"Share The Road"?

Making cycling and walking safe, convenient and fun in Delaware

"Share The Road"?

March 29, 2011 Traffic Control 3

A bit of Tuesday morning contrarianism from our friends down in Baltimore:

Abandon ‘Share The Road’

…The “Share the Road” message doesn’t work. It’s time to abandon it….[in favor of the “Bike May Use Full Lane” sign]…

And this is not a unique complaint. Other folks have also complained that the “Share The Road’ sign is too vague, is easily misinterpreted and “Bike May Use Full Lane” is much better. But maybe the problem is not with the words; maybe the problem is the situation:

Cyclists Shouldn’t ‘Share The Road,’ They Should Have Their Own

…As long as we continue to allow our streets to be dominated by cars, we need to go the extra mile — or thousand miles — to ensure that everyone who isn’t in a motor vehicle at any given time is still able to move freely around the city. Separated infrastructure, like sidewalks and cycle tracks, are necessary if a car-oriented city is to be navigable by unarmored humans. Some day, I hope we don’t need them. Until then, I hope we build them as well as possible.

Read more>>

Sometimes words – even really good ones – just aren’t enough.

3 Responses

  1. A couple of other good links (also on Baltimore Spokes but I’ll point to the original)

    Share the road sends mixed messages by NHTSA http://www.aaaexchange.com/Assets/Files/2011511161280.ShareTheRoad_NHTSA.pdf

    Is it time to retire “Share the Road”? by Washcycle http://www.thewashcycle.com/2011/05/is-it-time-to-retire-share-the-road.html

  2. Share the Road: erase the letter “e” and add “ing”.

  3. P.S….and “Sharing the Road” is for All bonafide Public Right-of-Way users to cooperate respectfully with each other.

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