Here’s my column from the Sunday paper. If you’ve already read it elsewhere, please skip on down to the comments below. Thanks.

WHEN IS A BIKE A PEDESTRIAN? WHEN IS A CROSSING NOT A CROSSWALK?

A few weeks ago, when Roadguy published several myths about car-bike relations, he was quickly reminded of the perils of mythology.

Myth No. 3 on the list, provided by the city of Minneapolis, was “cars have the right of way at crossings.” In an attempt to bust this myth, the news release instructed drivers and cyclists to follow signs and pavement markings at crossings, and it declared “cars have to stop for a bicyclist or pedestrian in a trail crossing.”

Oh, the phone calls and e-mails Roadguy received.

“Bicyclists do NOT have the right of way at trail crossings,” said alert reader Ken of St. Louis Park, where at least one serious bike-car collision took place at a crossing on Beltline Boulevard.

Signs along that trail (and on others in the western suburbs) agree with Ken. “This crossing is not a crosswalk,” reads one. “State law requires all trail users to stop and yield to vehicles.”

Separate signs warn bikers “cross traffic does not stop.” But some drivers — perhaps accustomed to seeing “state law, yield to pedestrian in crosswalk” signs at other locations — do in fact stop, creating a behavioral mishmash that endangers motorists and cyclists alike.

In Minneapolis, meanwhile, some trail crossings offer a curious pairing of signs for drivers to contemplate: one sign simply depicts a bicycle, while the other says, “yield to stop for pedestrian in crosswalk.” There’s no mention of whether drivers should yield to bicyclists.

Shaun Murphy, who works on bike and pedestrian programs for the city, acknowledged the signs might not leave motorists with the clearest picture of what’s expected of them, but “in Minneapolis, we are definitely asking that motor vehicles do stop. We want them to stop for bicyclists and pedestrians in a trail crossing.”

The city’s reasoning lies in state law, which says that when bikes are on a road, they more or less function as vehicles. However, when they’re legally using sidewalks or crosswalks, they have “all the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances.”

But as the St. Louis Park signs indicated, not all trail crossings are considered crosswalks. How is a law-abiding member of the traveling public supposed to keep things straight? Roadguy is still trying to nail it all down. Stay tuned.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 6:05 am and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.