Mark J. Ginsberg
Doug,
If you want to argue law, swing for the cheap seats and argue ORS 814.420(2), the hearing requirement.
I will tell you no hearing have ever been held for any bike lane in the entire state of Oregon. I will also tell you I am lawyer, and despite the lack of hearing, the courts regularly convict people for this violation. Google "state vs. potter" to read all about it.
Though in the past few years I've not seen as many personally.
Mark
Mark J. Ginsberg
Berkshire Ginsberg, LLC
Attorneys At Law
1216 SE Belmont St.
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 542-3000
Fax (503) 233-6874
markjginsberg@yahoo.com
www.bikesafetylaw.com
--- On Sun, 4/12/09, Sami Fournier wrote:
From: Sami Fournier
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] What are you thinking?
To: "Doug Hormann" , obra@list.obra.org
Date: Sunday, April 12, 2009, 6:20 AM
Doug,
Sorry, but according to the ORS 814.420 quoted below, exceptions to the requirement to use the bike lane include:
When a hazard exists
When passing
When turning left
A hazard includes any surface or other impediment in the bike lane, or any vehicle, including a possible right turning car. I advise all my students to leave the bike lane if they are going straight through at an intersection, in order to avoid the 'right hook' and the law is on my side there, as you can read below.
Your interpretation of what's legal is shared by many misinformed motorists, but it would be easily countered in court, by any good lawyer, and in any case, it's wrong.
Sorry to be blunt, but cyclists especially are obligated to know the law.
814.420
Failure to use bicycle lane or path; exceptions; penalty. (1) Except as provided in subsections (2)
and (3) of this section, a person commits the offense of failure to use a
bicycle lane or path if the person operates a bicycle on any portion of a
roadway that is not a bicycle lane or bicycle path when a bicycle lane or
bicycle path is adjacent to or near the roadway.
(2) A person is not required to comply
with this section unless the state or local authority with jurisdiction over
the roadway finds, after public hearing, that the bicycle lane or bicycle path
is suitable for safe bicycle use at reasonable rates of speed.
(3) A person is not in violation of the
offense under this section if the person is able to safely move out of the
bicycle lane or path for the purpose of:
(a) Overtaking and passing another
bicycle, a vehicle or a pedestrian that is in the bicycle lane or path and
passage cannot safely be made in the lane or path.
(b) Preparing to execute a left turn at an
intersection or into a private road or driveway.
(c) Avoiding debris or other hazardous
conditions.
(d) Preparing to execute a right turn
where a right turn is authorized.
(e) Continuing straight at an intersection
where the bicycle lane or path is to the right of a lane from which a motor
vehicle must turn right.
(4) The offense described in this section,
failure to use a bicycle lane or path, is a Class D traffic violation. [1983
c.338 §700; 1985 c.16 §338; 2005 c.316 §3]
--- On Sat, 4/11/09, Doug Hormann wrote:
From: Doug Hormann
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] What was he thinking.
To: "'Obra'"
Date: Saturday, April 11, 2009, 4:10 PM
You were fine until you wrote legally elected not to
follow the bike lane. Unless the bike lane was unsafe to a
reasonable person (full of trash, glass, under construction, under water) there
is no choice to be made here. The bike lane is the legal path and you may
not legally deviate from it. Convenience; not having to
slow down; etc. are not legal reasons to leave the path/lane. The path in
that spot is there to prevent exactly this sort of situation. The
driver of the bus has the obligation to exibit due care when operating the bus,
just as cyclists have the same obligation; so if the driver of the bus had seen
the bicycle and sped up to show him whos boss then there
might be a culpable mental state of the part of the driver. Having
said all that, Ive been known to take the road vs. the bike lane or path
just because I want to, but that doesnt mean that I can cry foul if I
get injured or squashed.
Doug Hormann
From:
obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On Behalf Of Catlin,
Wil
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2009 12:31 PM
To: Justin Serna; Chris Alling; Obra
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] What was he thinking.
Yup, its hard enough for folks to follow the details of even
this one specific situation.
There was no lane holding by the cyclist: thats the problem.
The on ramp there is its own lane in parallel with the two on
Barbur that it joins. Form that point down to the Front St. pullout (or so)
there are three lanes on Barbur.
So, the cyclist legally elected not to follow the bike lane and
remained in the right lane. Fine. BUT, once he passed Capitol HWY he found
himself no longer in the right lane but in the center lane. Bus is in
the right lane, heading on down the road toward its next stop like all buses do
when they arent out hunting for cyclists. Fine again, in that at least
the bus is not demonstrably hunting. However, the cyclist then decides he just
cant wait for the bus to pass, in fact wants to beat that damn bus,
demoralize the indifferent, godless thing, and forthwith treats all and sundry
to a mortality-flaunting display of horsepower and senseless verve by outpacing
and then Oh! cutting past the beast, through the lane, a hairs breadth
from harm, safely into the
bike lane. Surely the stuff of demi-gods on
earth, yes? Cripes.
