Comment 108484

By kevlahan (registered) | Posted January 27, 2015 at 17:41:27 in reply to Comment 108479

The Ontario HTA allows (and the Ontario Cyclists Handbook encourages) cyclists to "take a lane" if the lane is too narrow for a motorist to overtake safely while staying within the lane (true on almost all streets with more than one lane in the same direction) or in any case where blocking a lane is necessary for the cyclist's safety (e.g. debris or snow on the curb side of the lane). Many drivers don't seem to know or respect this particular law.

This is what the ministry website actually says: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/pubs/cy...

"Accordingly, cyclists should ride one meter from the curb or close to the right hand edge of the road when there is no curb, unless they are turning left, going faster than other vehicles or if the lane is too narrow to share."

and, http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/pubs/cy...

"Taking a lane In urban areas where a curb lane is too narrow to share safely with a motorist, it is legal to take the whole lane by riding in the centre of it. On high-speed roads, it is not safe to take the whole lane. To move left in a lane, shoulder check, signal left and shoulder check again then move to the centre of the lane when it is safe to do so."

Note that this means cyclists can safely and legally overtake slower vehicles on the left if space permits (e.g. a line of slowly moving cars in a traffic jam), and can block a lane when it is too narrow to safely share with a vehicle. The changes to the HTA currently before the legislature will make it illegal for drivers to drive closer than 1m from a bicycle.

Comment edited by kevlahan on 2015-01-27 17:47:38

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