It's good to see there's still some remnant of a sense of humor there. Take care.
I shall have to include my own "Grumpy Shirt" in a future post. This is a REAL shirt. Actually it's a tank top, so it'll have to wait for warmer weather.
For share to have meaning, not share would have to mean something too. But what does not sharing the road look like? We can try to consider that question from both the perspective of a motorist and a bicyclist. A motorist who is not sharing the road is what, passing cyclists too closely? Okay, so then sharing, from the perspective of the motorist, is passing too closely. What about the cyclist? Can a cyclist prevent others form passing? Maybe on a narrow road with poor sight lines, in which case sharing means moving aside when it's safe to pass. I think that's about all it can mean.
Share means have a portion of (something) with another or others, in the case, the road.
"Share" The Road is a warning traffic sign which means something to some people and something else to other people. This "share" message is not effective as a traffic sign.
Share the Road is a cute political bumper statement, keep it on the label but not on road sign.
"Share The Road" was the rallying cry for many cyclists in the 1980s through the mid '90s, as cycling activists attempted to assert a bicyclist's right to operate in the roadway.
I designed a bumper sticker for the fledgling Texas Bicycle Coalition that read "Thank You for Sharing the Road with Bicyclists" as sort of a kumbayah message towards motorists (TBC later replaced that message with "Share The Road. It's The Law!"). I also did "bus-boards" for the sides of transit buses in Dallas that had the "Thank You for Sharing the Road with Bicycles".
But that mutual accessibility message got lost. The popular misunderstanding of Far To The Right (FTR) laws convinved too many cyclists that their share of the roadway was the part that didn't "impede" automobiles, and that they could share a roadway with automobiles the same was a mouse could share a house with a cat... by staying out of the way. Or in a cage.
Today (as "Complete Streets" and "Paint'n Path" devotees stress), the concept is more one of "Give Me My Share of the Road", with the notion of universal access dumped for one of exclusive rights. That is a message that has strong appeal.
The "My Share" movement appeals to fear-governed cyclists because they think it gives them the safety they currently lack. It appeals to some motorists, because it promises to get bicycles off the roadways. It appeals to politicians because of the availability of federal transportation dollars to build expensive facilities that appease the desires of two disparate groups of potential voters.
Ghetto: from Wikipedia
Originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live, a ghetto is now described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live; especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure."
But for some, out of fear or power, living in a ghetto can be voluntary.
"Share" means don't act like a selfish two-year-old trying to keep anyone else from getting near your toys... even when you're not playing with them. In the motorist context, that's the driver who screams and honks as he's using an open left lane to pass a cyclist who is using the right lane.
In the childish mind of that motorist (and some law enforcement), "share" means squeeze your bicycle as far into the gutter as you can get.
Regardless of anything else, those "Share the Road" signs remind me of the "Baby on Board" signs some motorists stick in the back of their car windows. I guess other motorists would T bone the car if not for the warning sign.
In Tarrant County, we have a variation on those STR signs. Instead of a bicycle, there's a motorcycle on the sign. There is one such sign on my commute route, which is also listed as a designated North Richland Hills bicycle route.
Share the road means to me on nearly all the roads i ride on as: take your place in line until you can pass in a safe manner and with due care. You know, the convetional traffic meaning of sharing a lane.
The W11-1 bicycle icon sign is a warning sign for motorists that bicyclists are using or crossing the road. It's an OK sign on its own.
The W16-1 Share the Road placard is also a warning sign since it is yellow, but the message is an imperative and should therefore be white (if it exists at all, which it shouldn't because it is misinterpreted).
The two signs together are often misinterpreted by motorists to mean: Bicyclists: Share the Lane by Hugging the Edge. It's safety theater that is ambiguously detrimental to bicyclists.
Downtown Dallas 360 wants to transform the streets and possibly include 'multimodal' drives (one image shows 'Bus Bike Only' lane. Don't know if this translates into bike paths or what. Just a heads up.
Wayne, I see that sign combo as effectively saying:
"Warning! Bicycles Ahead! Be Prepared To Share Roadway."
...or at least that's how most motorists and cyclists alike read it.
But I don't want to nit-pick the sign as much as I want to look into the change in meaning the word "share" has undergone, from one of mutuality to one of exclusivity.
STR is supposed to mean motorists should look out for cyclists on that signed road. It implies to some degree that cyclists don't belong on the roads without STR signs unless other bike facilities (mostly painted lanes) are also present. In California, it's a way for towns to proclaim their bike friendliness.
In reality, STR signs are fairly meaningless to both cyclists and motorists, IMO. I like the BMUFL signs (and variants) that have popped up in a handful of cities in California and are in the latest edition of the MUTCD. Now to get the individual states to adopt the new standard...
In keeping with Fritz and Waco's comments, here's MY addition to the MUTCD :-)
FDOT has so-far refused to adopt the new MUTCD, so no BMUFL signs for us. They won't use ANY sign or design not in their standards. Unless, of course, they feel like it.
17 comments:
Welcome to the grumpy cyclists' society yourself!
Steve A said...
"Welcome to the grumpy cyclists' society yourself!"
While not a Charter Member, my membership number is lower than my ECI/LCI number of 349 is.
;-)
It's good to see there's still some remnant of a sense of humor there. Take care.
I shall have to include my own "Grumpy Shirt" in a future post. This is a REAL shirt. Actually it's a tank top, so it'll have to wait for warmer weather.
