Bicyclists: Riding on far right not always safe

Re: “Where does the law say bicyclists should ride?” (TNT traffic Q&A, 6/4).

As a cyclist in Gig Harbor, I was pleased to see Police Chief Kelly Busey quoted in this article about where cyclists legally can ride, and I shared it with my biking groups.

Some cyclists rightly took issue with the article’s simplification of RCW 46.61.770 : “So, if you’re riding on a two-way roadway, the bicyclist must stay as far to the right as possible.”

Busey cited the part of the law that states cyclists should ride as far to the right side “as is safe,” but the article did not elaborate on situations where it is unsafe.

That includes the door zone adjacent to parked cars where a cyclist could be thrown into oncoming traffic if a door is opened, where there are hazards (like glass or rocks) on the road, and where being all the way on the right makes the cyclist invisible to drivers.

As written, this article implied that cyclists who don’t stay as close as possible to the right are disobeying the law. It provides no understanding of situations where cyclists must, and legally can, get into the lane for their own safety.

This story was originally published June 14, 2018 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Bicyclists: Riding on far right not always safe."