There has been confusion in some circles about whether it is legal for a person riding a bicycle to pass another bicycle or vehicle on the right side. While Oregon law did not specifically authorize passing on the right before 2006, the law was clarified in 2006 to follow the great majority of other states and the Uniform Vehicle Code in specifically allowing bicycles to pass other vehicles on the right when it can be performed safely. This article discusses the law of passing on the right from a bicyclist’s perspective.
Bicyclists complained for many years about the pre-2006 Oregon law that appeared to prohibit passing on the right when motorists and bike riders were sharing the same lane. After all, bicycles and motor vehicles share the same traffic lane and a fluid flow of traffic is in everyone’s best interest when it can be performed in a safe manner. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance Legislative Committee and the 2005 Oregon Legislature changed the law so that passing on the right would be allowed “if the overtaking vehicle is a bicycle that may safely make the passage under the existing conditions” ORS 811.415(2)(c). The “new” law went into effect in January of 2006.
What Did not Change in the Law of Passing on the Right
The old law permitted passing on the right when a vehicle was in the same lane and turning left, so long as the following vehicle did not have to go off of the paved roadway in order to go around. ORS 811.415(2)(a)(A).
And passing on the right in a bicycle lane (which is a separate lane from the regular traffic lane) is also not prohibited (but as with all maneuvers must be made with “due care”). A bicycle rider may also leave the bicycle lane to pass “if the person is able to safely move out”… “for the purpose of passing another bicycle, a vehicle or a pedestrian” and “passage cannot safely be made in the lane.” ORS 814.420(3)(a).
Of course, bicycles are entitled to pass cars just like any other vehicle on streets without a bicycle lane. Note that ORS 811.410 prohibits overtaken vehicles from speeding up until they are completely passed.
The 2006 Passing Law provides:
Unsafe Passing on the Right.
SECTION 1.
811.415. (1) A person commits the offense of unsafe passing on the right if the person:
(a) Drives a vehicle to overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle at any time not permitted under this section.
(b) Drives a vehicle to overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle at any time by driving off the paved portion of the highway.
(2) For purposes of this section, a person may drive a vehicle to overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle under any of the following circumstances:
(a) Overtaking and passing upon the right is permitted if:
(A) The overtaken vehicle is making or the driver has signaled an intention to make a left turn;
(B) The paved portion of the highway is of sufficient width to allow two or more lanes of vehicles
to proceed lawfully in the same direction as the overtaking vehicle; and
(C) The roadway ahead of the overtaking vehicle is unobstructed for a sufficient distance to permit passage by the overtaking vehicle to be made in safety.
(b) Overtaking and passing upon the right is permitted if the overtaken vehicle is proceeding along a roadway in the left lane of two or more clearly marked lanes allocated exclusively to vehicular traffic moving in the same direction as the overtaking driver.
(c) Overtaking and passing upon the right is permitted if the overtaking vehicle is a bicycle
that may safely make the passage under the existing conditions.
(3) The offense described in this section, unsafe passing on the right, is a Class B traffic violation.
In application, the 2006 law allows safe passing on the right which helps to make the flow of traffic more smooth, and keeps riders from being stuck while stopped in a line of exhaust spewing motor vehicles.
Oregon law allowing bicycles to pass on the right is not unusual. The Uniform Vehicle Code Section 11-304(b) is a typical treatment of the issue: “The driver of a vehicle may overtake and pass another vehicle upon the right only under conditions permitting such movement in safety.” (National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances 2000). Oregon merely joined the great majority of other states that allowed the maneuver with the law change of 2006.
While it is possible to describe ways that passing on the right can be performed in an unsafe manner, the purpose of the law is to allow bicycle riders to move safely with and through traffic. The bicycle retains a hybrid legal position under the traffic law that allows the rider to share the lane with motor vehicles. A bicycle’s narrow width of track allows the rider to fully utilize the standard width traffic lane and improve the roadway’s capacity to move traffic. The law supports common sense in allowing safe passing on the right in Oregon.