At least, at the very, very least, if cornered and stopped, if
pressed by cops or irate drivers, the cyclist wouldnt have gazed
bewildered at the gathered crowd and said
Bus? I never saw
it.
From:
obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On Behalf Of Justin
Serna
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2009 12:03 PM
To: Chris Alling; Obra
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] What was he thinking.
I
would have to agree with Chris in this situation if the cyclist was in fact
traveling at the speeds you described he had every right to hold the lane he
was in and the bus should have given him the right of way. However I
will agree with you that merging in front of a bus at that speed and proximity
is very dangerous. I have found that quite often bus drivers can be the
worst offenders when it comes to giving way to cyclist. Unfortunately
with the increased popularity of cycling we will see many different types of riders
just as we see in those who drive automobiles. I think the key is to
judge each situation as an individual case and then remember that everyone
has a point of view, but I guess that would be a bit idealistic.
Cheers
and safe training and riding..........
J. Serna
#1250
From: Chris Alling
To: Obra
Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2009 10:54:05 AM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] What was he thinking.
>From your description it sounds as if the bus should have yielded the right
of way to the cyclist and he should be lambasted for not applying the
brakes and yielding. It sounds like the bike was traveling legally
with the flow af traffic.
From: JRaedeke@roguecc.edu
To: obra@list.obra.org
Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 10:07:49 -0700
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] What was he thinking.
Amen !!! Lets all try to not give motorists
any reasons to dislike cyclist on the roadways. Lets make positive
progress.
john
From:
obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On Behalf Of Mike
Rosenfeld
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2009 9:38 AM
To: OBRA
Subject: [OBRA Chat] What was he thinking.
I am not one to publicly
lambaste another cyclist but I witnessed such a huge display stupidity this
morning I have to take the time to vent.
The incident took place where Capitol Highway merges onto Barbur Blvd. I
have attached a picture of the area to refresh memories.
There is a bike path for those heading towards downtown to go around the
overpass and then merge back onto Barbur Blvd safely.
It was about 7:45am, pouring down rain, and very low visibility.
I was driving (yes I know...you can pick on me for driving) towards downtown
and was passing under the overpass. I see a cyclist with minimal lighting
and dark cycling gear, The rain jacket was Red, bluish helmet. I would
have to gauge this cyclist as a racer due to the type of bike, smooth spin, and
speed at which he was traveling, also the gear was indicative of someone who
knows how to ride in the rain....speed would be maybe 25 to 30 mph. They
decide to bypass the bike path round-about and go under the over pass.
As I close the distance and pass under the overpass I see a Trimet bus coming
down the ramp getting ready to merge onto Barbur from Capitol.
The cyclist stands up and starts to sprint.
The Bus increases speed.
I slow down in case the cyclist needs to veer into my lane....Every muscle in
my body tenses and I mutter a curse under my breath through clenched jaws as
the cyclist cuts across in front of the bus. And this is no
joke.....there was only 5 feet of clearance between the rear wheel of the
cyclist and the bus...it was even less by the time the cyclist clears the
bumper of the bus and is safely across the lane.
The brake lights on the bus never even flickered.
I really thought I was going to watch this guy die....not just hurt but
actually dead. The bus was doing at least mid 30's and would have smeared
the cyclist for at least 100+ feet before stopping.
This is the sort of thing that gives people legitimate complaints against
cyclists.
I know the argument that some experienced cyclists have with regards to being
in control of their environment and know the limitations of their handling
skills and speeds....but for goodness sake this was just down right STUPID!!
I hope the cyclist is in fact a racer, a member of OBRA, and is reading this.
My message to you is this:
Your actions impact more than just you. If you had been wrong in your
abilities to clear the buses bumper, I and at least 30+ other people would have
watch you die. Horribly. Think of how the
driver of the bus would have felt knowing he or she had taken your life.
For what?? 30 extra seconds? Not wanting to deal a little bit of
gravel? Think about this before you do something like this again. Your
actions.....your decisions....have consequences to yourself and others.
I am a cyclist. I have been riding both competitively and for leisure on
and off for 25 years. I state this to lend credence to my assessment of
the situation.
Mike Rosenfeld
Rediscover Hotmail®: Get e-mail storage that grows with
you. Check it out.
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