Cyclists aren’t required to get off the road for faster traffic, Pa. Supreme Court rules

Cyclists riding on Pennsylvania highways have no obligation to pull off the road to get out of the way of faster traffic, the state Supreme Court ruled this week. The decision reinforces the right of bikers to use the road just like other vehicles. 

Instead, cyclists must make “reasonable efforts” to avoid impeding the flow of traffic. How they do that, Justice Kevin Dougherty wrote, is up to the judgement of the rider, taking into account factors such as whether it is safer to remain in the lane or move to the shoulder.

Listen to the audio recap here: 

“In some cases, the circumstances might require a pedalcyclist to temporarily but completely exit the roadway to allow traffic to pass. In others, it may not be safe or reasonable to expect a pedalcyclist to do so, or at least not right away. And in others still, a pedalcyclist may only need to move to the right side of the lane to comply with [the traffic code],” Dougherty wrote for the majority in the 5-2 decision.

The case centered on cyclist Brendan Linton of Butler County, who fought a $25 ticket he received in July 2021, after a state trooper was unable to pass him and pulled him over as a result.

Bicycling advocates said the decision is an important victory, because it clarifies the right of cyclists to “take the lane” when they’re riding amongst motor vehicles. 

The Supreme Court reversed a ruling by a Butler County judge that a lower appeals court had upheld.

“I’m sure it would have made it that much harder to use the road,” Chris Gale, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, told the Capital-Star. 

“I hear from cyclists that they just don’t feel safe on the road. I think what makes it scary is that people who are driving don’t always understand they have to share the road,” Gale said, adding that the right to choose how to travel is an important personal freedom.

But Ken McLeod, policy director of the League of American Cyclists, said the court could have gone further in giving cyclists the benefit of the doubt. The majority found the question of whether a cyclist’s efforts to avoid slowing traffic are sufficient depends on the circumstances and is “best entrusted to trial courts and juries.”

Justices Daniel McCaffery and David Wecht signed a dissenting opinion, arguing that it should be up to police to prove that a cyclist’s actions are unreasonable, rather than the cyclist’s burden to show they acted reasonably.

The dissenting opinion outlines a stronger standard for cyclists, McLeod said.

Most states have a version of a law that simply requires cyclists to remain as far to the right as practicable, McLeod said. He added that like the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Pennsylvania law, other states judge the reasonableness of cyclists’ actions by looking at the totality of circumstances. 

When cyclists are ticketed for slowing motor vehicle traffic, it’s usually because motorists or law enforcement take issue with cyclists choosing to use the roadway, McLeod said.

“I do see these contests from time to time and it’s often because bicyclists have these interactions with law enforcement over time and they want to contest the ticket and prove they’re doing nothing wrong,” he said.

According to the Supreme Court majority opinion, Pennsylvania State Trooper Joshua Osche saw Linton riding his bicycle on Evans City Road, also known as Route 68, in Butler Township. Osche was aware of complaints about bicyclists slowing traffic on the two-lane road and pulled out behind Linton with his dashcam recording.

The video showed the trooper was at the back of a queue of about ten motor vehicles behind Linton, each of which was able to pass within two minutes. Osche twice tried to pass Linton as he rode 19 mph in a 55 mph zone but was unsuccessful, according to the video. It  also showed the shoulder of the highway was obstructed with gravel, potholes, storm drain grates and a construction vehicle and worker.

The trooper stopped Linton and charged him with disorderly conduct, violating the duties of a vehicle operator and failing to use reasonable effort to avoid slowing traffic.

In a bench trial, the Butler County judge found Linton guilty of failing to take reasonable efforts to avoid slowing traffic and not guilty of the other offenses. The Superior Court upheld his conviction on appeal.

The section of the traffic code at issue requires vehicles traveling less than the speed limit on a two lane road to “drive completely off the roadway and onto the berm or shoulder” at the first opportunity to avoid impeding traffic. 

It also states in a separate paragraph that a pedalcycle “may be operated at a safe and reasonable speed appropriate for the pedalcycle” and that a cyclist “shall use reasonable efforts so as not to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.”

By reading the paragraphs together, it is clear, Dougherty wrote, the law’s authors didn’t intend to expressly require cyclists to leave the road.

“This makes perfect sense: Given the typically smaller size of pedalcycles relative to other vehicles, it may be possible to safely pass a pedalcyclist that remains on the highway but simply moves to the far-right side of the lane,” Dougherty wrote. “The same is not typically true of other vehicles that merely move to the side.”