genec

BINGO!

And here we sit essentially educating one another... challenging one another about issues and taking to debate on the finer points of the law.

Meanwhile 45,000 motorists die each year because of some sort of violations... and then motorists point the fingers at us... while being blind to their own issues. Sigh.

I myself carry cards with the laws pertaining to cyclists printed on them... anyone willing to listen, gets a card.

This is why I have argued time after tiime the best thing cycling advocacy can do is push for higher standards for drivers' licensing, and public service announcements regarding public use of the road.

It's not about telling "them" about "us," it IS about educating a vastly misinformed public, period.

Here is something amusing you can do... the next time you are in some public place, where free conversations are taking place... wedding reception, work... at the water cooler, party, it doesn't matter, but you should not be known as a cyclist... bring up the subject of cyclists on the road, and just listen to the opinions. Start by perhaps talking about the price of gas... then move the conversation to what drivers think about bikes. You will get an earfull. Mostly poor opinion or folks telling you what they think the laws are... (and they are generally wrong.) Just listen.

If this is a group of folks you know well... take the time to clue them in... otherwise, just remember what you heard. It will be quite surprising.

For a long time at my office I had posted the laws regarding cyclists use of the road on the outside of my cube. It really surprised me how many people came by and said "I didn't know that... " and the conversations would start from there.

Driver's ed is just enough to get folks out on the road... along the way the tidbits of info get twisted into misconceptions that become "law" in drivers' minds.

Yeah, there are a lot of misconceptions out there... and we often suffer for this lack of knowledge.