sharing the road

Zebee Johnstone said:

What does "sharing the road" mean to you?

Social behaviour - ie treating the road as a communal area. That means
trying to minimise your impact on other users while maintaining your own
safety and sanity. Stopping for an orange light, giving space if there's a
signal and you can reasonably do so, getting out of the way of faster
traffic if it's reasonable to do so.

Every now and then I seem to meet a like minded individual, and driving
becomes a whole lot more pleasant.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory

Zebee Johnstone said:

A recent discussion elsewhere prompts me to ask this of the people
here.

What does "sharing the road" mean to you?

Using the road responsibly, abiding by the road laws.

Quoted message said:

What should others do to share it?

The same.

Zebee Johnstone said:

A recent discussion elsewhere prompts me to ask this of the people
here.

What does "sharing the road" mean to you?

What should others do to share it?

What should you do?

Zebee

When I am riding my bike on the road I am considerate of the people driving cars,
When I am driving my car I am considerate of people riding their bikes

In the vast majority of cases where problems arise is where cyclists or motorists try and gain a few seconds advantage eg cyclist running a red, motorist not prepare to wait to go around a cyclist and pushing them into the gutter, if we all relaxed a little and were not in such a hurry there is room for us all.

Bleve said:

Zebee Johnstone said:

A recent discussion elsewhere prompts me to ask this of the people
here.

What does "sharing the road" mean to you?

Using the road responsibly, abiding by the road laws.

Quoted message said:

What should others do to share it?

The same.

Further than just abiding by the laws, I try to extend small courtesies
to other road users. If it's safe for me to give a little bit of extra
space in the lane for a car to pass, I'll do so. Sometimes if I'm
waiting at a red light to go straight but there's a green left arrow
and a car is waiting behind me, I'll shuffle across so that the car can
take the arrow.

In return, I appreciate it when motorists extend small courtesies back
to cyclists even though they are not required by law. Things like
making room for bike traffic to filter through stopped cars at a red
light, or keeping clear of the bike lane while waiting to parallel
park.

Quoted message said:

Bleve said:

Zebee Johnstone said:

A recent discussion elsewhere prompts me to ask this of the people
here.

What does "sharing the road" mean to you?

Using the road responsibly, abiding by the road laws.

Quoted message said:

What should others do to share it?

The same.

Further than just abiding by the laws, I try to extend small courtesies
to other road users. If it's safe for me to give a little bit of extra
space in the lane for a car to pass, I'll do so. Sometimes if I'm
waiting at a red light to go straight but there's a green left arrow
and a car is waiting behind me, I'll shuffle across so that the car can
take the arrow.

I always do that too, as a courtesy thing. Usually I get a thankyou
wave for it.

Zebee Johnstone said:

A recent discussion elsewhere prompts me to ask this of the people
here.

What does "sharing the road" mean to you?

It is a goal to which I believe we should all aspire and in the
meantime, we should be learning all methods to bring this about.

Quoted message said:

What should others do to share it?

I haven't got any to share

Quoted message said:

What should you do?

Lots of ideas on the internet.
Park old lounges to slow down traffic,
Lower road speeds to 10kms per hour in your street
Mark out a backetball court, cricket pitch, etc on your street.
etc

Quoted message said:

Zebee

I agree - I've always considered the whole "sharing the road" thing to
not mean anyything about the road rules per se, but actually about
being courteous to each other.

Being considerate. And not being a pr!ck. If you're a cyclist, don't
take a lane if you have an ample shoulder. If you are a car driver,
don't squeeze past if you clearly don't have room. And above all,
no-one should be a cranky-puss!!

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Simple, yeah??

Cheers,
Abby

Absent Husband wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

Being considerate. And not being a pr!ck. If you're a cyclist, don't
take a lane if you have an ample shoulder. If you are a car driver,
don't squeeze past if you clearly don't have room. And above all,
no-one should be a cranky-puss!!

