Passing

Dixon Ormiston fell from his bicycle and sustained serious injury after being forced against a concrete abutment by a vehicle that veered into his path while he was passing it on the right side. Of interest in deciding the liability in this case is the examination of passing on the right, both by a vehicle driver and a cyclist.

Would you write an article on bike lanes? Please explain whether a bike in a bike lane can pass on the right of a car and the proper way for cars to turn right through a bike lane.

I hope that an article about passing on the right might help at least some drivers understand the rules and help improve the driving community. I have made a point of keeping to the right side of the lane to try and prevent vehicles from passing. One day a driver fingered and yelled at me, yet the driver was attempting to do something illegal (even though many drivers perform this illegal act).

Your recent bicycle column stirred me to ask a question about cyclists passing on the right. I was in Kelowna, travelling north on Harvey Avenue and wanted to turn right into a strip mall. Harvey Avenue is three lanes wide here and the curb lane is an HOV lane.

Cyclists are entitled to their share of the highway, just as motor vehicle drivers are. When they are overtaken by a motor vehicle, it is the driver's responsibility to pass the cyclist safely. It is not the cyclists responsibility to get out of the way of the driver if the cyclist is legally occupying the lane.

This case decides the liability for a collision where a motorcycle overtaking two vehicles is struck when the second vehicle pulled out to pass the first. All three had been following together at a speed under the limit. At the first available opportunity the motorcycle passed, not seeing a signal from the vehicle in front.

I was returning to Calgary from Seattle through Trans Canada 1 west of Golden. The road conditions were poor, with a few inches of fresh snow, and visibility was poor due to blowing snow. Traffic had slowed to around 50 km/h. I watched other drivers pass semis behind me which were moving at around 30 km/hm due to the extremely poor visibility from driving behind them.

I have been ticketed for crossing a double yellow line just before the end of the right hand lane in a passing zone. The reason for this manoeuvre was I had been in the right lane and catching up to another vehicle, I switched to the left lane to overtake the slower moving vehicle, I estimate the speed variation to be around 30 KPH.

The video explains when not to pass, when it's okay to pass, and how to determine if you have time to pass safely. There is one fault with it as it shows passing on the right after crossing over a solid white line. This pass would be illegal in British Columbia. Otherwise, the advice is worthwhile.