The lament of the Bicycle Commuter.

I have encountered such a number of motorists who appear to be ignorant of the rules of the road regarding bicyclists and feel free to run me off the road and threaten my life that I have decided to embark on a public education campaign by myself.  I am printing up the following flier and will hand it out to every motorist who yells at me to get off the road (I usually catch up to them at the traffic light.)  I feel that I fulfill my part by obeying traffic signals and other rules of the road; the least car-drivers can do is the same. 

Here's the flier:

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“In Florida, the bicycle is legally defined as a vehicle. Bicyclists have the same rights to the roadways and must obey the same traffic laws, as the operators of other vehicles [316.2065(1), Florida Statutes].... Motor vehicles are expected to share the roadway with bicyclists and yield the outer most right-hand edge of pavement to the bicyclists as a travel way. There is only one road that must be shared by bicyclists and motorists. Strict adherence to the law is the foundation for this respect. And it is up to the users to treat each other properly.” -City of Tampa Public Works Department

By riding my bicycle, I’m helping to reduce traffic and air pollution. 

If Tampa motorists continue to run me off the road, threaten me with their cars and make my bicycle commute more difficult and life-threatening, I will eventually have to get a car too and then you have one more car on the road to help congest the roadways and pollute the air and increase our dependence on foreign oil so we can go fight more wars and more of our soldiers will die.  I bet you really don’t want any of those things, do you?   It’s in your own self-interest to know the rules of the road and respect the rights of bicyclists!    P.S. If you threatened me with your vehicle, besides handing you this flier, I've already gotten your license tag and will be reporting you to the police.  Thanks!  Have a nice day!
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Here's a link to check out that might convince you of how easy it is to be a bicycle commuter and why I continue to do it despite all the idiotic motorists (there are lots of benefits): Bike to Work

And lest my ranting against morons armed in two tons of steel and glass threatening my 120 pounds of relatively unprotected perishable human tissue and bone make you hesitant to venture out onto the roads yourself, check out this site for some reassuring facts about the actual dangers of cycling: Ken Kifer's bike pages -Is cycling dangerous?  He's got some excellent statistics there that say actually, it's really not.

I don't want to discourage anyone from riding a bicycle.  Remember "the more bicyclists people see the more they will look for them and the more they will believe that bicycling is a reasonable means of travel." --another Florida cyclist in his article, Freedom of Fear. 

Comments

[Tyler]

More power to cyclists! That's a great flier that puts very concisely my opinion regarding cycles on the road. I may modify it and give it to the next person who doesn't understand the meaning of "Share the road."

[Chris Hagelin]

Hi there...I am a Tampa bicycle commuter as well...been doing it for 10 years now. I am also the Chair of the Hillsborough County Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee...If you feel like getting involved in making Hillsborough County safer for bicyclists by participating in the transportation planning process, just let me know. POWER TO THE PEDAL...SUPPORT THE TROOPS, BE OIL FREE