“Passing On The Shoulder”

is it ok for bicycles to pass cars on the right shoulder of the road on a one lane road? and if not am i in the wrong if i did it on a motorized bicycle?

more importantly, is it legal for a vehicle to move to the right shoulder before making a left turn?, thereby preventing the cyclist to pass him upon the shoulder, and forcing him to move into the center of the lane, not knowing he is about to turn left!

this just happened to me today and i collided with an Audi. is there anything i can do like plead my charges down or anything? ive been charged with careless driving and driving without insurance on a motorized vehicle. i guess thats what 66cc and 3 hp gets you

This is one of my pet peeves. Both cyclists and cars should share the road with each other. Where I live I see lots of cyclists passing between me and the curb. I once had a cyclist hit my car because he tried to squeese pass me at a high rate of speed as I was slowing down to turn right (YES I had my signal on). Now when I need to turn right I alway get close to the curb to make sure no cyclists will do this again.

However I have no Idea why a person would edge right to turn left like you discribe. You were wrong to go to his left though. IMO

Here's the legal jargon from the Highway Traffic Act, specifically section 150 (2) and (3):

Driving off roadway prohibited

(2) No driver of a motor vehicle shall overtake and pass another vehicle by driving off the roadway. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 150 (2).

Non-application of subs. (2)

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to the driver of,

a motor vehicle overtaking and passing to the right of another vehicle where the shoulder to the right of the roadway is paved and the vehicle overtaken is making or about to make a left turn or its driver has signalled his or her intention to make a left turn;

So the short answer is yes, under those circumstances, you may drive onto the shoulder to pass a vehicle that is turnng left. Granted, bicycles are not "motor vehicles" but since you were driving a motor vehicle (per the regulations) it applies in your case.

levi1670 wrote:more importantly, is it legal for a vehicle to move to the right shoulder before making a left turn?

No.

levi1670 wrote:is there anything i can do like plead my charges down or anything?

In this case, careless driving could probably be beaten in court or at least pled down to something lesser. Basically, if the driver was signalling left, you started to edge to the right shoulder to pass him and he swung right, there's a good reason for charging him with something. The "no insurance" charge is another situation entirely. I'd suggest that you get some sort of professional advice with these charges.

beleafer81 wrote:However I have no Idea why a person would edge right to turn left like you discribe.

It's one of those weird "swingout" turns that people do. I have no idea why they'd do it, either. I guess it comes from not being properly taught how to drive. It's the same sort of people who edge to the left when making a right turn, for reasons known only to them....

Your bicycle is considered a vehicle on the roadway and has to follow the same rules as a car does. So if your going to pass another vehicle you have to follow the rules of the Highway Traffic Act.

If you get a licensed paralegal to represent you in court you should be able to have this ticket dropped.

If you pay the ticket it will go on your drivers license if you have one and affect your car insurance for 3 years. The careless driving ticket will put the insurance into high risk rates of thousands of dollars per year.

Seek some proper legal advice,