Instructions for Drivers?

[Cassandra_Cain]

I figure for each one yelling, 10 others are thinking the same thing. But there it is again. Except for a few kind souls, most people just find bikes on the road to be an irritation.
As moving vehicles, most laws that apply to cars apply to bikes too.
the cascade bike club website has quite a bit of info. http://www.cascade.org

Mimi I'm with you on this one. While it may be only 10% of drivers that yell at you, I have strong reason to think the other 90% who don't yell, still think you don't belong on the road and would rather see you riding on the sidewalk. They just aren't quite as rude so to feel compelled to scream at you.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Right now I am reading "The Art of Urban Cycling", and it is a valuable read even if you don't ride in the city. I got my copy used and cheap on Amazon. The book goes on the premise that we should bike with the default assumption that any given car driver is going to do the wrong thing. Biking with that in the back of your mind has the effect of making you into a biker that keeps a good buffer zone around them and forsees problem situations in advance, thus able to choose alternate ways to avoid problems before they happen. It's a good concept.
It would be great if drivers knew more bike safety rules, and everyone should promote more education abou that. But I also think it is wise to just ASSUME cars don't see you and will do the unexpected, stay vigilent and position yourself to avoid certain situations in advance. Sometimes a car driver will look right at you, but not actually "register" that you are there because they are scanning for other cars.

[mimitabby]

Right now I am reading "The Art of Urban Cycling", and it is a valuable read even if you don't ride in the city. I got my copy used and cheap on Amazon. The book goes on the premise that we should bike with the default assumption that any given car driver is going to do the wrong thing. Biking with that in the back of your mind has the effect of making you into a biker that keeps a good buffer zone around them and forsees problem situations in advance, thus able to choose alternate ways to avoid problems before they happen. It's a good concept.
It would be great if drivers knew more bike safety rules, and everyone should promote more education abou that. But I also think it is wise to just ASSUME cars don't see you and will do the unexpected, stay vigilent and position yourself to avoid certain situations in advance. Sometimes a car driver will look right at you, but not actually "register" that you are there because they are scanning for other cars.

Boy you got that right!

[SouthernBelle]

The doing the wrong thing statement reminded me. It happens frequently, I'm riding along and just as someone gets to me they will honk and wave. This is people being friendly, not obnoxious. But they don't realize they may startle me into a ditch or curb.

[pooks]

I have strong reason to think the other 90% who don't yell, still think you don't belong on the road and would rather see you riding on the sidewalk.

Absolutely. And that's where I think education needs to come in. There are communities where cyclists are more "normal" and the average driver grows more accustomed to seeing cyclists, I'd think. Where I live, they're very rare. But I have to believe there are going to be more, and somebody has to start looking seriously at how to educate everybody.

While it's true that most people may feel like cyclists shouldn't be on the road, that they create hazards, etc. -- we can't just view people with that attitude as the enemy. The roads will only get more dangerous. If we're going to survive on the roads and increase our numbers, it's partly by convincing more people to join us, and partly by educating those who don't.

I think this comes in the way of public safety commercials, webpages, etc. It seems like some communities might already have such things?

Right now I am reading "The Art of Urban Cycling", and it is a valuable read even if you don't ride in the city. I got my copy used and cheap on Amazon. The book goes on the premise that we should bike with the default assumption that any given car driver is going to do the wrong thing.

I agree with that, too.

Education is needed on both sides. I think that's the book I was told to get but it's out of print. I'll go the used book route, too. Thanks!