Traffic enforcement for Bicyclist Safety

[Eden]

We need to train our officers to enforce traffic rules on both sides of the fence in order to foster mutual respect and courtesy.
Is that too much to ask??

Unfortunately many, many, many people (including some non-cycling officers) think that mutual respect from a cyclist means keep the %*&# out of my way....

I feel very much the way the one lady in the video does - why does a few seconds of your time have more value than my life? That is disrespecting another person... I follow the rules of the road - I stop for stops signs, don't run reds etc, but I do demand a safe slice of the roadway (I generally ride in the right hand 3rd of the lane - at least 2 feet from the curb or a foot or so out of doors reach where there are parked cars). If that means a motorist will have to turn the wheel to get around me tough titties....

That doesn't mean if I'm climbing a steep hill at 8 mph that I'm going to demand/take a full lane, but if I'm moving quickly I want my space and taking it (ie protecting my own safety) is not disrespectful. I need time to react the same way a driver does, so no I cannot dodge in between parked cars to let you by. It doesn't take any more time or effort to treat me safely than it does to deal with the myriad other things that city traffic has to offer - pedestrians crossing the street, people parallel parking, making left turns, buses - city and school.

Drivers need to realize that its not a race and that a speed *limit* is just that, an upper limit, not a god given right to drive as fast as possible. No one is "in their way" because they are no more important than any other person.