Just a Quick Post on "Sharing the Road"

 Biking is Fun

Biking is a pretty popular sport. Everyone likes to bike except maybe people who like to fish - off a pier - in a chair - with a bucket next to them. I never got into fishing but I do bike.

Don't have to be a pro to like biking

I just like to recreational bike. You know, on the bike trails that seem to be everywhere these days. I don't enter races or anything, I just like to get outside sometimes and bike.

Bike Helmets Are To Protect Your Brain

Most people who bike today wear bicycle helmets. That is quite a change from when I grew up. We all thought bike helmets made you look dorky, and let's face it - they do. Today we know that a bike helmet can mean the difference between a minor fall and a major accident. So when I bike I always take my helmet.

Brains Are To Protect You

When I bike I also take my brain with me. I don't leave my cognitive reasoning in the closet when I bike. I use it to make my biking more fun, safe, and enjoyable.

"Wait a minute, sir. It don't take no brains to ride a bike, daggummit!"

No, it really doesn't. Once you learn it is pretty easy to do without thinking. But I still take my brain.

Share The Road

I take my brain with me when I bike regardless. This means I look both ways before crossing into potential traffic and I ride in a designated bike path or, if none, on the sidewalk if it is a busy road and to the extreme right of the road if traffic is light or traffic is slow.

"Dat aint sharing da road. That's just regressive thinking! You got a right just like a car to be on dat road and you need tah exercise dat right to get dose drivers to learn!"

Yes, yes, everything is Pavlovian. But there is this thing - I call it my brain (see above) that tells me that on my bike I lose every time if a car decides not to share the road. Maybe I try to train the one dog that can't be trained. Oh sure, maybe after the accident he'd learn and learn good but I'm still dead. My brain tells me "no."

Those Peculiar Bikers

I not talking about the bicyclists that ride on the right side of the road. You know the ones - they are enthusiasts, possibly training for a race, ride in groups, and they do everything they can to share the road with cars. For those bikers I always try to give them a wide birth just out of respect.

But the bike riding folk that believe bikes are equal to cars and that all urban areas should be "bike friendly" and press this agenda are addressed here. These are the bikers that ride in the middle of the road and act like a car. They will continue to block traffic, piss-off drivers, and basically run amok. These are the few that need to realize reality.

So, below I have listed the law as it exists today. Enjoy...

Section 316.2065 Bicycle regulations.—

. . .
(5)(a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride in the lane marked for bicycle use or, if no lane is marked for bicycle use, as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:
1. When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
2. When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
3. When reasonably necessary to avoid any condition, including, but not limited to, a fixed or moving object, parked or moving vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian, animal, surface hazard, or substandard-width lane, that makes it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge. For the purposes of this subsection, a “substandard-width lane” is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
(b) Any person operating a bicycle upon a one-way highway with two or more marked traffic lanes may ride as near the left-hand curb or edge of such roadway as practicable.
(6) Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway may not ride more than two abreast except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles. Persons riding two abreast may not impede traffic when traveling at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing and shall ride within a single lane.
(7) Any person operating a bicycle shall keep at least one hand upon the handlebars.
(8) Every bicycle in use between sunset and sunrise shall be equipped with a lamp on the front exhibiting a white light visible from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front and a lamp and reflector on the rear each exhibiting a red light visible from a distance of 600 feet to the rear. A bicycle or its rider may be equipped with lights or reflectors in addition to those required by this section.
(9) No parent of any minor child and no guardian of any minor ward may authorize or knowingly permit any such minor child or ward to violate any of the provisions of this section.
(10) A person propelling a vehicle by human power upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, has all the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances.
(11) A person propelling a bicycle upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing such pedestrian.
. . .