Bike Riding Direction

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Real_Pumpkin_Jay@reddit

I grew up in Germany. To be allowed to take my bike to elementary school in 4th grade (school year of 1993/1994) I had to pass traffic school and it was rigid. We were taught to ride our bikes in the same direction as traffic either on the street or on the bike path. If the bike path was one with two directions on it, you also picked the right side.

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arcxjo@reddit

That's the most German thing I've ever read.

The only thing more German to the discussion would be regimenting when I may read it.

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arcxjo@reddit

Yes but that's when bikes were rightly seen as a toy for children, not as a legitimate means of adult transportation.

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59apache01@reddit

I was always taught to face traffic. That way you have a split second to get out of some dumbass's way. If they come up behind you, you never see them coming.

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FiveCrappedPee@reddit

I just bike straight up in the middle of the road with my dick out, fuck it.

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electron-envy@reddit (OP)

As god intended 😂

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rjcpl@reddit

The inconsistency for me was being taught to ride on the sidewalks. Apparently here anyway that’s illegal for an adult but allowed for minors under 15.

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MotherofaPickle@reddit

IME, if you can get a DWI on it, you go with traffic.

I learned this in IL, though, and I’m not sure about analog scooters and skateboards, though.

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Any-Baseball-6766@reddit

Ride with traffic, walk against traffic was what we were taught

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Willing_Actuary_4198@reddit

Walk against ride with

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pi_guy@reddit

I remember it the rule that Bikes are supposed to follow the same laws as cars and drive with traffic. I remember being taught the hand signals for turn left / right / stopping from either boy scouts or a bike safety course in grade school.

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edwardturnerlives@reddit

No, walk facing traffic, ride with traffic.

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AshDogBucket@reddit

Might be just you.

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PeterGibbons316@reddit

You walk/run facing traffic. But on a bike you are a vehicle and should be moving with traffic.

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Dancinfool830@reddit

This is the way. Bikes are supposed to follow the same laws as cars and drive with traffic. Pedestrians are supposed to walk against traffic wherever there is not a sidewalk and it is legal to walk(like, you can't walk on the highway)

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mlee12382@reddit

Freeway, there are many highways you can walk on, it's the segregated and divided freeways that have restrictions on pedestrians and bicycles. A highway can also be a freeway though :)

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Dancinfool830@reddit

I stand corrected.

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lsp2005@reddit

This is how I was taught too. All vehicles ride in the same direction. In NJ electronic assist bikes now need to be registered and licensed drivers. So it may make it easier for the OP to think about it in terms of going the same direction as the flow of traffic.

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BrontosaurusB@reddit

I’m with you on the unsettling part. And it also seems like they don’t want you on the sidewalk either.

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FoppyRETURNS@reddit

Bike with traffic, walk against. Or these days e-bike into traffic

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TiEmEnTi@reddit

Teaching my little kids where there's no sidewalk. We ride into traffic so my kids aren't freaked out by cars coming behind them/drivers can see in advance if they do something stupid. Where there's sidewalk they go on the sidewalk. For all cyclists of age you should be on the road going with traffic. As far as I know that hasn't changed since the cops came to my school in 1989 to teach us about road safety rules and this newfangled thing called a "bike helmet".

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worksnake@reddit

It is a bad idea to ride into traffic, always. If you're teaching kids and aren't able to ride on a sidewalk, then just don't ride bikes. Acting contrary to traffic rules because you think you have a good reason to do so is dangerous for you and those around you.

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SourcePrevious3095@reddit

It depends. If there is a bike path or shoulder wide enough for a bike, you ride with traffic. If there is neither, you ride against traffic.

In a city, it is slightly different as there are typically multiple lanes for traffic, making it easier for drivers to pass bikes.

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Rahawk02@reddit

I was taught not to play in traffic at all and walk my bicycle to the playground to ride.

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pick_up_a_brick@reddit

That’s how I was taught growing up as well. That was in the Midwest. But that’s not what happens now. Not sure when that change occurred, but it was more than 20 years ago.

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3OsInGooose@reddit

Gaslit. You walk against traffic, but ride with it

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Logical-Cherry9395@reddit

Bikes are required to follow traffic laws and as far as I can remember, always have been.

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eyecandynsx@reddit

Riding a bike you go with traffic. Walking, jogging, running you go against traffic.

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nwbrown@reddit

There are advantages to both. If you are facing traffic you can see oncoming cars and get out of the way. That's advantageous when you are walking or riding on the side of the road.

But if you are riding on the road, you definitely have to ride in the direction of traffic.

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DeadheadCaniac@reddit

Generally it's walk on the left, bike on the right (US). There are exceptions of course. I know it's a little unnerving to not see cars behind you. Try to pick roads that have good-sized shoulders if you can (not always possible where I live but that's another story).

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Imaginary_Scene2493@reddit

Might depend on where you are. Here in SC, we changed our laws around 2010 from treating bikers as pedestrians to treating them as vehicles.

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Annhl8rX@reddit

Not me. I was taught to walk on the side facing traffic (so, in the U.S., the left side of the street) and to ride a bike with traffic (on the right side). That makes sense, since traffic laws generally require bicycles to follow the same rules as cars.

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