Originally Posted by
spivonious
Sharrows don't give you the right to ride down the center of the lane; you still have to ride FRAP.
Originally Posted by
weshigh
From the wiki on shared lane markings.
Alert motorists of the
lateral location bicyclists are likely to occupy within the traveled way
http://ladotbikeblog.wordpress.com/2...rows-are-good/
Also from LADOT:
Sharrows be implemented no less than 12 feet from the curb. Beyond this minimum distance, however, Sharrows should also be aligned in a way that
creates a straight line of travel for bicyclists. This helps ensure a bicyclist
doesn’t weave as street widths change,
making them safer and ensuring drivers will be able to react to bicyclists more
predictably.
Actually, it seems like sharrows do give you the right to travel where the sharrows are. Personally I like sharrows for the very reason that they seem to indicate to a driver that a cyclist could be taking the lane. Compare it to bike lanes, which are solid white lines with the same bike symbol inside, minus the chevron. Bike lanes means motorists forget me and I need to stay in the lines. Which is fine until one of us needs to turn or there is an obstacle in the lane. Sharrows, on the other hand don't have the same line limitations, and I would guess that most people would interpret it as meaning that a bike could be anywhere in this lane, so be on the lookout, not merely the direction of travel of bikes. You put a bike symbol on the street and that indicates to motorists an extra level of expectation of bikes being there, and that they have the right to be there (which most motorists don't know or agree with, unfortunately).