Hi, I signed up on this list recently. I've been bike commuting for 1 1/2 yrs, I
took the Road I course 3 months ago and have significantly decreased our car use
since then by replacing a lot of car trips (groceries, errands) by bike. I've
also racked up the miles on my bike because I've gone way overboard with my
cycling enthusiasm. So that's my experience, and here's my 2 cents, for what it
is worth, on the topic.

thomas_d_church wrote:
>The cyclist education advocates (Ken and others) are correct in
>promoting education to reduce cyclists contributing to car/bike
>collisions but they are still short on what to do with distracted
>drivers.

Education will have a much greater impact on safety, but laws & severe
punishments are the only thing that will curb distracted drivers. While there
will always be some who continue to flaunt the law, most will use more care if
they know mistakes carry a heavy penalty. By "severe" I mean jail and heavy
fines. While the phrase "protecting cyclists" is overstated, in theory, if
implemented properly, the new law could eventually result in a slight advantage
for cyclists. In the meantime those heavy fines can be used for cycling
infrastructure and education. :)

thomas_d_church wrote:
>Painted bike lanes seem to restrict cyclists movements
>without adding any major benefit. As several others have pointed out,
>the police and others tend to harass cyclists who are outside of
>painted bike lanes. The lanes seem to be more a way of keeping them out
>of driver's way and excusing drivers from hitting cyclists that stray
>from their painted boundaries.

I'm sure you all know better than I, but my experience has been positive with
bike lanes. I understand they must be designed properly and used properly at
intersections, but in my city (which is fairly proactive about cycling) I am
comfortable with the bike lanes and in my perception there is a benefit of
easier negotiations with cagers, er, cars.