How to safely pass a bicyclist

Like most states, Montana has what’s called a Safe Passing Law aimed at motorists who approach a bicyclist from behind and have to pass. Regrettably, the law is vague and not understood by many drivers.

MCA 61-8-320(b) states: “An operator of a motor vehicle may not overtake and pass a person riding a bicycle unless the operator of the motor vehicle can do so safely without endangering the person riding the bicycle.”

Reading this statute begs the question, “How to do it?” From the motorist’s standpoint, envision a situation where a motor vehicle is approaching a bicyclist from behind on a high-speed roadway. A motorist has a brief moment to decide what to do.

If the roadway has a wide shoulder without a rumble strip forcing a bicyclist into the traffic lane, the bicyclist will most likely be riding on that shoulder and make the motorist’s decision easy — simply slow slightly and carefully continue on in the traffic lane.

Unfortunately, many rural highways do not have wide shoulders or has a shoulder with a rumble strip, which forces the bicyclist into the traffic lane. In these cases, most bicyclists will be riding in the traffic lane.

Most traffic lanes aren’t wide enough for a motorist to make a high-speed pass without crossing the centerline or changing lanes. So the motorist should slow and watch for a safe passing opportunity with no oncoming traffic and briefly cross the centerline to safely pass the bicyclist, leaving a minimum of five feet clearance.

It is, incidentally, legal in Montana to briefly cross a solid yellow or double yellow line to safely pass a slow-moving vehicle such as a bicyclist or farm equipment, as long as there is no oncoming traffic and the motorist can make a safe pass.

By comparison, if a motorist comes up behind a farm tractor, he/she never considers of option of trying to pass without crossing the centerline. All drivers should do the same with all slow-moving vehicles including bicyclists.

This is why experienced bicyclists ride deep into the traffic lane instead of as far right as possible — to essentially eliminate the motorist’s option of thinking he/she might be able to squeeze through without crossing the centerline.

Research supports the practice of a bicyclist riding two feet or more into the traffic lane to force motorists to cross the centerline. The vast majority of bicycle/motor vehicle accidents are sideswipes; almost none are bicyclists being hit from behind by a motor vehicle.

Sideswipes happen when a motorist — especially those with large vehicles or pulling a trailer — tries to pass without crossing the centerline and giving the bicyclist enough clearance.

The above advice also applies to passing bicyclists on narrow city streets. The speed is less, but the danger is still close to the same for bicyclists. In short, share the road, not the lane.

From a bicyclist’s standpoint, the safest place to ride is about one-third of the way into the traffic lane and riding in a straight line that’s predictable to the motorist. It’s also the bicyclist’s responsibility to be as visible as possible by “being bright” and wearing highly visible clothing. In other words, to quote a good friend and expert in these matters, “It’s much better to be seen than viewed.”

The vagueness of the current safe passing law makes it difficult to enforce. In normal practice, the only time law enforcement has a decent chance of proving a motorist made an unsafe pass is if there is an accident — not a good situation for bicyclists.

That’s why Bike Walk Montana is going to the legislature again this year to try to get a better safe-passing law that requires motorists to give a bicyclist a minimum of five feet clearance when passing. We had such a bill in last session, but it failed by a close floor vote after clearing committee. Hopefully, we can, with your support, get the new law passed in the upcoming legislative session and make our roads safer for all users. For more information, please go to bikewalkmontana.org.

Bill Schneider is on the board of directors of Bike Walk Montana.