On Dec 19, 7:48 am, Gary wrote:
On Dec 19, 7:36 am, Jobst Brandt wrote:



Gary who? wrote:
BAUFL launched a bicycle awareness campaign this week at

http://www.baufl.org/

The mission is to get one million cars driving around with one
million stickers that say bicycles allowed use if full lane and to
advertise the message on web sites and magazine ads. It's something
every cyclist can do to make drivers aware of cyclists right to use
the roads. I'm in, are you?

Oh, wouldn't John Forester be proud of you, (Take the lane!)
perpetuating traffic rudeness that causes harsh interactions between
motor vehicles and bicyclists, the former being the preferred mode of
transport for most citizens in industrialized nations. Don't ignore
that more people drive huge trucks now than at any previous time and
that they love their powerful monsters. They are not encouraging more
bicycle travel as you may believe:

http://i1.tinypic.com/505ukc2.jpg

Get real!

Jobst Brandt

Great picture!
It's not about taking the lane. Most streets in the US don't have bike
lanes, are substandard in width and don't have shoulders. It's about
spreading the word that bicycles do have the right by law to use the
road, to get motorists thinking abount their actions when overtaking a
cyclist. You're right that there are way too many people with
disregard to cyclists driving around in huge trucks like that. The
more reason to spread the word.

Last night I was passed by two big trucks - one right behind the other
- in the span of a few seconds. I was riding on the far right, about
a foot from the edge, in a 90° blind hairpin with a double solid
yellow center line.

The first one (a jacked up pickup with huge off-road tires), pulled
way over the center line to give me plenty of room (courteous, in a
way, though dangerous and illegal), but had to sweep back in for an
oncoming car. Then he immedaitely turned left onto to side road.
He'd saved maybe five seconds by dangerously and illegally passing me.

The second big truck, right behind the first, also dangerously and
illegally pulled way over the center line to pass me, but didn't even
make it all the way past before also turning left onto the side road.
He saved maybe a couple of seconds with that maneuver.

What's got to change is motorists sense of exclusive entitlement to
the public roads. Interestingly, I did sense more regard for me as a
valid transportation alternative when fuel prices shot way up a
couple of years ago.

A certain rabble-rouser may be a nut, with some very bad specifics in
his solutions, but he has a point sometimes. There's a certain
sensibility to turning this insane upside-down hierarchy - where cars
and trucks rule the road and everything else is just a thorn in their
side operating at its own risk - to one where the more obtrusive you
are in the public space, the less entitlement and more responsibility
you bear.

I don't believe in taking the lane - except in rare circumstances
where you can be reasonably sure the (reasonable) motorists (ha)
behind will understand what's going on. I do wish, though, that more
of them would understand it *is* my lane - and I am only on the
shoulder as a courtesy to them - when they blow by *my* shoulder at
60+ mph.