submitted by Barry Desilets
As a motorist, cyclist, and former police officer I feel obligated to share Massachusetts General Law Chapter 89 Section 2. I’m sharing because after an incident with a commercial truck driver it was clear to me the truck driver didn’t know the law in regard to overtaking vehicles and cyclists.
MGL Chapter 89 Section 2 says, “If it is not possible to overtake a bicycle or other vehicle at a safe distance in the same lane, the overtaking vehicle shall use all or part of an adjacent lane if it is safe to do so or wait for a safe opportunity to overtake.”
What does this mean? I first want to point out the word “shall”. Shall in law means must. If it’s not possible to pass a bike or other vehicle in the same lane you must use all or part of the other lane. So yes, not only is it legal to cross the center line to pass a vehicle or bike, if it’s not safe to pass in your lane, you must cross over into the other lane. Then there’s another important phrase, “…or wait for a safe opportunity to overtake.” What does, “or wait for a safe opportunity” mean? It means the driver must slow or stop if necessary until it’s safe. When should we wait? There are three instances where I see near head-on collisions often:
1) When there’s on-coming traffic on a narrow road
2) When approaching a curve and you can’t see around the curve
3) When approaching the crest of a hill and you can’t see what’s on the other side
Not too long ago I read a study about the amount of time a typical commuter loses to cyclists. I believe the figure was 15 seconds. Is it worth 15 seconds to avoid a head-on collision or hitting a cyclist? I hope so.
Regards,
Barry Desilets
Upton, MA
508-529-4877
UPTON DAILY 
Very informative. Thank you.
Thanks for the clarification. I already follow those rules but didn’t know it was in the law. It is common sense. In all fairness though I didn’t see any mention of the laws for cyclists. There isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t see some biker blow through a stop sign or pass a whole line of cars stopped at a red light. One ran a stop sign last year at pleasant and mendon and I almost hit him. For good measure he flipped me the bird. Barry can you enlighten your fellow cyclists as to the rules for cyclists?
Thanks Frank. I hope all bikers take note of your comments. I agree there are issues with cyclists (motorcyclists and drivers) obeying stop signs and the rules of the road. Like drivers there are experienced cyclists, inexperienced cyclists, and those that don’t care. I’ll admit there are a few stop signs I don’t come to a complete stop at but that’s not to say I don’t slow significantly and give obvious hand signals. Those that I don’t come to a complete stop at are ones with wide viability; I can see what’s coming in all directions. Of course that begs the question, why wouldn’t I stop even with wide visibility? The reason is because my shoes are locked into my pedals. Removing my shoes from the pedals and clipping back in after stopping is more dangerous than stopping for a stop sign when there are no vehicles in sight. “Gliding” through the stop is much safer if the “coast is clear”. In my opinion the biggest danger to all of us is cell phones. I’m shocked by the number of people driving past me who I see texting while I’m on my bike. What are they thinking? Thanks again, I appreciate you reading the post and commenting.