<snip>

Except LotteBum. She has the right to be a crank-puss and I'm not going
to tell her otherwise!

Tam

Zebee Johnstone said:

A recent discussion elsewhere prompts me to ask this of the people
here.

What does "sharing the road" mean to you?

What should others do to share it?

What should you do?

Zebee

Good question; the answer is not so easy.

To me, sharing the road means asserting your rights within the bounds of the law.

For example, claiming the lane is not only my right, and lawful but it is the safest way to ride a bicycle; particualarly on narrow streets and lanes.

It infuriates me to see other cyclists clinging to the gutter. You see them having to merge out into the traffic to go around a parked car then, cling the gutter again for 50m only to merge out again.

I find this dangerous and irresponsible.

Not only is it dangerous to be weaving in and out of the traffic, it re-enforces the notion that cyclists belong in the gutter or; that motorists have every right to force their way around you.

It may be courteous to move over, but it is not always safe or responsible.

Having said that, if it is a wide boulevarde, or a huge shoulder, then keep left if you don't need to weave in and out.

So, sharing the road means:

Asserting yourself
Keeping within the law.

Scotty

Zebee Johnstone said:

A recent discussion elsewhere prompts me to ask this of the people
here.

What does "sharing the road" mean to you?

empathy with other road users

Quoted post said:

What should others do to share it?

be responsible, and excercise due care and attention with a smile for others and a willingness to take some time to slow down or give way even when having right of way. (not drive 4WDs in urban areas as a shopping/school kid mom truck)

Quoted post said:

What should you do?

expect the unexpected, never assume the other wants to share with you, smile back, obey the law , be visible and predictable....signal a thank you where you can

Quoted message said:

Zebee Johnstone said:

A recent discussion elsewhere prompts me to ask this of the people
here.

What does "sharing the road" mean to you?
empathy with other road users

Quoted message said:

What should others do to share it?be responsible, and excercise due care
and attention with a smile for

others and a willingness to take some time to slow down or give way
even when having right of way. (not drive 4WDs in urban areas as a
shopping/school kid mom truck)

Quoted message said:

What should you do?expect the unexpected, never assume the other wants to
share with you,

smile back, obey the law , be visible and predictable....signal a thank
you where you can

--

"Share the road" to many motorists means cyclists get 1%, I get 99%. It
also means "we can both fit in this lane, even if I miss you by half a
centimetre". I mean, we are not in an equal situation here, where sharing
can actually mean all that much.

I think instead of a slogan such as Share The Road, which can mean almost
anything, more specific grabs are needed, like "Motorists pass cyclists with
care" or "watch for cyclists when turning left" , or even "cyclists are
legal road users, treat them with respect". Particularly during Bike Week
or National Ride to Work Day (4/10) the road authorities should be running
safety campaigns with these sort of messages on the media, VMS, billboards
etc. We would have to cop a bit of "cyclists must obey the road rules" or
such, but that would be fair.

fb

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:29:01 GMT

Fractal said:

I think instead of a slogan such as Share The Road, which can mean almost
anything, more specific grabs are needed, like "Motorists pass cyclists with
care" or "watch for cyclists when turning left" , or even "cyclists are
legal road users, treat them with respect". Particularly during Bike Week

What slogans should be aimed at cyclists?

Zebee

On 2006-08-31, Zebee Johnstone (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:29:01 GMT

Fractal said:

I think instead of a slogan such as Share The Road, which can mean almost
anything, more specific grabs are needed, like "Motorists pass cyclists with
care" or "watch for cyclists when turning left" , or even "cyclists are
legal road users, treat them with respect". Particularly during Bike Week

What slogans should be aimed at cyclists?

"Stop at the red light, [censored]!"

🙂

--
TimC
Animals who are not penguins can only wish they were.

