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this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2025
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The wrong side thing I'd say is probably because many bikes (even ebikes!) don't come with a mirror. So the rider lacks awareness if they aren't doing regular head-turns.
Similar lacking bell, which can be used to announce your presence to other people who might be around the corner (when you wouldn't want to use a loud horn).
I’d guess it’s more likely because they don’t want to have to cross the street (twice!) because their destination is on the same side of the street. They judge (maybe correctly) that it’s safer to ride the wrong way for a short distance than to cross four lanes twice.
Maybe, but that's circumstantial.
What I said is just... fear of getting ran over because by the time you notice* the sound of the motor of an extremely heavy and fast vehicle approaching you it's probably right behind you. This logic also assumes you're getting over as much as you can (even totally off the road if it isn't a ditch) whenever you see oncoming traffic though. Either way, not preferred.
This was my own logic (not that I actually rode very much like that) until I got myself a mirror.
* also knowing that it's approaching you, not going some other direction
So ... you think the absence of a safety device (mirror or bell) turns riding on the wrong side of the road against traffic, around a completely blind corner with no shoulder, with two little children in tow, into a good idea? I don't understand what would make someone think that.
My point is just that there is some reasoning behind it, even if it isn't preferred. As I said in another comment, plus the caveat:
I mention safety devices because obviously I think people should have them. There should be free/cheap options (or already on the bike when bought). A mirror should fix the desire to be going the wrong way, but even a bell used (her or you) could've improved the situation either way.
A bell would have been useless had it been a car instead of me on my bike.
Hence why this isn't "logic" at all. There are many situations in which a cyclist riding against traffic has nowhere to go - like almost every road and street in my district, which have no shoulders and often high curbs and dense vegetation. Riding against traffic also happens to be illegal, as bikes are required to obey the same traffic laws as motorized vehicles. Not all laws reflect common sense, but these sure as hell do.