Originally Posted by
LittleBigMan
Doesn't anyone ever notice that they, as a cyclist, have to face a vast majority of motorists (including friends and family) that believe that riding a bicycle on the road in a vehicular fashion, as if one actually has legal right to, is not normal?
If it were normal, why do we need special facilities?
I support the desires of cyclists who want bicycle facilities to separate them from motor traffic, just as I want them to support my desire to be recognized as a road user of equal importance with motorists. But probably everyone in these discussions has at one time or another voiced their concern about the inequality that exists in American society between cyclists and motorists.
Originally Posted by
buzzman
I agree with the gist of your statement while at the same time see a great deal of gray area, which is often ignored in order to simplify these issues into purely black and white.
The problem is that while we could conceivably survey the opinions of many motorists and perhaps support your statement that most automobile road users see bicycles on the road riding in a vehicular fashion as not normal the actual on road behavior of most drivers in most circumstances may not support this contention.
Though I often commute on a bike path into Boston I am a consistent road rider for longer bike transport and recreation and some commutes. At those times I ride in what I would classify as a vehicular fashion and am subject to roughly the same amount of aggressive driving and road rage as I do when driving a car. The danger is only amplified by the increased vulnerability of a cyclist over someone encased in the closed environment of a car. But for the most part, while I do tend to choose my routes carefully to avoid potential conflicts, I am treated with roughly the same respect as a motorist.
While driver behavior is a factor I find road design, traffic volume, road conditions and number of intersections to be more of a factor for the need for bike facilities.
I appreciate the gray areas, for without acknowledging them, one is unable to address reality.
I have a similar experience to yours, in that motorists tend to treat me with respect on the road, but at the same time, talking with coworkers and friends privately, most of them are amazed that I would ride a bike on the road with cars in traffic. This is not a gray area. This is a widespread attitude that cycling on the road in traffic is not normal.
Whether or not they've been taught that actively or passively, it's believed and reinforced on a daily basis. It's probably one of those widely-held beliefs that goes largely unnoticed until one of us comes along to turn over the rock and expose it. However, it has been my experience here in Atlanta that those who were raised here believe the sidewalk is where a bicycle should be ridden, and can recollect being taught so by parents.
It's not really far-fetched, since riding a bike on the sidewalk was my natural choice as a child until I was corrected on my way to school one day (I was taught to stay out of the street to protect me, and applied that teaching to bicycling as a child,) and is also what I sometimes see parents do when taking their small ones out for a ride, all of them tooling down the sidewalk together. I'm not sure I agree that teaching a very small child to ride on the sidewalk is a bad thing, since one needs special awareness of traffic before venturing out into the street where a car can end a life. But once one graduates to adolescence, or slightly before, one should learn to ride their bike on the road if they are ever going to adopt the bike as their way of getting around. Sadly, when most people hit that age, they simply graduate to a car, and keep their bikes-on-sidewalks attitude.
However, this does not mean that I am against building special facilities for cyclists. I am only pro-choice in that regard, as I want to be free to ride where I see fit. Sometimes that's on a path or bike lane, sometimes it's on the road without facilities. On the road, sometimes it's on main arteries, sometimes it's bypassing them on quiet residential neighborhood streets (some are kind of neat, with very old houses and such.)