Spring in Maine gets here so grudgingly that it’s a revelation when it finally arrives in full force. Leaves explode onto branches, birds and squirrels fight for food outside the window, and bicyclists once again spin down the streets in significant numbers.
This time of year, I frequently bicycle between downtown Bangor and Hamlin’s Marina in Hampden, where my sailboat spends the winter. There’s a lot to do on a boat in the spring to get it ready for the water. Since I don’t have the luxury of owning a car, and since the parsimonious Hampden town council canceled Saturday bus service, my bicycle often becomes a necessary mode of transport.
It’s a pleasant ride along the Penobscot River, but there is one particular point of peril: the intersection of Route 1A (Main Street) with Interstate 395, just south of the Cross Center. A broad bridge carries the interstate over the street. Swallowed by the bridge’s shadow, a bicyclist can be hard for a driver to see.
Many Maine drivers also seem to be unaware of the law that allows a bicyclist to occupy a full lane of traffic, or “seize the lane,” in popular parlance, at this type of intersection. I’ve been honked at here a handful of times already this spring, and yelled at once. But seizing the lane is not only the safest option for the bicyclist, it’s the logical and legal thing to do. If you’re in a car and you try to pass, and a cop sees you doing it, you can be ticketed.
As I pass the Cross Center heading south, the road widens into two lanes. The right lane curls onto Interstate 395; there’s an on-ramp for each direction on either side of the bridge. The left lane continues straight on toward Hampden. That’s where I’m going. I can’t be way over to the right, because I’d get cut off by the cars turning onto the freeway. And I can’t be on the right-hand side of the left lane, for fear of getting sandwiched between two cars trying to pass me on either side – a scary place to be. Cars have to give bicyclists a minimum berth of three feet, and there isn’t room on the road to do it safely on both sides.
Consequently, the proper place for a bicyclist to be in this situation is smack dab in the center of the left lane. And the proper thing for drivers in the left lane to do is to wait to pass until the bicyclist has cleared the intersection. Most of us will be polite and pull to the right once it is safe to do so.
“Polite is not always safe,” says Lauri Boxer-Macomber, an attorney with Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman of Portland, and a member of the national Bike Law network of lawyers who are legal advocates for cyclists. “If a bicyclist tries to make it so that cars can squeeze by, the bicyclist could be making it more dangerous for everyone. Drivers sometimes see that as the bicyclist being rude. But aggressively seizing the lane is often the safest option.”
Yes, it requires drivers behind a bicyclist to slow down. But it doesn’t take long. It adds seconds, not minutes, to the drive – a small price for safety on our public roads.
The Late Automobile Age in which we now live has seen an upturn in bicycling among people of all ages. Don’t expect that trend to change anytime in the near future. As the ravages of our rampant car culture become more apparent, many Americans have rediscovered the use of bicycles for personal transportation. A bicycle is cheaper than a car, it’s better for your health, and over short distances it can actually save you time.
The proliferation of bicycles keeps the roads safer for everyone. It reduces the overall number of cars. But perhaps more importantly, bicycles calm traffic simply by their presence. Drivers are more aware of bicyclists when they see more people on bikes, and adjust their driving behavior accordingly. They slow down.
We could all stand to slow down a little. If you’re driving somewhere in a car this summer in this beautiful state we call home, seize the day. But let bicyclists seize the lane.
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