Wheres the right place to be in a cycle lane?

[Armegatron]

If its of decent width, on or just to the left of the white line. Touch wood haven't had a close pass yet whilst in one, but then again there aren't many cycle lanes on my typical commute.

 

[SavageHoutkop]

I ride quite far to the right, as potholes and sunken drains tend to be further over. Also gives more of an escape route option. It probably does encourage closer passes though.

 

[HLaB]

Its depends upon the situation but if I'm in one I'll be towards the white line.

 

[skudupnorth]

Near the line if it has not been rubbed away by motorists using it as another lane or on the right hand side of the gridlocked motorist who is using said "cycle" lane !

 

[HJ]

This stems from a couple of the comments on Mags recent video.

If you choose to use a cycle lane on a road, where in the lane is the 'right' place to be?

Is it to the outside of the lane, near the magical white line of car protection? This gives you good clearance from the kerb, it gives you an escape route, but it does mean that the motorists who treat the white line as if its a force field will be passing you closely.

Or is it closer to the kerb, where you're further from the traffic and the aforementioned motorists will be passing you further away, but in which position you'll encounter a lot of crap on the surface, more road damage and you have less escape space?

Obviously in a good, wide cycle lane this isn't a problem, because there is an identifiable middle ground. But I don't see many lanes like that!

So, in a typical cycle lane, where should you ride?

Ignore the cycle lane and ride in the correct safe position on the road, take the road edge as your reference point and ride about 1 m out from it. Simple really, sadly most cycle lanes are only there for shown and have no relevance to road safety, hence they are best ignored.

 

[Archie]

I ride exactly as far out as I would if the lane wasn't there. If that's in the road then so be it. If the white line is in that spot or near I move out onto the road.

More often than not the white line is there for the convenience of motorists. There's a classic nearby where the road pinches due to an island, so the cycle lane narrows to - I suppose - let the motor traffic through unimpeded. In this case the correct spot is out the lane and onto the road, after checking for an appropriate gap. Sadly, shrinking widthways isn't an option.