Good grief! What are the rules for bicyclists at 3-way intersections?

Driving home from the supermarket in my car, making a left-turn at a green-light at a 3-way intersection, I came unbelievably close to taking out some utterly moranic bicyclist, who was towing his child from behind.

This is what happened:

I'm approaching a traffic light, which is still green. The road I'm on concludes at the light (i.e., becomes a dead-end). Up-ahead, there's a left-right intersection, and straight ahead from my road, parallel to that intersection, just a sidewalk (since "straight-ahead" is just a dead-end). As I'm approaching the green light, with my left-blinker on, I notice a bicyclist riding along the sidewalk at the dead end, pedaling in the direction I'm going to make my turn. There's a pretend-car/wagon that he's towing, with a child in that wagon.

As I make my left-turn, the bicyclist, without transition from riding on the sidewalk, decides he's going to turn left from his sidewalk and ride across the pedestrian crossing. I just barely stop in time at the crosswalk, right in front of him, to prevent a major catastrophe. As I'm saying, "What the heck are you doing???", the bicyclist apologizes.

In a situation like this, isn't it the bicyclist's responsibility to make absolutely certain that no cars coming from the opposite direction might turn into him?

:banghead:

but what do I know. I don't even have a driver's license. I ride a bike and my personal rule is cars are bigger, faster, and drivers aren't paying attention, so I always try to let the car make the first move.

a bicycle is a vehicle.

the rider must obey the same laws motor vehicles do.

foremost, bikes NEVER go on the sidewalk.

because that makes him a pedestrian rather than a MV. Riding it means he's breaking MV laws (not to mention in this case being irresponsible because he had a kid in tow.

Pedestrians are required to stop before stepping off the curb into a crosswalk, so he's wrong twice.

That's basically the law for adult bicyclists in every state, but I'm not a lawyer and don't play one on DU.

I knew something was wrong with what the bicyclist was doing, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was.

don't stop at stop signs and like to suddenly swerve out in traffic. :crazy:

:crazy:

but only when they ride em on big thoroughfares where people drive like maniacs.... :scared:

I'm glad everyone was safe. It would be so much better if there were more bike lanes, so that cars and bikes didn't have to be on the same roads. JMO.


What confuses me, though, is when bicyclists don't stop at lights or stop signs. I thought that was the law. Many do, but the few who don't usually get me ranting to myself in the car.

you are *so* SOL.

so, if you dent your car while running over one, you're unlikely to get compensation to pay for fixing the dented fender or cleaning the viscra off your car's chassis. It's best therefore to stop and search the corpse, in the hope it may have some money on it.

a pedestrian. They have to stop and walk the bike across a crosswalk. Your situation was iffy, though, in that they moved from the sidewalk to the road--if I understood you properly.

Also, they are not allowed to ride on a sidewalk within a certain distance from store fronts or public buildings, or when the sidewalk is too crowded to be safe--same as a car, the cyclist is responsible for controlling their vehicle.