One thing that has bummed me out about bicycle commuting is the lack of support from the police.

On my commute today, two lanes in my direction, narrow lanes, parking on the right, so I center in the lane.
I'm going 20+ mph downhill. This stretch of road has "Bicycles may use full lane" signs.

Ponch and John pull up next to me and Ponch says, "Hey buddy, get in the bike lane." I reply, "There is no bike lane." Repeat exchange. They drive off.

From my point of view, I am surrounded every day by irresponsible people operating heavy machinery.
I have no way of protecting myself. Killing a human being with an automobile is not a crime.

From their point of view, I am just a nuisance.

Where are you?

Los Angeles

There's the problem. No humans there to start with.

Everyday I ride I'm reminded that my legal right to safely ride on the streets is not important enough to be protected, and ride accordingly.

+1

+2

In Toronto, we do have police support. It's a start.

https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2017/06/15/parking-enforcement-officer-takes-to-twitter-and-two-wheels-to-zap-bike-lane-invaders.html

A few months ago I was commuting from work to the train (for reference: in Chicago, east-bound in the bike lane on Jackson in front of the Chicago Police Education and Training Academy) when I encountered five uniformed police officers riding in the bike lane in the wrong direction. I gave up hope.
Steve

Escape from Los Angeles.

If there were a bike lane they'd be riding in it

Is it worth it to contact the police and say "Hey, I'm having an issue with some people passing me by inches, could you maybe consider a speed trap for a few days to make my commute safer?"

classic

cops in MA are awesome

Problem is, the cops will pull over bikers instead of cars

Tell the cops and the motorists to get bike lanes installed so you can ride in them.

Visit Fort Worth. Our police are good folks. Some of 'em even ride with us.

Recently I had my first verbal altercation with a driver since I resumed cycling a couple of years ago. The guy was spouting the usual B.S. about bikes not belonging in the vehicle lane, blah-blah-blah. Never mind that it was a nearly deserted road and he was 50 yards behind me when I actually came to a complete stop at the stop sign while taking the lane. I've been right hooked at that intersection before, so taking the middle of the lane briefly at the stop sign is safer. As soon as I'm into the intersection I move right. He was never inconvenienced.

Nope, he had to be the self appointed hall monitor. Brush by pass, honking the horn, then stopping at the next sign to wait for me so he could fuss some more.

I told him I'd be happy to call the police and set him straight on the law. It wasn't a threat. I was confident the police would support my appropriate use of the road.

The driver just took off.

But it felt pretty good to realize that I'm in a town that's actually supportive of cycling, with a mayor who sometimes rides with us, and bicycle mounted patrol officers.

Huge improvement over 30+ years ago, the last time I tried cycling in Texas.

That's what you have to do sometimes. If a motorist complains about a bicycle on the road, just tell him to call the police to complain that there's a bicycle on the road.

(They'll just laugh at him if they don't hang up.)

I don't like to get into altercations at all, and I'm not a particularly imposing person. If someone harasses me while on the road, I usually just wave and gradually slow down. Without fail, they don't want to slow down themselves, especially if there's more traffic behind them, so they just leave.

I wouldn't do this in a dangerous area -- in fact I generally avoid dangerous areas. Of course you have to use your own best judgment as to whether this is a good approach or not.

A lot of cops believe that cyclists should not be on the roads and if they are they should stay hard to the right and out of the way of the motor traffic that really and truly rightly belongs on the road. I'd not count on these to be of any help.

Careful, they would most likely put the bike lane in the door zone. Center lane riding alongside parking is far safer than a door zone bike lane.

How would a speed trap solve the problem of close passes? For one thing, speeding and buzz passing are very different things. And for another thing, it's nearly impossible to gauge a car's passing distance to a cyclist, while sitting in a stationary vehicle off the side of the road. And even then the pass would need to happen right there within the LEO's left-to-right field of vision.

The difficulty of 3FP enforcement is why I advocate for "repeal and replace", putting "change lanes to pass" laws into place instead.

That's great. As he says, the commercial drivers just take the ticket and continue parking there. IMO there has to be an escalation.

First ticket, $150. Multiples up every time. next one is $300, then $450, 600, etc.

I actually did talk with a very nice police officer. There's parts of that road with great visibility. And a speed trap is not dedicated to catch only people who speed, it's for all traffic offenses which includes passing too closely.

Progress is being made. Canada Post says it will instruct drivers to stay out of the bike lanes. But an interview with an unidentified driver says it's really hard to look for parking spaces to make deliveries.

My feedback:

1) What did they do before bike lanes? Block the traffic lanes? Jump curbs to block pedestrians? Go back to that. Don't block the bike lanes.

2) Go look for a parking pad. Pay the parking fee, take out your trolley and make your deliveries from your parking space.

I recall reading that years ago, I assume before bike lanes, delivery vehicles just parked in the travel lanes, blocking up traffic.