It took nearly five years, but Brendan Linton of Butler County proved his point that bicyclists shouldn’t always have to move off the road any time cars back up behind them.
On July 31, 2021, Linton was riding west on Evans City Road (Route 18) when he passed Pennsylvania State Trooper Joshua Osche while Osche was sitting in a parking lot. Osche testified in a summary trial for Linton that he observed several vehicles back up behind Linton on the two-lane road, a problem with bicyclists he said had been reported to police several times.
Osche came out behind those vehicles, but the others passed Linton on the left in a short time. Osche tried twice to pass the bicyclist but couldn’t because of traffic traveling in the opposite direction.
That’s when Osche stopped Linton and charged him with disorderly conduct for creating a hazardous condition, refusing to provide his identity and not moving off the highway. Linton appealed the charges to Butler County Common Pleas Court, where he was found guilty of not moving off the highway and fined $25, but he was found not guilty of the other charges.
Linton appealed to Superior Court, where he lost, then to the state Supreme Court. The top court ruled last week that bicyclists aren’t required to move off the road in all circumstances and sent the case back to Superior Court for the judges to determine whether Linton was “unreasonable” for not moving off the road.
Writing for the majority in a 5-2 decision, Justice Kevin M. Dougherty said the section of the state vehicle code on bikers, called pedalcyclists, requires police officers to use their discretion to decide whether bikers are being unreasonable or creating an unsafe situation by allowing traffic to build up.
“On the one hand, it grants pedalcyclists a right to operate on any highway at a safe and reasonable speed for the pedalcycle,” Dougherty wrote. “On the other, it imposes a duty on pedalcycle operators to use reasonable efforts so as not to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.
“We hold this duty may, under certain circumstances, require the pedalcycle operator to leave the roadway to allow faster moving vehicles to pass. However, it does not mandate a pedalcycle must always and immediately vacate the roadway for other vehicles.”
Linton and his attorney, Corrie Woods, had argued that the shoulder of Evans City Road had a rough surface with fixed potholes, sewer grates and other debris. That made it unsafe for Linton to leave the roadway in that area, they contend.
The two justices who dissented agreed with Linton’s position completely and said bicyclists should never be required to leave the road so others can pass. It should be up to police officers to determine whether bicyclists have done something dangerous or illegal, not for the bicyclists to constantly be reviewing if they should leave road, they said.
Linton couldn’t be reached for comment, but Woods said he is satisfied with the court’s ruling. Eliminating the notion that bicyclists always have to move out of the way and let motorized vehicles proceed unimpeded sets an important precedent, he said.
“I think the distance we have come in this case is very far,” Woods said. “The judges [in the lower courts] were saying ‘cars belong on the road and you don’t.’
“If you can’t go on the road at a reasonable speed [as a bicyclist], you can’t get anywhere.”
Woods said he is “very satisfied” the Supreme Court “struck a balance” between the rights of bikers and motorists where there aren’t separated bike lanes.
“Maybe there are times when it’s safe for bicyclists to get out of the way, and maybe there are times when [motorists] have to slow down because that isn’t possible,” he said.
The case was considered a big deal in the biking community. The League of American Bicyclists and BikePGH filed legal briefs supporting Linton in the case.
“A ruling in favor of upholding the ticket would have had broad unintended consequences and would have affected bicycling across the state, as well as the work that BikePGH does,” BikePGH said in a statement on its website. “Changing the long-established position would have set a dangerous precedent for Pennsylvania bicyclists.”
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.