BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I'm not sure I understand the situation - the back of the vehicle hit you? If that's the case, then I would say they are definitely in violation of the law.

it was an 18-wheeler, and it was the trailer.

waiiiit... was this in Swissvale?

no. this happened in Homestead, back at the beginning of May.

Call an attorney. Why not?

The text of the law is here. It's pretty clear that if you get hit, the driver violated the law.

Contact an attorney if you're having trouble with insurance. Mark Reisman advertises on the Bike PGH homepage and talked with me on the phone about my options after an accident I was involved in.

also, don't post too much on here until whatever you're going to do is resolved.

Sounds like a scary thing, glad you came through it.

Even if the 4ft law doesn't apply (I don't remember when it became applicable, maybe beginning of May), if someone hit you - it's never been legal to hit the vehicle you're overtaking, whether a cyclist or not.

hey, thanks for the input everyone. most people i have spoken with were all biased against cyclists on the roadway/had no knowledge of the 4ft law.

somewhat related, from Winnipeg Cycling Chick

I had an interesting interaction with a car PASSINGER yesterday in Carrick. I was taking the lane because of a combination of bad pavement, slow traffic and a long line of parked cars. As the road opened up (no more parked cars) I moved over toward the right but still maintained my position in the roadway – essentially I was holding a line that would have been the left edge of a parked car. The Jeep that had been following me moved over toward the center line and passed me with plenty of room, reduced speed, and quite frankly a lot of consideration. But just as the vehicle got even with me this middle aged female passenger starts screaming at me something about needing to be four feet from the curb. As we rounded a curve the road narrows and I again take the full lane behind their Jeep. As I do this she starts to scream at me through the open back window that I’m not allowed to ride in the road. At this point I start yelling back at her to “learn the rules of the road”. It was quite a sight and quite entertaining from my perspective. Well we both end up pulling into the supermarket parking lot (where I was going anyway) where she gets out of the car and wildly starts yelling at me that I don’t have a license plate, etc. etc. The whole time her husband (the driver) just sits calmly with a smile on his face. I thanked her husband for the safe pass, and tried to explain to his wife why I was riding the way I was - and she kept insisting that I was wrong. We ended up shaking hands and apologizing to each other, but I’m dumbfounded by her beliefs.

1. Dirtbikes (motorcycles) don’t have license plates and they are not allowed on the street, and bicycles don’t have license plates therefore they are not allowed on the street.

2. There is a new four foot law that was just passed that says that BICYCLES MUST STAY WITHIN FOUR FEET FROM THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. (not sure how this works with #1)

3. She was really just worried that I would get hit because cars wouldn’t see me. (I was wearing bright neon shirt with daytime blinkies running front and back, plus neon reflective tape all over the place)

4. Me riding slow on the street makes it impossible for cars to pass (I was riding my brakes for a lot of the encounter because traffic was slow)

I think it ended up being a positive encounter, but we have a long way to go from an education perspective.

The vehemence with which one believes an idea is not related to the idea's merit or truth.

In my father's favorite words of Sen. John Kerry - "You can be certain and be wrong."

oy what a story. i bet that is a fun marriage to be in...

"BICYCLES MUST STAY WITHIN FOUR FEET FROM THE SIDE OF THE ROAD." The new "Share the Road". I kinda knew something like that was coming LSOL (laughing sadly out loud).

It seems that the Rob Rogers cartoon in the post gazette today is fitting for this woman's misunderstanding. I would post a link to it but the computer I'm using at work is pretty limited. Maybe it's a good thing that I can't get to the online version with the sometimes frustrating string of comments.

I read on the interwebs once that all motor vehicles had to be preceded by a man waving a flag warning other travelers of the pending danger. It must be true. I think I'll start yelling at all cars "WHERE'S YOUR FLAG MAN, HORSELESS CARRIAGE?!?!"

kelw, here you go: http://blogs.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/opinion/rob-rogers-cartoons/35031-pittsburgh-cycling

edited to add: first two comments, as typical, suck.

@psuda, she did seem like a nice lady once she calmed down. I give her husband a lot of credit for not jumping in and remaining cool - not that I was being a threat, but you never know how a stranger is going to react.

another recent RR biking cartoon, another fun set of comments: http://blogs.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/opinion/rob-rogers-cartoons/34951-share-the-road