Bsrgvty

In Greece, where I am from, we don't have bicycles as a means of going to work, like for example in Germany (what a paradox given the weather!), the country I visit now.

So, there are bicycle lanes on the pavement, to the side of the street. When the bus stops, you disembark right in a bicycle land. Is there a rule to who has priority? The passenger or the rider?

I would expect the riders to be aware that a passenger is about to disembark, and thus slow down or slide, regardless of any rule. However, currently I find myself looking across both directions before disembarking, since I am mostly afraid of the high speed e-bicycles, something that if I have priority, may frustrate the others behind me.

The bicycle riders have to be careful and wait if necessary.

Here is a German newspaper article on the subject. The basis for the rule is § 20 of the German traffic regulations (StVO), whose first two paragraphs translate roughly to:

(1) Busses, trams, and school busses, which stop at designated
stopping points (sign number 224), may only be passed with care.

(2) When bus riders embark or disembark, the bus can only be passed on the right at walking speed and at a distance that excludes the possibility of endangering passengers. It is also forbidden to obstruct them. If needed, one has to wait.

Note that walking speed is defined to be 3-6 km/h. Overtaking a bus on the left is a bit different - the rules then depend on whether the warning lights are flashing or not.

German traffic code gives transit passengers special priority, all traffic including bicycles may only pass the vehicle on the right at a walking pace and need to yield to passengers alighting or embarking.

(From a detailed explanation this website [in German].)

Being a cyclist as well as a bus user, I always expect the user of the other mode of traffic to not be aware of what is going on at the street.

Where the bus stop is right at the bike lane, so the people step out of the bus in front of the cyclists, you have to slow down when there is a bus there and stop before the doors open, as the people will need to get out of the bus efficiently. (But as a bus passenger, still look for cyclist as there is always the 'nasty word here' that ignores the facts.)

If there is a little of a platform between the bus and the cycle path, it is less risky to step out of the bus and away from the door and not be hit by the cyclists.

But as a cyclist you should still give way to people getting out of the bus and walking toward the (stopped) bus. See the other answers for (the link to) the legal texts.

Generally speaking, bicycles are classed as vehicles. And generally, vehicles must yield to pedestrians doing normal pedestrian things that they are entitled to do, like use a bus stop. So the pecking order is

Boats > Trains > Pedestrians > Bicycles > Motor Vehicles

• Drawbridges know large boats are coming, and have plenty of time to signal trains to get stopped


• Trains cannot stop, so peds and vehicles MUST wait


• Vehicles must yield to pedestrians anywhere pedestrians belong


• Bicycles are legitimate traffic and share roads with motor vehicles, except they have priority in bike lanes obviously. Laws favor bicycles because physics does not.

I rode bicycles for 10 years earlier in my life as my primary mode of transportation a long while ago, and pedestrians always have the right of way over any other conveyance.

And, the purpose is that... any other kind of conveyance could cause more damage. A bike rider, a skate boarder, a car, a motorcycle.. all of those things are potentially moving faster and have more mass, and thus could cause more damage.. especially to someone who may not be physically capable of moving fast enough out of the way (eg: an elderly pedestrian).

That being said... I have also ridden motorcycles for 10 years, and here's the order of operation I mentally follow every time I ride in order to keep myself alive..

1) larger object (that has more mass and could do more damage to me) has the right of way.. every time, even if they're breaking the law

2) if I have to break the law to save my life, I will

3) obey laws if possible

So, if a truck is changing lanes into me illegally while not looking... I get out of their way. I would rather be alive while watching them break the law then be dead or in a hospital bed having my wife argue about how the other person broke the law and I had the right of way.

So, as a pedestrian.. you would have the right of way getting off the bus, but assume idiots all around you are not paying attention and / or don't know the law and can potentially kill you.

Ultimately, you are responsible for your own safety.