Originally Posted by Treespeed

Chip,

I think one of the fundamental problems with driver and cyclist interaction is that most motorists are ignorant of the laws as they pertain to cyclists. They have it in their head that we are suppose to live in the gutter and yield to cars in all instances. It is my opinion that much could be gained by making all road users aware of the current laws, rights, and responsibilities. I just had to take online traffic school (apparently there are no u-turns in the business district) and there was not one mention of bicyclists rights, only that motorists should "Watch Out!" for them. Very helpful. A few more, "cyclists allowed Full use of Lane" or "Cyclists Merging" when a bike lane ends would be very helpful in my opinion. The rest seems like common sense to me. Use the bike lane when it's there, stay out of the door zone, and take the lane when it's narrow, let cars pass when there's room. What am I missing? I bend a few laws when I ride and when I drive, but inching forward on the right in heavy traffic or rolling through and empty intersection is not the same risk if I were to perform such actions while driving. Otherwise this whole debate has gotten way out of hand with both sides beating each other up over every little verbal misstep. I really can't imagine that many of the experienced cyclists if going out together would really ride all that differently.