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The HTA Bicycle Experiment

confusion

confusion

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For the entire month of August I have been conducting a personal biking experiment where I follow the rules of the road according the HTA (Ontario Highway Traffic Act) as it pertains to cyclists.

Primarily my change in riding habits has been to take my legally allowed 1 meter from the curb/parking edge and to legally (and safely) "take" the lane when I feel my safety could be compromised by passing vehicles (Primarily I do this when a vehicle is turning left and I am in the right-hand lane and I do not feel there is enough space for a car to safely pass me in my lane).

However, by being a passive cyclist this month and patiently waiting in traffic (not overtaking vehicles on the right), I have found more vehicles acting agressively towards me. It is almost a given I will be honked at by someone. I have even had a taxi bump into my back tire while stopped telling me to move over.

After my month of "trying" to obey the HTA in the fullest, I'm starting to understand how much of an overhaul on the system is needed. In total, following the law I have been honked at 2-3 times daily (20 minute commute up Yonge St), I have had my front handlebars clipped once (by some asshole whose two seconds are more important than my life), and almost daily I am agressively cut off, and finally twice in the past month, I have had the vehicle pass me and then slam on their brakes.

Has anyone else had similar experiences attempting to excercise their legal right on the road?
 
Brilliant post. Truly wonderful. Although most cyclists do break rules, it is important to note that they often break rules in order to coexist with car drivers as peacefully as possible. (Most) cyclists are not crazy... they don't want to put themselves in danger and they don't want to put anyone else in danger, either.

I can't say that I've had the same experience because I haven't tried to do these things.

One question:
(Primarily I do this when a vehicle is turning left and I am in the right-hand lane and I do not feel there is enough space for a car to safely pass me in my lane)
Click to expand...

I can't picture this in my mind. Do you mean when a vehicle is turning right and you're in the right-hand lane?
 
CDL.TO said:
One question:
I can't picture this in my mind. Do you mean when a vehicle is turning right and you're in the right-hand lane?
Click to expand...

I can picture exactly what he means, and I do the same thing.

When a motorist is waiting to turn left, thereby blocking the left lane, I always take the entire right lane for myself. This keeps motorists from trying to squeeze between me and the left-turning motorist.

Usually a passing motorist can at least move a bit into the left lane when passing a cyclist (ideally a complete lane change), but not when the left lane is blocked with a left turning motorist.

I hope that makes sense....you don't want to see my bad drawing skills.
 
CDL.TO said:
I can't picture this in my mind. Do you mean when a vehicle is turning right and you're in the right-hand lane?
Click to expand...

No, that isn't what I had in mind. The situation I am describing is when a cyclist is occupying a skinny right-hand lane (like many locations on Yonge near/south of St. Clair) and the cyclist notices a car in the left-hand lane turning left. Naturally due to the size of the lane, and the knowledge that a vehicle is going to do it's best to squeeze past at a high speed, since I am legally already occupying that lane, I am talking about moving (safely) into the center to restrict vehicles from attempting to pass me due to unsafe conditions which I am legally entitled to do as described in the HTA.

Another thing I failed to mention in my post that many car drivers need to be aware of is that in the HTA is specifies that a full 1 metre of space is to be given on the left of the cyclist when passing. This is the law as outlined in the HTA, yet 99% of vehicles decide that buffer is too large for them.
 
I routinely take the lane, and get honked at often and this is usually followed by an obscenity yelled at me when the car is squeezing by me.

I figure, if every road had properly placed sharrows, this wouldn't be a problem. Paint is cheap, let's get on with it.
 
confusion said:
Another thing I failed to mention in my post that many car drivers need to be aware of is that in the HTA is specifies that a full 1 metre of space is to be given on the left of the cyclist when passing. This is the law as outlined in the HTA, yet 99% of vehicles decide that buffer is too large for them.
Click to expand...

There's no such specification in the HTA.

It's just a recommendation in the Driver's Handbook.

Various other places outside of Ontario have minimum passing distance laws, and there have been many ongoing attempts to get the same thing passed in Ontario.
 
Good catch Vic and thanks for the clarification (Section 148-4; Vehicles meeting bicycles; shall allow the cyclist sufficient room on the roadway to pass). Scanning through the 316 pages of the HTA posted, sometimes you can lose context of what you may have read on the MTO website.

One thing I did notice while going through the document again was a section that I was previously unaware of:
Section 140-3; Passing moving vehicles within 30 metres of pedestrian crossover
When a vehicle or street car is approaching a pedestrian crossover and is within 30 metres thereof, the driver of any other vehicle or street car approaching from the rear shall not allow the front extremity of his or her vehicle or streetcar to pass beyond the front extremity of the other vehicle or street car. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 140 (3).
I would assume this section would categorize a bicycle as a vehicle on the road? Could anyone clarify this?
 
confusion said:
No, that isn't what I had in mind. The situation I am describing is when a cyclist is occupying a skinny right-hand lane (like many locations on Yonge near/south of St. Clair) and the cyclist notices a car in the left-hand lane turning left. Naturally due to the size of the lane, and the knowledge that a vehicle is going to do it's best to squeeze past at a high speed, since I am legally already occupying that lane, I am talking about moving (safely) into the center to restrict vehicles from attempting to pass me due to unsafe conditions which I am legally entitled to do as described in the HTA.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. Yes, that makes sense and I can see how that is a safety issue for cyclists. Thanks for clarifying. Thankfully, I don't have to deal with this issue on my usual routes.
 
confusion said:
Good catch Vic and thanks for the clarification (Section 148-4; Vehicles meeting bicycles; shall allow the cyclist sufficient room on the roadway to pass). Scanning through the 316 pages of the HTA posted, sometimes you can lose context of what you may have read on the MTO website.

One thing I did notice while going through the document again was a section that I was previously unaware of:
Section 140-3; Passing moving vehicles within 30 metres of pedestrian crossover
When a vehicle or street car is approaching a pedestrian crossover and is within 30 metres thereof, the driver of any other vehicle or street car approaching from the rear shall not allow the front extremity of his or her vehicle or streetcar to pass beyond the front extremity of the other vehicle or street car. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 140 (3).
I would assume this section would categorize a bicycle as a vehicle on the road? Could anyone clarify this?
Click to expand...

I just noticed that one today as well when scanning through the HTA. Certainly an interesting one. I bet this law gets broken thousands of times per day in Toronto.

It's probably one of those laws that's never enforced, unless something bad happens and they're looking for a list of laws that were broken.
 
No overtaking at cross-walks. That's hardly a new one. Though I confess I'm not sure if it applies when the cross-walk hasn't been activated.
 
Confusion, you must write an article on this experiment. It would be a great piece to see in the star or sun, who seem to be obsessed this year with bike laws.
 
Confusion, sure it's harder to obey the laws. If it weren't, more cyclists (and motorists) would be doing it.

Seemingly a paradox, the more cyclists (and motorists) who do obey the laws, the easier it becomes for everyone else to do so.

Don't give in to the urge to act like the losers we all see out there.
 
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