anon06

Oh! That's easy. I noticed that the local town council makes announcements to residents on their Facebook page, from the police department (about all types of safety issues, regarding warnings about a fire in the area, that firefighters are fighting, criminals they're looking for, etc.), to announcements about school events, town parades, etc.

They even just made an announcement that residents should fill out the Department of Transportation's survey, on how residents would like to see the money spent, for road improvements, repaving, bicycle lanes and sidewalks, etc. and list them according to how much money they think each section should get.

It's a shame, but I already know that, sidewalks and cycling lanes are going to not be given priority, due to most residents not being cyclists or pedestrians.

So, I thought, since I'm unable to, individually, let each driver who shouts and honks at me that I'm not doing anything wrong (and I can't fully explain all the reasons why I'm not riding on the sidewalk to them at that moment) because they either don't have their windows open to be able to hear me saying anything or they drive off so quickly they wouldn't be able to hear more than a couple of words, that it'd probably be more helpful if the town made an announcement and reminder to drivers that cyclists have the right to be on the road (because drivers, here, only seem to listen, care, and respect the words given from people in authority, like the police; that's why, when they police are around the area, driving or ticketing drivers, other drivers suddenly decide to slow down and follow the speed limit, proper safety rules when passing me--they give me more room, the 3ft. rule, passing in the other lane, without honking or shouting about it, all because the police are there and they don't want to be ticketed).

If the police and/or council made an announcement about not harassing cyclists for being on the road, that they're allowed to be there, I think it really might help, at least a little bit, in reducing the amount of drivers who seem to, incorrectly, think it's okay to shout and tell me where they think I should cycle, when they're not even cyclists, themselves, and don't know what's safe or not for cyclists. It'd maybe let the drivers who've harassed me know that the police are aware of it, that they're watching, etc., so it might be a good deterant.

I've lived here for a couple of years and have only now just been experiencing harassment from drivers. I have a suspicion that, because other drivers saw one honk and shout at me, that they thought it was okay to do the same thing. So, it's suddenly becoming more and more of a problem in the area, a domino effect. I have no clue why it's suddenly happening, but I wish it would stop, that drivers would go back to just passing me without honking or shouting at me; I felt happier and safer when they would do that. Allowing it to just continue, without anyone saying or doing anything, I think, will only cause more drivers to think it's an okay thing to do.

Drivers, here, seem to think that, just because I'm a cyclist, that that automatically means that I'm the one who's ignorant about the rules of the road, safety, etc., and that they're the ones who know all of the rules, when they don't.

So, since they feel it's okay to harass a cyclist without educating themselves, they, obviously don't respect me and won't just listen to what I have to say, anyway; it helps if other groups in authority speak up, too, to help get the word out, because drivers who aren't cyclists aren't likely to bother looking up cyclists groups, read about cycling safety rules for drivers, etc.

Announcements regarding road safety and the rules of the road are given all the time in the area, from alcohol use, speeding, etc., that I thought a cycling safety reminder to drivers of the rules would fit right in, perfectly, with all of that, too.

Now, with the state cycling group: their site specifically states that they do advocacy work, too, across the state, as far as helping educate the public, police departments about cycling safety, cyclists' rights to the road, etc. They say others can contact them to arrange one of their volunteers to give a cycling presentation in their area. They write cycling advocacy articles for newspapers, too, have ads on local radio stations, etc.

All I did was ask them if they still do that in the local area, often, like on local T.V. stations, etc. and let them know of the two areas I've been recently harassed very often (which was in the suburbs of the larger city and in the small town where I live).

I thought, perhaps, it might let them know, in case they don't already give cycling rule presentation in these areas or haven't written anything regarding cycle advocacy in the local newspapers, recently, that they might consider these areas in the future, that it's needed (especially because cycling groups do ride on the weekends in the suburban area of the city). They're not that far from the group's downtown location--just in the suburb of the city and the next county over--compared to all of the other, farther areas they've travel to around the state to give presentations.

But, yeah, I don't really expect them to do anything; it was actually my parents' idea to contact someone about the problem