Treespeed, I just don't believe motorist education will be effective as long as the "norm" accepted by cyclists remains, "stay out of the way of cars, period".

No matter what the law or driver ed teachers say, as long as the vast majority of cyclists ride according to that axiom, then that will be the expectation of most motorists (and cops, for that matter). I just don't see how motorist ed can affect this. The change must come within the cycling community first.

Spending time and resources on motorist ed about cyclist "rights" when the vast majority of cyclists don't believe it to be true themselves, or certainly don't behave as if they do, is pointless. Motorist ed would solve the problem if the problem was lack of information. The only information motorists might be lacking is understanding what the letter of the law says about cyclists. But that's not the lack of information that causes the problem. They simply believe cyclists should be out of the way, regardless of what the law says. They simply believe it is stupid and unsafe, regardless of what the law says, when cyclists are not out of the way. It takes hours and hours of a Road 1 course, or equivalent studying of traffic cycling books, to get most cyclists to start believing otherwise. Why would a couple of pages in the driver's manual and a couple of extra questions on the driver's test be enough for drivers, who could give a rat's behind about this issue in the first place?

You might argue, "it can't hurt". Well, a wast of money and time is hurt. But, it probably would not "hurt" cyclists directly. Still, I think misdirected hope and efforts can hurt, because it removes focus and priority from effective efforts, and that's my main point here. It's not so much an opposition to motorist ed, as it's an attempt to convey why doing so would be a waste of time and resources, to bring more focus and priority on more effective initiatives within the cycling advocacy community.