Bob Shanteau's "Bicyclists and the basic speed law"
Restoring Sensible Cycling Series XI of ?
Note on the Restoring Sensible Cycling Advocacy Series:
Platitude-driven and Cluster B(ike) activists have largely taken over sensible, principled cycling advocacy. Non-bicyclists tend to only see these individuals or their work and react swiftly to dislike many, if not most anything to do with cycling right off the bat. Actual cyclists, especially younger ones have been groomed by the propaganda and misinformation of platitude-driven dogma which is now supported by the parasitic Bicycle Infrastructure Industrial Complex. History is even easier to forget when it’s obstructed or revised to fit a new narrative. This series seeks to repost and revisit some of the long lost or difficult to find writings made before the current activists parasitized the movement.
Bob Shanteau’s writing is no stranger to this blog.
His long form article “The Marginalization of Bicyclists” was one of the first in this series. In that article, Shanteau examines how the advent of motor vehicles and the establishment of lane markings have led to the systemic exclusion of bicyclists from roadways. Initially as he points out with copious references to historical documents, bicycles were recognized as vehicles with and their users with equal rights to the road. However, as automobiles became dominant in the early to mid 20th century, traffic laws and infrastructure increasingly prioritized motor vehicles, relegating cyclists to the periphery - often onto unsafe “cycling infrastructure” or gutters. This shift brought the “car lane paradigm,” where roads are perceived primarily as spaces for cars, marginalizing bicyclists and compromising their safety. The article advocated for reclaiming cyclists’ rights through education and equitable traffic laws that acknowledges bicycles as legitimate vehicles and their operators as full drivers.
Below is a much shorter piece Shanteau wrote to a local newspaper addressing the misconceptions previous letter writers had about bicyclists and the basic speed law, a topic mentioned partway down Insane Traffic Ignorant People Online. Shanteau writes from California but there is some form of this law in most, if not all other states’ traffic statutes.
Editor:
Too often we hear about crashes between motorists and bicyclists in which the cyclist is severely injured or killed. And when that happens, we also hear about residents of Woodside and Portola Valley complain about how bicyclists on narrow roads with blind corners represent a hazard to motorists.
I am a traffic engineer and a traffic safety expert. I have testified in many traffic accident cases in which motorists have unknowingly violated what is called the basic speed law. The California Drivers Manual says the basic speed law "means you may never drive faster than is safe for current conditions." The way this law applies to narrow, winding roads is motorists must not drive so fast that they cannot stop in the distance
that they can see ahead.
As you drive, imagine that just beyond the point that you can see there is a stationary obstruction in the road (perhaps a log or worse, an injured child). You must not drive so fast that you cannot stop before reaching the obstruction. It does not matter whether the obstruction is hidden due to a curve in the road or the crest of a hill, you must be able to stop. It also does not matter if the posted speed limit is higher or if your car can handle the road at a higher speed. You simply should not drive faster than is safe considering the distance you can see.
Those drivers who say that bicyclists in the road are a hazard because they are surprised by the cyclist and forced to take evasive action are violating the basic speed law. After all, the cyclist is legally allowed to take the lane when the lane is too narrow to share side by side with a motor vehicle. In fact, the legally riding cyclist is traveling in the same direction as the motorist, which provides even more time and distance than would a stationary obstruction in the road.
Bicyclists depend on the good judgment of motorists for their very survival. Cyclists are not interested in assigning blame in the case of an accident. They want the accident not to happen in the first place.
Bicyclists need for motorists to respect their right to use the road and for motorists to share the road in a safe manner. And that includes limiting their speeds in corners and over hills so they can stop if need be, according to the basic speed law.