How to Turn Right Across a Bicycle Lane in BC

My opinion, being a moderate cyclist and a constant driver, is that bikes and cars do not mix.  On my bike, I do not feel safe in heavy traffic.  I'm not always sure of what the rule is and loads of drivers around me clearly don't watch for bikes.

roads are for vehicles.  Not long boarders, bikes, scooters etc.  There's far too much to navigate around without bikes coming up on your side.  If bikes are on the roads, they need to stay behind the vehicle always.

That poor, unfortunate woman who lost her life on Lions Gate Bridge is a good example.  So sad.  Separate bike lanes, with proper barriers with NO pedestrians allowed are the only way to go.

My experience, with this right turning over a bike lane is that both cyclists and drivers are not aware of the rules.  We've put the bike lanes in without any real education to the public prior. 

As a cyclist and due to a previous encounter with a vehicle, I am painfully aware of the shortcomings of mixing bicycles and cars.

May I add the following for vehicles and cyclists:

• Do not pass a bike and then turn right directly in front of them. The bicycle doesn’t have the stopping power of a car and this dangerous manoeuver can lead to a collision.
• Cyclists, when approaching an intersection slow down and assume that there will be a driver of a vehicle that either cannot see you or will not know the traffic regulations well enough to yield to a bicycle.
• Even if the cyclist is in the wrong (real or perceived), please be courteous and yield as enforcing your perceived right of way can be fatal for the cyclist.
• Cyclists, use your signals for making a turn. Don’t frustrate other traffic.

Whether we like it or not, user's of BC's roadways are forced to share the roads with cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and sometimes pedestrians and wildlife. No matter what kind of user you are, perhaps many, it is key critical for your safety and sanity to understand all of the rules and how they apply to all types of users. We all have places to go, things to do, and time frames that we are trying to meet, but (to be trite), safety first. No one wants to be killed and no one needs to live with having killed someone. To that end, the better you can educate yourself on the rules and the better you can leave a margin for erros, the better off you will be.

Educating yourself is not as simple as it sounds. Too often the tools are difficult to locate (ie: Bike Sense or municipal bylaws), vague (ie: Learn To Drive Smart), or conflicting opinions that are not clear in law (many publications and websites). Municipalities with specific bylaws do not put up signs for people to see and learn. In example, Maple Ridge and New Westminster both have bylaws allowing cyclists to use the sidewalks. Elsewhere this is illegal. I have lived in Maple Ridge for 12 years and only found out about this 2009 bylaw by accident, a few weeks ago. Evertime I leave town and return, I pass the sign that isn't there, not learning this and other key facts at the same time (sarcasm).

The truth of the matter is that without ongoing education and testing, we do not know what we don't know, except when we see what is obviously wrong, out on the road, and potentially that is too late. Governments, municipal and provincial, do not do enough to educate (including making tools clearer and more readily available). Police do not do enough to prosecute (expensive is the best way to learn). If a ticket was given for every tenth occurence of drivers (cyclists included) failing to signal, failure to stop (not the 17 kph stop), speeding (not leading the flow of traffic), etc., the municipal coffers would fill to overflowing, but not for long. The media love to talk about tragedy and the sad human tales of death and destruction, but, fail in their ability and obligation to identify unsafe behaviours and educate oblivious drivers. Roadway users fail to educate themselves on the rights and the obligations they have on the roads, and fail to act in a safe and responsible manner, much of the time. Whenever that happens, someone is at risk, and we are all responsible. However, when you see two cars streaking down the highway with a car of a half distance between them, or the cyclist who is sneaking up past cars, on their right, up against the curb, or the driver who slams on the brakes for the pedestrian, in the crosswalk, with the walk light, as though he had the right of way (cyclists don't like to stop for stop signs or red lights either), or the cyclist drifting across the crosswalk, etc., it is easy to see what allowed (and encouraged?) apathy breeds.

Yes it is dangerous out there, and at the rate we are going it will continue to be, but, until everyone starts to be accountable for their own actions, voluntarily or force fed, the situation will not change. The answer is not to create expensive infrastructures to separate all the children, but, to teach the children and give them a good skite on the behind when they do not behave.