The whole 'cannot impede the flow of traffic' thing is iffy as far as I'm
concerned. The argument could (and is) made that a single cyclist on the road
impedes traffic flow. I'm gonna drop that and let the lawyers argue it out.
I agree that a lot of cyclists display bad habits on the road, I've seen it
today as a matter of fact. The habits of cyclists AND drivers have both degraded
in the last 24 years. My thinking is that it's not a cyclist or motorist issue,
but one of a widespread decrease in courtesy and an increase in
self-centeredness. (Yeah, I may have just made that word up, I'll let the
English teachers sort it) That attitude has nothing to do with what vehicle you
choose to get you around or what kind of recreation you enjoy. It has everything
to do with people feeling like they are the most important thing in their world,
and that anything else just impedes them on their important mission to get home
in time for Lost or keep their heartrate in zone 4 or whatever.
As long as we keep thinking of this as us vs them, we will continue to have
problems. Next time you're on your bike or in your car, just assume the motorist
or cyclist you are interacting with is your kids principal or your neighbor or
your best friends grandma. I mean c'mon, would you yell at grandma?
E
----- Original Message -----
From: Chris
To: earthbike@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 10:19 AM
Subject: [earthbike] Re: Fwd: 3 foot rule





You can ride two abreast, but you also cannot impede the flow of traffic and
must yield when that's the case. That goes for a single cyclist as well as two
abreast.

Laws aside, it's just common courtesy to get single file for traffic. Since I
started cycling 24 years ago, I've seen a really bad degradation of cyclists'
skills and roadside manners. I love road cycling, still do it sometimes, but
honestly for about 70% of the riders I've witnessed or ridden with in Oklahoma,
I'm sorry but I'd have to side the the motorist a lot of the time, and I hate
saying that. :( The stupid thing is that the more it escalates and people flip
the bird or get uppity about something (on either side of the "war"), an
accelerator pedal and 2 ton machine are going to win every time. Ain't worth the
conflict to me...seen it happen to many times.

--- In earthbike@yahoogroups.com, "Eric Doswell" <trailjedi@...> wrote:
>
> I believe by law cyclists are allowed two abreast. Three, four and five
abreast as is commonly seen is not cool. We cyclists are as guilty of most
infractions as the motorists we rage about. We're also motorists most of the
time as well. If everyone stopped thinking about it as "us and them" things
would probably go a lot smoother. We as cyclists also need to police ourselves,
and ride according to the traffic laws we wave in the faces of angry drivers.
> E
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: chris pittman
> To: earthbike@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 9:06 AM
> Subject: Re: [earthbike] Fwd: 3 foot rule
>
>
>
>
>
> Thats in Maine. I guarantee OK is different. I get VERY agitated by roadies
who insist on riding abreast for no other reason than to have a conversation and
then flip you off with they're self righteous attitudes!
>
> ________________________________
> From: Amy Cooper <sandbox@...>
> To: earthbike@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Saturday, July 4, 2009 10:38:45 PM
> Subject: [earthbike] Fwd: 3 foot rule
>
> FYI - amy
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: chuck davis <dang.chuck@...>
> Date: Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 12:03 PM
> Subject: [ok-bike-society] Three foot rule enforced, plus......
> To: obs <ok-bike-society@yahoogroups.com>, BLN <BLN@yahoogroups.com>, TAT <
> TAT-OK@yahoogroups.com>, Tulsa Wheelmen <wheelmen@yahoogroups.com>, OBL <
> okbicycleliving@yahoogroups.com>, TeamBikeBuddies <
> TeamBikeBuddies@yahoogroups.com>
>
> I try and follow and otherwise keep up with what is happening across the
> country as pertains to bicycling road use "advocacy"
>
> I support and maintain memberships in a number of bicyclist's advocacy
> groups; my favorite is my "home state's" group, Maine's BCM
>
> ...........from a bicycling friendly state prospective, they (Maine) claim
> to be nationally 3rd!
>
> Three (3) foot passing rules have been a popular item nationally over the
> past year; ostensible lack of enforcement thereof in many cases has been
> more of a bitching exercise than anything else
>
> In the Summer 2009 issue of the the "Maine Cyclist", BCM's newsletter, the
> below is reported; knot only a traffic citation for the three foot violation
> butt a criminal complaint of "endangerment"
>
> “Brunswick Police Cite Motorist for 'Three-Foot" Violation
>
> Brunswick police may have issued the state's first citation under a state
> law that requires motorists to give three feet of clearance when passing
> bicyclists. The motorist allegedly passed two bicyclists on the afternoon of
> April 12 on Maine Street in Brunswick and struck one of them in the arm with
> his sports utility vehicle, then stopped and told them they shouldn't be in
> the road.
>
> The bicyclists reported the incident to police. The motorist received a $137
> traffic ticket for failure to use due care when passing a bicyclist, said
> Lt. Mark Waltz of the Brunswick Police Department. That is a violation also
> known as the "three-foot law." Waltz said police also charged the motorist
> with driving to endanger, a criminal offense.”
>
> BCM Summer 2009 Newsletter, p.6
>
> --
> Chuck Davis
> OK Velo (Okvelo@...)
> Tulsa, OK
>
> When ya really bored and/or otherwise want to understand just how cool a
> dude I yam, czech the deranged drivel and nonsense below:
>
> http://chucksbikes.blogspot.com/
> http://okvelo.blogspot.com/
> http://allweighscranky.blogspot.com/
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit the OBS web site at www.oklahomabicyclesociety.com
> ----------------------------------
> NOTICE: To remove yourself from this list, send a blank message to:
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>
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>
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