For share to have meaning, not share would have to mean something too. But what does not sharing the road look like? We can try to consider that question from both the perspective of a motorist and a bicyclist. A motorist who is not sharing the road is what, passing cyclists too closely? Okay, so then sharing, from the perspective of the motorist, is passing too closely. What about the cyclist? Can a cyclist prevent others form passing? Maybe on a narrow road with poor sight lines, in which case sharing means moving aside when it's safe to pass. I think that's about all it can mean.
Share means have a portion of (something) with another or others, in the case, the road.
"Share" The Road is a warning traffic sign which means something to some people and something else to other people. This "share" message is not effective as a traffic sign.
Share the Road is a cute political bumper statement, keep it on the label but not on road sign.
That is all I have to share.
"Share The Road" was the rallying cry for many cyclists in the 1980s through the mid '90s, as cycling activists attempted to assert a bicyclist's right to operate in the roadway.
I designed a bumper sticker for the fledgling Texas Bicycle Coalition that read "Thank You for Sharing the Road with Bicyclists" as sort of a kumbayah message towards motorists (TBC later replaced that message with "Share The Road. It's The Law!"). I also did "bus-boards" for the sides of transit buses in Dallas that had the "Thank You for Sharing the Road with Bicycles".
But that mutual accessibility message got lost. The popular misunderstanding of Far To The Right (FTR) laws convinved too many cyclists that their share of the roadway was the part that didn't "impede" automobiles, and that they could share a roadway with automobiles the same was a mouse could share a house with a cat... by staying out of the way. Or in a cage.
Today (as "Complete Streets" and "Paint'n Path" devotees stress), the concept is more one of "Give Me My Share of the Road", with the notion of universal access dumped for one of exclusive rights. That is a message that has strong appeal.
The "My Share" movement appeals to fear-governed cyclists because they think it gives them the safety they currently lack. It appeals to some motorists, because it promises to get bicycles off the roadways. It appeals to politicians because of the availability of federal transportation dollars to build expensive facilities that appease the desires of two disparate groups of potential voters.
Ghetto: from Wikipedia
Originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live, a ghetto is now described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live; especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure."
But for some, out of fear or power, living in a ghetto can be voluntary.
What Danc said. I dislike that sign.
"Share" means don't act like a selfish two-year-old trying to keep anyone else from getting near your toys... even when you're not playing with them. In the motorist context, that's the driver who screams and honks as he's using an open left lane to pass a cyclist who is using the right lane.
In the childish mind of that motorist (and some law enforcement), "share" means squeeze your bicycle as far into the gutter as you can get.
Regardless of anything else, those "Share the Road" signs remind me of the "Baby on Board" signs some motorists stick in the back of their car windows. I guess other motorists would T bone the car if not for the warning sign.
In Tarrant County, we have a variation on those STR signs. Instead of a bicycle, there's a motorcycle on the sign. There is one such sign on my commute route, which is also listed as a designated North Richland Hills bicycle route.
Share the road means to me on nearly all the roads i ride on as: take your place in line until you can pass in a safe manner and with due care. You know, the convetional traffic meaning of sharing a lane.
The W11-1 bicycle icon sign is a warning sign for motorists that bicyclists are using or crossing the road. It's an OK sign on its own.
The W16-1 Share the Road placard is also a warning sign since it is yellow, but the message is an imperative and should therefore be white (if it exists at all, which it shouldn't because it is misinterpreted).
The two signs together are often misinterpreted by motorists to mean: Bicyclists: Share the Lane by Hugging the Edge. It's safety theater that is ambiguously detrimental to bicyclists.
Don't really know how to contact anyone in charge of this blog, but I thought that the authors/readers might be interested in this:
http://www.downtowndallas360.com/docManager/1000000039/MtgWdo6_Presentation.pdf
Downtown Dallas 360 wants to transform the streets and possibly include 'multimodal' drives (one image shows 'Bus Bike Only' lane. Don't know if this translates into bike paths or what. Just a heads up.
Wayne, I see that sign combo as effectively saying:
"Warning! Bicycles Ahead! Be Prepared To Share Roadway."
...or at least that's how most motorists and cyclists alike read it.
But I don't want to nit-pick the sign as much as I want to look into the change in meaning the word "share" has undergone, from one of mutuality to one of exclusivity.
STR is supposed to mean motorists should look out for cyclists on that signed road. It implies to some degree that cyclists don't belong on the roads without STR signs unless other bike facilities (mostly painted lanes) are also present. In California, it's a way for towns to proclaim their bike friendliness.
In reality, STR signs are fairly meaningless to both cyclists and motorists, IMO. I like the BMUFL signs (and variants) that have popped up in a handful of cities in California and are in the latest edition of the MUTCD. Now to get the individual states to adopt the new standard...
Here's another version of the sign that I think is more in keeping with how some perceive it: http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/815/sharetheroad.png
Waco said...
"Here's another version of the sign that I think is more in keeping with how some perceive it: http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/815/sharetheroad.png"
I think Ennis is going to install signs like that.
...at least in Ellis county.
In keeping with Fritz and Waco's comments, here's MY addition to the MUTCD :-)
FDOT has so-far refused to adopt the new MUTCD, so no BMUFL signs for us. They won't use ANY sign or design not in their standards. Unless, of course, they feel like it.
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