turning, a narrow vehicle driver should be careful to not move so far to the side so as to invite other drivers to squeeze in next to him within the lane during the turn.

Vehicular Cycling experts recommend that, and the laws generally allow for, cyclists to establish the center of the lane (between the left and right tracks of cars) as their default or primary riding position when there is no reason to ride in the secondary riding position close to the edge of the roadway (i.e., when faster same-direction is present, wants to pass, and it is safe and reasonable to move into the secondary riding position). In general, like motorcyclists, bicyclists are much more visible and predictable in the primary riding position (and, hence, less likely to be not seen or not noticed) than when they are riding closer to the edge of the roadway.

Looking Back

The trivial sounding skill of looking back over one's shoulder is critical to vehicular cycling. It's not as easy to perform as it may sound because it requires traveling in a straight line while looking behind for up to a few seconds, and requires some practice to master. The natural tendency is to not continue in a straight line, but to swerve in the direction one is looking.

Looking back is essential whenever a cyclist needs to move laterally on the roadway for two reasons: 1) to make sure that he will not be moving in front of someone else, or violating another's right-of-way, and 2) to communicate to others that he plans on moving. Cycling experts contend that simply looking back often suffices as a signal to others that a cyclist wishes to move laterally in the direction he turned his head, and that a hand signal is often not required (this is important because using hand signals requires the cyclist to remove one hand from the handlebars, which is not desireable in many situations). Mosts Effective Cycling students confirm that they are surprised to learn how quickly motorists often yield the right-of-way when they try the look back signaling technique for the first time.

Negotiation

Many cycling experts explain the concept of negotation, and its role in traffic cycling vehicularly, when merging across multiple lanes of traffic. The basic idea is to gain control of one lane at a time, and negotiate for the right of way in the adjacent lane before moving into and controlling it. This is an important vehicular cycling skill because it alleviates the cyclist from having to execute a pedestrian style left turn, which involves switching modes to pedestrian and then back to vehicular again.

The first step in merging across multiple lanes involves merging (after looking back) to use the full lane. Once control of the outside lane has been established, the cyclist moves towards the inside of the lane, signalling his intent to merge into the adjacent lane. Often simply looking back is all that is required to signal this intent, but sometimes the cyclist must use a hand signal to coax a passing motorist to slow down and yield the right-of-way to let him in. Once right-of-way is established in the adjacent lane, the cyclist moves in, using the full lane, and repeats the process until he reaches his destination lane (from which his turn is allowed). The key to the process is that the cyclist is never cycling in front of someone who has not explicitly yielded the right-of-way to him.

The VC Attitude

In the end, VC is as much about attitude as anything else. Without the VC attitude, no matter the skills, one cannot ride in traffic vehicularly. One really must believe, deep down, that as a cyclist he is a vehicle driver -- that he has the same rights as other vehicle drivers and that it is safe and not discourteous to assert those rights -- before he can act as a vehicle driver. Acting as a vehicle driver is a critical prerequisite to being treated as one (if one does not act as a vehicle driver, he certainly won't be treated as one).

Misconceptions About VC

There is considerable confusion expressed on the internet about the meaning of vehicular cycling. Some people mistakenly describe VC as, "cycling as if you're a car". But bicycles are not cars, and the vehicular rules of the road apply to not just cars, but all kinds of vehicles, from horse and buggies to tractor trailers, and everything in between, including bicycles. Some rules have more relevance to drivers of some vehicles than to others because of unique physical and operational characteristics of some vehicles. For example, because of the narrow nature of motorcycles, motorcyclists can often share (split) lanes that are too narrow for two standard width vehicles to share. This is also true for bicyclists, whose vehicles also have the narrow characteristic. Truck drivers require special training, as do bus and taxi drivers, and motorcyclists. Some people advocate special training for cyclists to learn vehicular cycling, such as the Effective Cycling program. One of the main vehicular rules that has special application to cyclists riding on roadways is that drivers of slower vehicles should keep to the side (when safe and reasonable) between intersections, though many people forget that at intersections and their approaches lane position should be selected according to destination. Cyclists who ride in the center of a lane needlessly impeding faster traffic are sometimes mistakenly referred to as vehicular cyclists; yet by definition a cyclist who needlessly impedes faster traffic is violating the vehicular rules of the road and is hence not riding vehicularly. Another misconception about VC -- that riding in bike lanes is non-vehicular -- probably stems from an opposition to bike lanes by John Forester. Nevertheless, Forester himself has written and said on numerous occasions that riding vehicularly often involves riding in bike lanes, particularly when the facility happens to represent the most appropriate place to cycle for the given circumstance and conditions. So VC does not require staying out of bike lanes all the time.

VC Authoritative Sources

Forester's book, Effective Cycling, is generally considered the primary reference on vehicular cycling.

Without using the term vehicular cycling per se, John Franklin does an excellent job describing the philosophy in his book, Cyclecraft. He too advocates cycling in accordance to the vehicular rules of the road. Using terms such as primary riding position — meaning in the center of the traffic lane — and secondary riding position — meaning about 1 meter (3 feet) to the side of moving traffic, but not closer than .5 meters (1.5 feet) to the edge of the road, Franklin advocates the primary riding position as the normal position and the secondary riding position only when safe and reasonable to allow faster traffic to pass.

Another source for education regarding the basics of vehicular cycling is John S. Allen's pamphlet, Bicycling Street Smarts, available for free on his website (see below).

Still more descriptions of vehicular cycling can be found by following the links below.

VC Alternatives

An alternative to vehicular cycling is pedestrian cycling, or cycling according to the pedestrian rules of the road. This means riding on sidewalks, crosswalks and paths at pedestrian speeds. Cycling experts contend that while pedestrian cycling can be accomplished safely, one should be aware of the peculiar hazards associated with this activity, including but not limited to:

Opening passenger-side doors.
Pedestrians, dogs, children playing, etc.
Potential conflicts with other vehicles at all intersections, including driveways and alleys as well as major intersections.
Entering crosswalks, where drivers turning into your path are often looking the other way.

Some cyclists routinely operate not in accordance with either the vehicular or pedestrian system. Car-bike collision statistics indicate that such cyclists are particularly vulnerable.

Many cyclists use a combination of vehicular and pedestrian cycling. This approach has the drawback that extra care must be taken when transitioning from one mode to the other, since transitioning often leads to actions not expected by others. In particular, during a transition, a cyclist must yield the right-of-way to both pedestrians and vehicle drivers.

VC Education

Besides VC self-education from studying books, one may be trained in vehicular cycling by taking courses from organizations like the League of American Bicyclists and Can-Bike.

VC Advocacy

Advocates of vehicular cycling, like Forester, Franklin and Allen, argue that cycling in accordance to the vehicular rules of the road is the safest and most effective means to use a bicycle for transportation.

Some VC advocates contend that cyclists should only ride vehicularly, believing that non-vehicular cycling is not only less safe, but leads to less societal acceptance of cyclists who do cycle vehicularly.

Some VC advocates oppose segregated cycling facilities like bike lanes because they inhibit and discourage cycling integrated with other vehicular traffic.

Bibliography

Effective Cycling by John Forester (First edition, 1976; Sixth edition, The MIT Press, 1993) ISBN 0262560704
Cyclecraft by John Franklin (First edition, Stationery Office Books, 1999) ISBN 0117020516