(a) An operator passing another vehicle:
(1) shall pass to the left of the other vehicle at a safe distance; and
(2) may not move back to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the passed vehicle.”

“Sec. 545.401. RECKLESS DRIVING; OFFENSE.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person drives a vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.” (f)(g)

“Sec. 545.103. SAFELY TURNING

An operator may not turn the vehicle to enter a private road or driveway, otherwise turn the vehicle from a direct course, or move right or left on a roadway unless movement can be made safely.” (e)

“Sec. 545.418. OPENING VEHICLE DOORS.

A person may not:
(1) open the door of a motor vehicle on the side available to moving traffic, unless the door may be opened in reasonable safety without interfering with the movement of other traffic.”

“Sec. 545.060. DRIVING ON ROADWAY LANED FOR TRAFFIC.

(a) An operator on a roadway divided into two or more clearly marked lanes for traffic:
(1) shall drive as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane.” (b.1)

“Sec. 545.152. VEHICLE TURNING LEFT.

To turn left at an intersection or into an alley or private road or driveway, an operator shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle that is approaching from the opposite direction and that is in the intersection or in such proximity to the intersection as to be an immediate hazard.” (d)

Bike lanes are not the answer, at least they are not the complete answer. There are situations where bike lanes are the best option. Off the top of my head I cannot think of any of those situations, but I am sure that they exist.
MUPS or off the road bike trails are not the complete answer. The exorbinant cost to build and maintain a totally seperate infrastructure for cyclists is mind blowing. Of course, it would never go to where I need to go…but that is another story.

At some point; hopefully later rather than sooner, I will be forced to amputate the entire lower portion of my right leg. Basically the salvage bought me time. However, due to the extensive injuries, and the compromised cardiovascular system, as my vessels begin to harden with age, the lost bloodflow will result in an “extremity that is no longer viable”. All of this because one person either, thought she could make it around me, felt that she had more right to the road than I did, or did not see me. I cannot even begin to say what she was thinking, but I do not for an instant believe that she did not see me. I honestly believe that she underestimated my speed. Even though I was doing within 2 mph of the speed limit, her frame of reference was such that it might have been difficult to judge the speed of an approaching motorcycle (or bicycle), and since there were no other vehicles for her to frame against, she thought she had time to get out and past in front of me. This is instead of waiting an additional 2 seconds for me to pass. I am in no way implying that our collision was a malicious act. I do not believe that she would have stayed on site if that had been the case.

Yep, I wandered a bit off topic here.

As I was sitting at a red stoplight (two lanes going in my direction of travel, one was turn only (left), and the other lane was straight and right turn). A car pulled up behind me and honked. I waved “hello” over my shoulder. He honked again, and again I waved. Wash, rinse and repeat, until I turned around and looked at him. It was a car with 4 high school kids in it. The front seat passenger climbs out the window, and sitting on the edge of the door starts yelling at me. After about 15 seconds, I give him a “your number one” salute, and turn around. The light turned a couple of seconds later, I continued on my way, and the schoolers turned right. I however, was pissed. There is no way that he would have reacted like that to a car sitting at the light. He would have simply sat, like the good little sheeple that he was, and waited for the light to change. The fact that becasue I was on a bike I for some reason have less of a right to the road than he does simply chaps my backside.

There seriously needs to be some further driver’s education on what the laws are and how a motorist is supposed to behave around other vehicles. Bicycles included.

Police have been concentrating on the wrong issues. What is one of the biggest reason for a cyclist to get pulled over when riding on the roads? Hint — think about our friend Fred_dot_U’s most recent experience. That’s right, he was pulled because he was (a) not far enough to the right and that made him (b) an impediment to traffic flow (in the officer’s mind, anyway).

Where is any safety issue(s) being addressed? It could be argued that a cyclist like Fred is endangering himself when riding on the road in the manner that he has chosen (vehicularly), but we can prove statistically that isn’t the case. What police are choosing to do is enforce traffic flow issues over safety issues — perhaps unconsciously, but more likely due to a cultural shift of the concerns of society about having unencumbered access to the street.

Mighk Wilson had done some reading on this and pointed out that early on, police were NOT interested in dealing with traffic flow issues, but were much more concerned with safety issues — specifically at the time (I think it was the early 20th century) it was how to get pedestrians safely across the street. Somewhere along the way, safety has taken a back seat to traffic flow such that now the flow of traffic has been deemed critical for society and something for law enforcement to regulate. Today we have an auto-centric view of traffic that supports the notion that the auto drivers come first and much further down the line are cyclists and pedestrians. That’s completely backwards from a safety perspective. The most vulnerable members of traffic are first pedestrians, followed second by cyclists. Next would be motorized two wheels (electric bikes, scooters, motorcycles) followed finally by autos and then trucks.

So what are the safety issues that we, cyclists would like to see law enforcement concentrate on for us? The FBA would like to see more enforcement in the following areas:

* For motorists — Improper passing and following too close (enforcement of the 3-foot rule), harassment for being on the road, reckless endangerment and assault.
* For cyclists — Red-light running, wrong-way riding and riding without lights at night.

Doesn’t this make sense to you? LEOs: Quit worrying over how far to the right a cyclist is riding (traffic flow issue), but do make sure they are riding in the correct direction, are stopping at red lights, and if riding at night have the proper equipment (all safety issues, statistically proven to be the cause of the majority of bicycle accidents). Write tickets for those that do not comply! To help cyclists share the road, make sure motorists do not threaten the safety of the cyclist by acting aggressively with their car or pass too closely. Write some tickets!

I believe if this message is taken under serious consideration by local police and other law departments, and action taken, then we could see significant, positive changes for cyclists. I for one would love to see cyclists pulled over and ticketed for running red lights. I don’t think it would take many before the word spreads through the cycling community — yes, you’re not supposed to run and yes, you will get a ticket if they see you. I’m sure there are motorists who would appreciate seeing a few of these tickets given out as well, and I’d sure like to eliminate “running red lights” as a major pet-peeve that motorists have against cyclists. Consequently, I’d love to see motorists who deserve it ticketed for unsafe passing of a cyclist.

But most of all, what I would like to see is all police and law enforcement as a friend to cyclists, who care about our safety and take it as being more important than how fast traffic flows.

The entire post can be read here:Traffic Flow vs. Safety