Here’s Your Sign

There are several routes available to and from work on my daily ride, and it has come to my attention that more and more (not like dandelions in Spring) Share The Road signs are going up, appropriately in areas where there is a wider lane, but no designated bike lane.

I do not believe this changes the behavior of most motorists, it merely gives us something to point to in case we are involved in a collision with a car. Ride like you belong on the road, and use care when taking more of the lane than you should (potholes, roadkill, hazards of any sort). Blinkies on your backpack or messenger bag also help.

Does anyone anywhere else see positive improvements to their commuting/riding experience?

14 Comments

  1. That’s awesome. It turns out that as of August 2010, only 76 of 1,600 miles of Colorado Springs roads had bike lanes. I’d prefer lanes (especially as robust as these) over signs, but right now we can’t maintain our parks or clear our roadside weeds. Colorado Springs does charge an excise tax on every bike sold locally to create/maintain bike lanes, but I fear the proliferation of online retailing significantly undercuts this objective.

  2. I see rather the opposite. In Albany, NY, they’ve put up sharrows and a few signs that say “Bikes may use full lane.” Despite this, people continue to ride on the sidewalk. People ride against the sharrows. I’ve seen a lot of shiny new “Share the road” signs, but very few people up here, on bicycles or not, seem to be aware of them.

  3. I see rather the opposite. In Albany, NY, they’ve put up sharrows and a few signs that say “Bikes may use full lane.” Despite this, people continue to ride on the sidewalk. People ride against the sharrows. I’ve seen a lot of shiny new “Share the road” signs, but very few people up here, on bicycles or not, seem to be aware of them.

  4. Living just outside of Vancouver BC, I can’t say I have seen a huge improvement. Many of the have bike lanes which mysteriously disappear a few hundred meters along. The one thing I have noticed which is awesome, is that there are more and more people using their bike to commute in the morning, hopefully the municipality will see this and maybe one day complete the phantom bike lanes. 

  5. There is an exclusive residential complex in my area that now has a Share the Road sign on their access road. I have to  think that makes a bit of difference to the folks that live there as a pass by cyclists.

    Another significant improvement here Illinois, is the 3ft law. Most motorists will now avoid coming within 3ft of cyclists when passing providing there is room in their lane to do so. Frequently some motorists will panic with the idea of needing to slow a bit to pass when safe and swerve into oncoming traffic. This creates a bit of excitement as the oncoming traffic leaves the road to avoid collision. Unfortunately local motorists still like pass cyclists on blind curves and hills. I guess there needs to be sign for that.  Even with the motorists’ bad behavior I try to be understanding because of Illinois driver licensing standards aren’t their fault.

  6. I had an interesting exchange with the driver of a car who honked at me when I took the lane.  At the next light I politely explained to him why I took the lane.  He told me to share the road!

  7. I had an interesting exchange with the driver of a car who honked at me when I took the lane.  At the next light I politely explained to him why I took the lane.  He told me to share the road!

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