Hello Michael, all: I have only one edit. Michael, when the teens in trucks yelled at you, they may have intended a *different* erroneous interpretation of the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists. I once bicycled over the same bridge, and a guy - grown up type, 45 years of age - was having a conversation at the top of the bridge, nearly totally blocking the bridge. As I squeezed by, he said something about it being a sidewalk - i.e., that I should not have been riding my bicycle over it. As opposed to hanging out on top of it blathering on and blocking all who tried to pass. I was too busy to give him a piece of my mind...
Al Matano > Michael: > > Some quick answers to your email: > > 1. Yes, you should position yourself as you would if you were in a car at > an intersection. I nearly always position myself as you did when going > straight, unless a bike lane runs all the way up to the stop bar. In fact, > this is the precise purpose of the few bike boxes you see around town - to > allow bikes going straight to position themselves in the straight-through > lane. > > 2. Kids in trucks... not much to say. > > 3. You are correct that state law now allows vehicles to cross a solid > yellow line in order to pass slow moving vehicles (less than half the > posted speed) when it is safe to do so. The reason that this was allowed > was for situations exactly like yours. No passing zones are put in place > with the assumption that traffic is moving close to the speed limit and > that it will take a significant distance for one car to pass another. > Obviously, this generally isn't the case when passing bicyclists - the > pass > occurs much quicker and the car often doesn't have to fully leave its > lane. > Such passes are safe in *some* no-passing zones, and it sounds like it > wasn't a problem for you (other than being harassed by the cyclist). > > I agree that we need a lot more education out there - for bicyclists AND > motorists alike. The Bike Fed's Share & Be Aware campaign has been > spreading some of the information, but it would be nice to see an even > larger campaign carried out statewide over the next few years. And to have > more info in driver's ed classes and on the drivers exam. > > I believe you were behaving appropriately and legally in all three > situations you described. > > Kevin > ------------------------------------ > *Kevin Luecke* > Head of Planning, Policy & Legislation > Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin > www.bfw.org | 608-251-4456 > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
