Rules of the Road: Davis

Davis prides itself for being the only city in the nation with a platinum rating (though that sentiment is actually a bit out of date) from the League of American Bicyclists. Among the qualifications for this distinction is the degree of lawfulness displayed by the city's bicyclists; obeying traffic signs, not riding on the sidewalk, etc.

However, the preponderance of bicycles has beaten automobiles and pedestrians into submission. There are so many bikes on the road that other forms of transit become habituated to deferring right of way to bikes. By nationwide standards Davis bicyclists get away with murder. Even normally uptight townies generally ignore many traffic laws that apply to bicyclists, like stop signs. I've compiled the de facto Rules of the Road for Davis bikers for your viewing pleasure.

There's a saying around here that according to bikers, traffic signals are stop signs, stop signs are yield signs and yield signs are decorative. That might not give the uninitiated an accurate picture of how things work here, though.

Bicycles have right of way over cars because cyclists are fragile and over pedestrians because getting hit by a bike hurts like a bitch. This is the crux of the double standard that produced Davis traffic rules. This first rule forms the logical basis for much of the following.

Bicyclists can at will change from using pedestrian priveledges (like riding on sidewalks) to vehicle ones (like riding in regular car lanes when the bike lane is inconvenient). As per the aforementioned right of way rule, this means that pedestrians will stop and make space for you to pass if you, technically illegally, ride on the sidewalk.

The second fundamental rule of Davis biking is that bicycles need only obey laws when enforcement is imminent, in contrast to cars. This includes Bicycling Under the Influence, as previously discussed. However, bikes, just like cars, assume all blame should their liberties with law cause a crash.

This comes up most frequently on the issue of riding the wrong direction in bike lanes. I performed this maneuver routinely when I lived at Kingston Apartments, because my formal path involved a left turn at an intersection followed by crossing left over the street and I figured that was bullshit and I'd just cross early to the left bike lane and turn left into the sidewalk. This worked out fine for me, but I almost got creamed by someone doing it recently. As my eyes began to cloud over with rage at the near miss, I heard the offending bicyclist yell, "Shit, sorry!". This I deemed to be adequate appeasement, but if we'd collided and the impact had bent my front rim I would have asked him to cough up the $60 replacement.

Back to intersections:
Traffic signs are treated as traffic signs when there's enough traffic to mandate adherence, but bikes are permitted whatever liberties they can safely get away with, which includes flexing their de facto right of way.

Four way stops, which are the bread and butter of the Davis downtown, again need only be paid attention to if there are physically cars in your way. During heavy traffic bicyclists slow down and stop to wait for their opening, but if a car is going your direction you are perfectly entitled to ride in its shadow without so much as a touch of your brakes. Because cars defer right of way to bikes to such an extreme, an aggressive bike can easily forgo waiting its rightful turn if it finds a small opening. Cars will stop in the middle of the intersection just to let that overeager cyclist through without harm.

That's the skinny on Davis bike traffic. Remember, with great power comes great responsibility, so don't forget to treat the little people in cars and on foot with their due respect. In our privileged position we should strive to make traffic flow as smoothly and efficiently as possible to the extent that it doesn't interfere with our own self-interest.