I’m asking for your help

[brainstormerus]

Hi folks —

A member of the D.C. Used Bicycle Marketplace on Facebook suggested I share my story here with the hope of piquing some interest in a project I’m starting.

Last week, I was harassed by a driver as I was waiting for a red light to turn in Columbia Heights. The driver made contact with my rear tire (I was on a bikeshare bike at the time) and attempted to push me into the intersection with the front of her car. Then she had the gall to yell at me for being in the way. I informed her that I had every right to use the lane, but it was clear the person behind the wheel was simply too angry to be reasoned with. When the light turned green, she peeled off around me and began weaving in and out of the car traffic ahead — clearly either very impatient or in a major hurry.

In response to this frustrating and dangerous experience, I’m pushing forward with an idea I’ve had for several years. I’d like to order a custom-printed backpack cover bearing R4-11, otherwise known as the “Bikes May Use Full Lane” traffic sign.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12281[/ATTACH]

The goal here is to educate drivers on the law with a piece of functional commuting equipment. But I need your help: Although many of the vendors I’m talking to say this project is entirely feasible, they typically require minimum orders of 500 units or more.

So I’m asking you: Please consider signing up here to request an R4-11 pack cover of your own and help make this project a reality. You won’t be committing to anything; I’m just trying to gauge interest at the moment. The per-unit cost is not high, at roughly a few dollars each. And even if you don’t use it yourself, it could make a fun gift for someone you know.

It only takes a few people to make this economically feasible. Be one of them, and help everyone use the roads more safely while shielding your bag from the elements.

Topic

[scoot]

@brainstormerus 144446 wrote:

The driver made contact with my rear tire (I was on a bikeshare bike at the time) and attempted to push me into the intersection with the front of her car.

Did you report this incident? Pushing someone into an intersection is an extremely dangerous thing to do.

[brainstormerus]

@scoot 144465 wrote:

Did you report this incident? Pushing someone into an intersection is an extremely dangerous thing to do.

I didn’t, no — it occurred to me later that I should have snapped a photo of the driver’s license plate, but in the heat of the moment it completely slipped my mind.

[LeprosyStudyGroup]

Are you the guy who already has this sign mounted to the back of his bike with the VA code #s and stuff?

[creadinger]

@brainstormerus 144446 wrote:

Hi folks —

A member of the D.C. Used Bicycle Marketplace on Facebook suggested I share my story here with the hope of piquing some interest in a project I’m starting.

Last week, I was harassed by a driver as I was waiting for a red light to turn in Columbia Heights. The driver made contact with my rear tire (I was on a bikeshare bike at the time) and attempted to push me into the intersection with the front of her car. Then she had the gall to yell at me for being in the way. I informed her that I had every right to use the lane, but it was clear the person behind the wheel was simply too angry to be reasoned with. When the light turned green, she peeled off around me and began weaving in and out of the car traffic ahead — clearly either very impatient or in a major hurry.

In response to this frustrating and dangerous experience, I’m pushing forward with an idea I’ve had for several years. I’d like to order a custom-printed backpack cover bearing R4-11, otherwise known as the “Bikes May Use Full Lane” traffic sign.

The goal here is to educate drivers on the law with a piece of functional commuting equipment. But I need your help: Although many of the vendors I’m talking to say this project is entirely feasible, they typically require minimum orders of 500 units or more.

So I’m asking you: Please consider signing up here to request an R4-11 pack cover of your own and help make this project a reality. You won’t be committing to anything; I’m just trying to gauge interest at the moment. The per-unit cost is not high, at roughly a few dollars each. And even if you don’t use it yourself, it could make a fun gift for someone you know.

While the idea seems fine, I would be more interested in patches to sew onto my panniers rather than a cover for a backpack that I don’t use. But something tells me that if this woman was so ragey she was willing to use her car to push you out of the way, then a reminder of your legal right to the road wouldn’t matter worth a damn to her. Good luck with your venture. I think research has proven that “Bikes may use full lane” signs are far more effective than the “Share the Road Signs” at least.

[KLizotte]

I appreciate what you are doing but I never wear a bike pack while cycling. I am also really glad you are okay after your horrible interaction with the crazy driver. Hopefully she will only have a minor fenderbender to show her the error of her ways. Try to concentrate on the positive: most drivers are courteous to bikers and some even go out of their way to be extra careful and kind. The lemons are a minority.

Please consider joining the Washington Area Bicyclists Association if you haven’t already. It serves as the main advocacy and educational organization for the area. If you can find a way to report the incident, please do. WABA and various bicycle advocacy organizations in the area are pushing for better reporting mechanisms and standards but it’s a long road ahead.

On Capital Bikeshare it is unlikely you are wearing a cycling jersey, but here are safety focused jerseys available:

http://www.sharethedamnroad.com/
http://www.3feetplease.com/

Googling turns up some t-shirts too:

http://www.zazzle.com/share+the+road+tshirts

I’m a big fan of some police cars that are now showing up with cycling public service announcements on their back windshield. We need to push for more of them.

[jabberwocky]

People like that don’t give a damn about the law. The only thing that deters them is thinking there might be a consequence for their actions. I’d recommend a helmet cam and a backpack that says “bike equipped with camera, aggressive driving will be reported to police” on it.

[TwoWheelsDC]

#actually you don’t necessarily have the right to use the full lane, strictly speaking. DC, MD, and VA have FRAP (Far Right as Practicable) laws, which require cyclists to ride to the far right of the lane. That means that “taking the lane” could technically be illegal under some circumstances, at least by my reading of the laws. That said, FRAP laws are generally incoherent and stupid, and seem mostly unenforceable (“practicable” is completely subjective).

Back to your project, I often worry that these types of things (and also all that “3 feet please” gear) may do more to further antagonize drivers that are already likely to behave like assholes…like “don’t tell me how to drive!!!!”

[accordioneur]

@KLizotte 144481 wrote:

http://www.3feetplease.com/

My commute takes me past The National Science Foundation and DARPA. I may need to order the “1 METRE PLEASE” jersey.

[lordofthemark]

@LeprosyStudyGroup 144475 wrote:

Are you the guy who already has this sign mounted to the back of his bike with the VA code #s and stuff?

He appeared in the USDOT garage one time – not sure if he works here, or was paying a visit.

[huskerdont]

@TwoWheelsDC 144504 wrote:

Back to your project, I often worry that these types of things (and also all that “3 feet please” gear) may do more to further antagonize drivers that are already likely to behave like assholes…like “don’t tell me how to drive!!!!”

If educating people about 3-ft passing laws is going to antagonize certain people, then I say antagonize them. Anyone that gets upset at being told about the 3-ft passing law already has a problem and there’s nothing that can be done about it. Educate for the people that are willing to care and forget about the assholes, who are a lost cause anyway.

[worktheweb]

The interpretation I’ve always seen for “as far to the right as is practicable” is as far to the right as it is safe for you to be. If it going further right puts you in the door zone, that’s not practicable, stay left of that line. If going further right encourages drivers to squeeze between you and cars to the left, essentially running off the road, that’s not practicable, stay left enough to stop that behavior. If you’re in a single lane road and riding on the center line making it unsafe to be passed at all, you’re probably violating the law. Of course, I’m not a lawyer … this is not legal advice.

[Author]

Replies