Can and should you ride two abreast?

Is cycling two abreast allowed? That’s a question we hear at our Cyclist Rights Workshops year after year. Instead of a clear, sensible answer to that question (which would make this a short article) the answer varies by location and is anything but clear. Despite many seasoned cycling clubs and riders swearing by the safety of riding two abreast on roadways, jurisdictionally and under the law it is not a settled subject.

Riding two abreast means cyclists ride side by side, often when in larger groups, taking up a similar width on the road to an automobile. In terms of safety, the riders create a larger footprint on the road, which in turn makes them more visible. Riding two abreast also encourages a motorist to pass a group of cyclists as if they were another motor vehicle: the driver has to wait for oncoming traffic to clear before moving into the opposing lane to get around the riders. The motorist can’t try to squeeze past cyclists in the same lane.

While two-abreast laws vary in Europe in the U.S., the practice is largely permitted. In Canada, it seems lawmakers are against two-by-two riding. B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act states that a “person operating a cycle must not ride abreast of another person operating a cycle on the roadway.” The same is true in the Yukon, Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick (unless on paths or parts of the roadways set aside for bicycles), P.E.I., Newfoundland and Labrador, N.W.T. and even Nunavut. Advocacy groups across the country—like the Alberta Cycling Coalition, which submitted a paper to the Alberta Ministry of Transportation in 2019—have proposed changes to the provincial acts to allow side-by-side riding.

Saskatchewan doesn’t prohibit riding two abreast. At the municipal level, however, you’ll find local laws that set out the rules. Saskatoon has a bylaw that states, “except as is necessary for the purpose of passing, no person shall operate a bicycle on the left side of any two other bicycles being operated abreast.” So, no riding three-abreast in Saskatoon. The same goes for Regina.

“We have a mishmash of laws across Canada that cause confusion.”

In Ontario, the Highway Traffic Act, requires that slower-moving vehicles (cyclists) move to the right, but only when being passed and where it is safe to do so. Therefore, it seems the HTA only forbids side-by-side riding when it impedes the normal flow of traffic. If there is not enough room for faster vehicles to pass safely, cyclists should ride single file as far right as safely practicable. We take that to mean that if you are on the roadway, you can ride two abreast, but must move to single file in advance of and to assist passing vehicles.

Some Ontario municipalities have made their own laws to prevent two-by-two riding. After work by Toronto’s Morning Glory Cycling Club, the city repealed a bylaw prohibiting two-abreast riding in 2013. The Ottawa-Carleton Regional Cycling Advisory Group and other like-minded organizations achieved a similar success in the nation’s capital in the mid-’90s. In 2021, the Ottawa Police Service posted on social media the following: “Riding side by side is actually safer. It forces vehicles to properly overtake them instead of trying to squeeze by too closely in the same lane. In larger groups, it also allows drivers to overtake the group faster by not having a long line of cyclists in a row.”

Overall, the evidence seems to support riding two abreast as the safest way to ride in many cases. Legislating against two-abreast cycling in spite of the data supporting it, however, is often politically expedient, bowing to a vehement vocal minority rather than leading with conviction and supported by stats and research. For this reason, we have a mishmash of laws across Canada that cause confusion and put cyclists at unnecessary risk of crashes and/or road violence.

Cycling clubs should work together and with other cycling advocacy groups to create coalitions for changes to legislation, bylaws and practices that improve our collective safety. In the meantime, reach out to local councillors and police services to get a clear answer on where they stand on two-abreast cycling. Highlight the safety benefits. Even if the organizations don’t have official policies, get them to comment on it so that you can be more confident in your position out there.

Though we are unable to provide a definitive answer on the question of two-abreast cycling, our advice is to always ride in a manner that prioritizes your safety. If you are riding on a roadway where two abreast would result in major traffic congestion putting you at risk of road violence, perhaps it is best to stay single file or avoid that area altogether. On the other hand, if by riding two abreast, you can take a lane and protect yourself and others in your group from a motorist squeezing past and pushing you off the road, consider the side-by-side option.

Dave Shellnutt is the founder and managing partner of The Biking Lawyer LLP, lawyers for injured cyclists, thebikinglawyer.ca.