FTR: The Most Misunderstood Traffic Law in History?

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by Clint Sandusky
Riverside (CA) Community College District (ret.)

Before reading this article, I encourage everyone to first read Kirby Beck’s excellent and informative article, Did History & the Law Really Intend Cyclists To Ride Far To The Right? on the Bicycle Advocacy, Enforcement, and Education page on IPMBA’s website.

I had a 24-year career in law enforcement, including 23 years as a bike cop. As of 2014, I had been teaching bike patrol courses and involved in bicycle safety education for 19+ years. I thought I knew just about everything about how to ride a bicycle safely, legally, and effectively on the roadway.

In 2014, while taking a two-day CyclingSavvy (CS) course, I discovered I was wrong and that I had more to learn. CS is the educational program of ABEA (American Bicycling Education Association), a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization.

I was under the belief, like many bicyclists and motorists – and law enforcement officers – that bicycles, as slower, narrow vehicles, should and/or must be ridden on the far-right edge of the roadway much of the time.

This is sometimes referred to as the “Far to the Right” or FTR law. Does the law require it? Is that the safest place for bicyclists to ride? I will attempt to answer these questions.

Legality of Defensive Driving

The following material is attributable to CyclingSavvy.

Bicycle-specific laws vary from state to state. A few states have no law governing bicyclists’ position within a lane. Others have a variation of a law known as “FTR” or “far to the right” law. The language may vary slightly from state to state, but most are similar to the original UVC (Uniform Vehicle Code) version:

UVC 11-1205: Position on the Roadway

a) Any person operating a bicycle or a moped upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic … shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway…

[CS note: If we stopped reading now, it would seem clear bicyclists must ride on the far-right edge of the roadway. But let’s keep reading.]

...“except under any of the following conditions:

1. When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.

2. When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or driveway.

3. When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions including, but not limited to: fixed or moving objects; parked or moving vehicles; bicycles; pedestrians; animals; surface hazards; or substandard width lanes that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge. For the purpose of this section, a “substandard width lane” is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and motor vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

4. When riding in a right-turn-only lane.

b) Any person operating a bicycle or a moped upon a one-way highway with two or more marked traffic lanes may ride as near the left-hand curb or edge of such roadway as practicable. Same exceptions apply.”

California, under CVC 21202(a)(4), has added an exception to the UVC’s FTR: “When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.”

As an example, in California, similar exceptions to FTR also apply to the use of Bike Lanes, under CVC 21208(a). To see where states stand on FTR, MBL (Mandatory Bike Lanes), TAR (Two-Abreast Riding), and several others, visit the “Cycling & The Law/U.S. Bicycle Laws Overview” page on the CS website. It is an excellent resource for law enforcement officers.

If, when reading the UVC language, you compare the number of words in the exceptions (106) to those in the law itself (53), you will notice there are twice as many dedicated to when the law does not apply. What does that tell us? That it is rarely practicable to ride on the far-right edge of the roadway; therefore, the law rarely requires bicyclists to do so.

The many exceptions to the FTR requirement make it clear that bicycling on the far-right edge of the roadway is normally not the safest place to operate. Instead, controlling a traffic lane enables bicyclists to avoid common edge hazards, makes them more visible and relevant to other vehicle operators, and provides the best view of other traffic.

FTR & Wide Lanes

If we look at this FTR law carefully, we see it only applies on roads with wide lanes and those with bike lanes. Other factors to consider are:

Is the lane wide enough to safely share – including any minimum legal passing clearance – with another vehicle, whether a Honda Civic, Ford F-150, bus, or semi?

Are there parked vehicles and, if so, will the bicyclist be able to operate outside of the “Door Zone’, which includes both the “Strike Zone” and “Startle Zone”?

Are there edge hazards?

Are there intersections, driveways, or other areas from which vehicles will be entering the roadway?

Are there turn lanes?

The Most Important Way to Communicate with Motorists

I’m often asked by my savvy cycling friend Gary Cziko (CS Instructor and ABEA board member), “What is the most important way a bicyclist communicates with motorists?” The answer is “lane position”. Lane position allows a bicyclist to control the traffic lane when needed and release traffic from behind when it is safe to do so .

Using hand signals, wearing Hi-Viz/retro-reflective materials and employing active and passive lighting are likewise important, but lane positioning is the most important.

Controlling the Traffic Lane

It may take a while for some bicyclists to feel comfortable and safe controlling the traffic lane in manner that is legal, appropriate, and respectful to all roadway users, but it will come with time and practice. The increased posting of “BICYCLES MAY USE FULL LANE” signs and painted bicycle “Sharrow” (Shared Lane Markings) on roadways is also helping to educate both bicyclists and motorists about the importance of sharing the road equally.

Most IPMBA-trained cyclists have mastered traffic cycling skills and are able to ride comfortably and confidently amongst motorists or they would not be able to patrol safely or effectively. To read more about how fear of traffic affects cyclists and how to overcome it, read “Freedom from Fear” by Mighk Wilson (CS co-founder and former ABEA Executive Director & President) at https://www.floridabicycle.org/freedomfromfear.html.

There is a wealth of resources on the Bicycle Advocacy, Education, Enforcement page on the IPMBA website (http://ipmba.org/resources/bike-education-enforcement), including one of my favorites, John Allen’s “Bicycling Street Smarts” booklet, now available in a CS Edition (2019). For more information on CS’s online and in-person courses, resources and videos, visit https://cyclingsavvy.org/.

I encourage all IPMBA instructors and members to never stop learning and practicing when it comes to safe and savvy cycling in traffic, so you can pass on that knowledge and experience to the communities you serve and your fellow public safety personnel. Only by this can we help to dispel the enduring myth of FTR.

I leave you with two final thoughts. First, the phrase coined decades ago by John Forester and still relevant today: “Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles.” Second, a more recent phrase, part of CyclingSavvy’s vision: “We Imagine…our communities as places where the drivers of human-powered vehicles are expected and respected as a normal part of traffic.”

Clint joined IPMBA in 1994, completed the Advanced Police Cyclist Course in 2000, and the IPMBA Instructor Course in 2005. He has conducted workshops at the 2006, 2007, 2018, and 2019 IPMBA Conferences. He serves as a member of IPMBA’s E-Bike Task Force and has presented E-Bike workshops at the past two conferences. Clint also coordinates and assists with adult bicycle safety presentations and training classes conducted by ABEA and CyclingSavvy instructors and funded by a Caltrans Active Transportation Program grant. He can be reached at clint.sandusky@gmail.com.

Graphics courtesy CyclingSavvy.

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