In northern Europe, bicyclists are treated like traffic, and that makes it safer for everyone

This summer, my wife and I biked in Norway and Sweden. Most of the time, the roads we biked on had no shoulders, and we occupied a third of the lane on the right of a two-lane highway. When a car was behind us, it waited until no cars were in the oncoming traffic lane, and then passed us. If there were cars in the oncoming traffic lane, the cars behind us simply waited.

Once, there were 10 cars that passed us after we pulled off the road to take a picture. In other words, we were treated like traffic.

I also rode in Montreal this summer, where the bike infrastructure is highly developed and there are many bike lanes and bike paths. My experience riding in this city was similar to my experience in Scandinavia. Cars recognized my existence as a fellow vehicle, even when bike lanes were absent.

My experience in the U.S. is radically different.

When I ride on bike paths, where motor vehicles are prohibited, I feel protected. When I ride in bike lanes in cities, I feel like there is at least some infrastructure that highlights to drivers that they should not be in that lane. When I ride on regular roads, however, in the same scenario as my Scandinavian travels, cars consider my bicycle an object or an obstruction they can probably squeeze by.

In northern Europe, drivers benefit by considering cyclists traffic.

In Pennsylvania, the law requires drivers to give cyclists four feet of space when they pass. In order to provide that legally required four feet of space, they can cross a double yellow line to overtake them. But my experience suggests that drivers believe it’s more important to squeeze by a cyclist than to inconvenience themselves or the cars behind them by waiting for the opportunity to pass safely.

Needless to say, this is terrifying. It also presents serious safety issues for both bicyclists and drivers.

In northern Europe, drivers benefit by considering cyclists traffic. By passing us only when there are no oncoming vehicles, they avoid the situation of having to decide between risking a head-on crash with an oncoming car or disabling, injuring, or killing the cyclist.

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One of the reasons our experience biking there was so stunning is that considering yourself (and being considered) as traffic completely changes your mindset. Indeed, that is codified into law in Section 3 of Norway’s Road Traffic Act. According to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration website, the purpose of this law is to ensure safety for all road users: walkers, cyclists, and drivers. The website states that “you have a personal responsibility to ensure that your behavior in traffic does not create dangerous and difficult situations for other road users.” Swedish websites convey similar information.

We are all familiar with traffic — there’s nothing we can do about it. When drivers see many cars in front of them, they may grumble, but they wait. Maybe Google Maps or Waze can find a different route for them, but squeezing by the other traffic (including bicycles) on the road isn’t an option.

Likewise, cyclists who think of themselves as traffic don’t ride two or three abreast, blocking drivers behind them from seeing the oncoming traffic. They don’t ignore stop signs or traffic signals, and they don’t ride on shoulders to get around backups.

To be clear, the Pennsylvania rules specifically “allow” cyclists to use shoulders, but don’t require them to do so. But one of the things that most riles drivers is when they wait for a break in the oncoming traffic in order to properly/legally pass a cyclist, and then that very same cyclist uses the shoulder to pass all the cars that are backed up at a traffic light. Then, when the shoulder disappears, the cyclist gets back onto the road, and the (same?) drivers have to wait again in order to pass them. In my opinion, cyclists should be able to use the shoulders but should keep their spot in the queue.

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Unfortunately, there are no infrastructure improvements or attitude adjustments that will magically eliminate all cycling deaths. The crashes that killed Barbara Friedes, a young doctor in Rittenhouse Square, and Johnny Gaudreau, the NHL player, and his brother near their home in New Jersey were tragically caused by drivers who were alleged to have been intoxicated.

Yes, we need more bike lanes and bike traffic signals. We need wide — debris-free — shoulders. But most importantly, we bicyclists need to be recognized as vehicles that happen to move slowly. In other words, traffic.

David Karen is a professor of sociology at Bryn Mawr College. When he can, he fearfully commutes to work by bike during non-rush hour times.