You know... and I'm just saying... this is all well and good. But... 4'?? Bicycle advocacy groups in the city I left have been agitating for separation barriers for the bike lanes... they finally got them. It took years, and millions of dollars but they got them... yay! Uh...no.. they have proven to be a disaster. They trap the bike and when the bike lane is blocked its blocked and if you are riding a bike you cannot lift (apparently many cyclists do this) well... there you are... There are, as we speak, Congressional Representatives that seriously wish to see all bicycles banned from public roads. For the cyclists safety! Think it can't happen? The more cyclists insist that they need ridiculous passing distances and/or separated bikeways and/or totally off-road MUP's or Green ways in order to feel "safe", the less vehicle like they will be considered by the dolt masses and ultimately just won't be worth the trouble of defending as viable transportation. If you have reasonable bike handling skills you don't need to insist that motor traffic give you 4'!! In Germany I believe its less than 3' but the car has to slow to 20mph while passing. In Oregon a driver is as likely as not to pull wide when passing but that severely freaks out traffic in the oncoming direction when this happens. A law that compels traffic to remain in its lane but to slow to a speed that is safer in a collision (apparently its 19mph) as they pass, might be better overall. Or not... I don't know. But I do know that cyclists are either not aware or don't care how they are perceived by the non-cycling public and this is dangerous. Very dangerous in the long term.

H