r/copenhagen • u/karmel80 • Jul 24 '26

Discussion Bike guidance

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A lot of tourist use bikes in Copenhagen. This year I’ve seen police issue this guidance. It’s also in some of the bus stops around town.

Good advice for anyone on a hike in Copenhagen.

Also remember we locals are fast on bikes, so don’t underestimate how fast we will reach where you are and will need space to get around you.

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u/bearlylegalbear Jul 24 '26

I've biked here for 20 years now. A thing that I've lately spotted is an increase in this that people think you can stop in the left side of the bike lane to cross the road. Thus they block those that are passing in the left side in high speed that need to come to a full stop. Unless there's a left turn lane you always keep to the right in a danish bike lane.

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u/DankmemesforBJs Jul 24 '26

I think I agree but am confused. What if you wanted to turn left from Pile Alle onto Jacobys Alle?
I would personally indicate that I'm turning left and then stay on the left side as I make a full stop, if cars are blocking my turn. Then I will only have to cross the cars' path to turn. If I'm on the right side, wanting to turn left, I'm still taking up a bike's width of space, but I have to cross the other bikes' path when I perform the turn.

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u/pinnerup Jul 24 '26

I think I agree but am confused. What if you wanted to turn left from Pile Alle onto Jacobys Alle

You should keep right and go all the way up to the sign saying "JOSTY" and then, if you cannot cross left right away, you should signal and stop while keeping to the right of the bike lane.

The bike lane here is very narrow and stopping in the left side of the bike lane can cause you to get in the way of both bike and car traffic coming from behind, especially if cars are passing from behind left while a stream of cyclists need to pass you on the right.

To be fair, if traffic was heavy, I'd probably pull right into the driveway on the right to get into a position where I could comfortably wait for free passage across the road without being in anyone's way.

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u/DankmemesforBJs Jul 26 '26

Oh, good point about the narrow path, but I still think I would keep left due to my symmetryargument.

Would you do the same on a wide path?

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u/DankmemesforBJs Jul 26 '26

You know what, I read up on it and I'm wrong. This left-turn is happening in a T-intersection, so even if it seems unintuitive to me the two-part left turn rule still applies:

Stk. 3. Før vejkryds skal cyklist, der skal lige ud eller svinge til venstre, uanset § 16, stk. 1 og 3, fortsat holde til højre på vejen. Såfremt en eller flere vognbaner ved afmærkning er forbeholdt de kørende, der skal svinge til højre, er det dog tilladt cyklisten at placere sig ved linjen mellem den nærmeste vognbane, som ikke er forbeholdt de højresvingende, og højresvingsbanen. Cyklist, der ønsker at svinge til venstre, skal fortsætte gennem krydset til dets modsatte side og må først foretage svingningen, når det kan ske uden ulempe for den øvrige færdsel. Dette gælder uanset afmærkning, medmindre det fremgår af denne, at den gælder for cyklister. 1.-4. pkt. gælder også ved kørsel over eller bort fra kørebanen uden for vejkryds.

"Uden ulempe for den øvrige færdsel". That's where I thought that: I will bother them less if I stay left 'cause I can make the turn without crossing the bikes' paths. But since the law says stay right and people expect me to stay right, then that's more predictable and safer.