Dear Action Line: While driving, I recently had a very close call with two e-bikers, and wondered who would be at fault if an accident had occurred. With e-bikes accessible to anyone who can ride a bike, regardless of age or licenses, I’m wondering if more emphasis should be put on following rules of the road.
The scenario: I was traveling north on the east Frontage Road in Bodo, just past Nature’s Oasis, and headed to merge onto Camino del Rio northbound. Traffic from the west Frontage Road on the other side of Camino had the green. Two e-bikers, following the traffic pattern, crossed Camino in the traffic lane, then made an abrupt turn into the crosswalk and across my merge lane right in front of me. I nearly hit them. Their goal was to connect with the spur trail that leads to the river trail. Pedestrians have the right-of-way there, but how am I to anticipate someone, who was acting as a motorist, suddenly becoming a pedestrian like that? I’ll mention that I enjoy cycling of all types and love the commitment Durango has made to making a bike-friendly community. – Look Twice
Dear Twice: It’s been too long since we’ve had a question about vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians. If you’re a regular reader, you are aware that Action Line is being facetious. But since these issues are potentially matters of life and death, and since that’s what readers seem to be focused on, let’s bang away at the typewriter on this one.
When is a bicycle a vehicle, and when is a bicycle a pedestrian? For bicyclists, it’s a confusing, sometimes dangerous world out there, and a few compound the problem by being erratic and unpredictable, as was the case here.
The answer seems to be that the cyclists would be at fault, but often these cases end up with lawyers and with outcomes just as erratic and unpredictable as the bicyclists’ behavior.
Action Line scanned the Colorado Revised Statutes for help, and homed in on the same section that a city source ultimately quoted from. It’s the best fit for this particular situation.
Section 42-4-802 covers “Pedestrians’ right-of-way in crosswalks.” Subsection 1, item 3 states: “A pedestrian shall not suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and ride a bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter, or walk or run into the path of a moving vehicle that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.”
Our city source was Devin King, Durango’s multimodal manager.
“This is a complicated scenario, so I’ll leave it to the law,” King said. “A cyclist is treated as a vehicle and subject to the same laws when in the street, with many exceptions. For example, a bicycle is allowed to use a bike lane and treat a stop sign as a yield sign; a vehicle is not.”
King said that in the instances of crosswalks, “a cyclist is allowed to ride through the crosswalk and vehicles shall yield the right-of-way per C.R.S. 42-4-802.” However, he added, not when (as Action Line quoted above) “ … a moving vehicle that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.”
King also pointed out that City of Durango Code of Ordinances Section 17-62 does not allow bicyclists on sidewalks in the central business district.
Mrs. Action Line, bicyclist and column editor, proffered the opinion that this entire intersection doesn’t work well for cyclists and needs to be made safer. Action Line must agree, and not just because Mrs. Action Line said so. Particularly coming from the west, as many cyclists do from the reservoir road, it’s an impossible quagmire of lanes and a curve and competing vehicles. To summarize: Yikes.
On the subject of bicycle education, the city’s Multimodal Division has a multipronged effort. It has held classes in the past and is currently coordinating a campaign regarding e-bike use and safety, King said. “One main safety message for cyclists is to be predictable and visible; however, responsibility is also on drivers to be aware of cyclists. It’s a two-way street.”
The city is in the process of creating video content to be posted soon on social media.
More safety information – sharing the road, using bike lanes and bike boxes, and more – is available on a webpage, www.durangoco.gov/356/Bike. The page will be expanded in the near future.
Also, King said, “we’ve been handing out simple bookmarks to local bike and rental shops about e-bike laws and safety.”
As described in the question, what the e-bikers did was extremely reckless. All Action Line can do is emphasize that riders should be aware of their surroundings, and wear helmets.
There. Problem solved?
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. A “bike box” is that rectangular area painted green at the head of a traffic lane at an intersection with a signal. It helps cyclists make left turns.