TimC said:

On 2006-08-31, Zebee Johnstone (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:29:01 GMT

Fractal said:

I think instead of a slogan such as Share The Road, which can mean almost
anything, more specific grabs are needed, like "Motorists pass cyclists with
care" or "watch for cyclists when turning left" , or even "cyclists are
legal road users, treat them with respect". Particularly during Bike Week

What slogans should be aimed at cyclists?

"Stop at the red light, [censored]!"

🙂

Bloody idiot's good enough for drink drivers so [censored] shouldn't be
too much of a stretch.
--
Cheers
Euan

On 2006-08-31, Euan (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

TimC said:

On 2006-08-31, Zebee Johnstone (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:29:01 GMT
Fractal <[email hidden]> wrote:
> I think instead of a slogan such as Share The Road, which can mean almost
> anything, more specific grabs are needed, like "Motorists pass cyclists with
> care" or "watch for cyclists when turning left" , or even "cyclists are
> legal road users, treat them with respect". Particularly during Bike Week
What slogans should be aimed at cyclists?

"Stop at the red light, [censored]!"

🙂

Bloody idiot's good enough for drink drivers so [censored] shouldn't be
too much of a stretch.

And besides, [censored] Smith gets away with it on his matches.

--
TimC
Look - a diversion! It's shiny! -- Daniel Stone

"Bleve" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Bleve said:

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
> A recent discussion elsewhere prompts me to ask this of the people
> here.
>
> What does "sharing the road" mean to you?

Using the road responsibly, abiding by the road laws.

> What should others do to share it?

The same.

Further than just abiding by the laws, I try to extend small courtesies
to other road users. If it's safe for me to give a little bit of extra
space in the lane for a car to pass, I'll do so. Sometimes if I'm
waiting at a red light to go straight but there's a green left arrow
and a car is waiting behind me, I'll shuffle across so that the car can
take the arrow.

I always do that too, as a courtesy thing. Usually I get a thankyou
wave for it.

Yep all that sort of thing. There are myriad small courtesies that cost you
nothing or very little and they make everything work better.

Fractal said:

"Share the road" to many motorists means cyclists get 1%, I get 99%. It
also means "we can both fit in this lane, even if I miss you by half a
centimetre".

And for many bicyclists it also has the same meaning.

What about "Share the MIDDLE of the lane".

Then qualifications get messy:

"When wide shoulders and no parked cars, the shoulder is usually safe"
"you don't have to share the lane when there isn't room to share"
"Don't share the deadly car door lane!"

Dan

rooman said:

Zebee Johnstone said:

A recent discussion elsewhere prompts me to ask this of the people
here.

What does "sharing the road" mean to you?
empathy with other road users

Quoted message said:

What should others do to share it?be responsible, and excercise due
care and attention with a smile for

others and a willingness to take some time to slow down or give way
even when having right of way. (not drive 4WDs in urban areas as a
shopping/school kid mom truck)

Quoted message said:

What should you do?expect the unexpected, never assume the other
wants to share with you,

smile back, obey the law , be visible and predictable....signal a
thank you where you can

I agree with all of that.
Rooman, I suspect you're posting from a board or something. Your text gets
mixed up with that of the person you're replying to. If you would insert a,
or another, carriage return between the previous poster's text and your own,
it would be attributed correctly, and much easier to read

See above para. Your text starts with expect but the attributes suggest your
input starts at smile back.

Theo

On 2006-09-01, Theo Bekkers (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Rooman, I suspect you're posting from a board or something. Your text gets
mixed up with that of the person you're replying to. If you would insert a,
or another, carriage return between the previous poster's text and your own,
it would be attributed correctly, and much easier to read

Same as Euan when posting via cyclingforums.

You need at least 2 newlines between all subquotes and reply (and
sometimes apparently 3) when posting via cyclingforums, for the post
not to be completely messed up for us non-cyclingforums users.

--
TimC
"I've read that I flew up the hills and mountains of France. But you
don't fly up a hill. You struggle slowly and painfully up a hill, and
maybe, if you work very hard, you get to the top ahead of everybody
else." -- Lance Armstrong