It seems the defined meaning of the sign is somewhere in the middle. More of a heads up, there may be bikes (or other slow moving things) on the road.


From the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)


Source

The sign I prefer to see is Bikes May Use Full Lane, which seems to be universally replacing the ambiguously-intended Share The Road signs. Unfortunately, because it gives the impression of "favoring" cyclists, I've seen some "interesting" blog posts with communities fighting these signs tooth and nail.

You know how we look back on dangerously stupid crap we used to do and shake our heads?

Letting people drive 2 tons of death, manually, will be it. The sooner we let computers drive the better.

Drivers are getting bent out of shape because they need to slow down for 5 seconds to get around a cyclist. It is fucking 5 seconds! Besides they will catch up to the car that was in front of them and then ride their bumper. They would not have lost any time.

Unfortunately human life-forms are not smart enough to comprehend this proven fact....speed and endorphines and all.

And yes, sharing goes both ways.

possibly more drivers are running late now because there are more distractions, self imposed. A cyclist is a convenient way to stick blame for that on somebody else.

If anyone relies on a sign and people's interpretation of it to figure out what "share" the road means, it's probably a good idea to stay off that road.

our local hospital has these signs all over our town to get people to pay attention when there are bikes on the roads.

Well last year my batshit crazy neighbor decided to rip me a new ass because of my sign in my yard. After I let her
run her mouth, I put her in her place and that was it.

Good Friday 2017, I put my sign back up.......yeah it was in the easement and 15min after I put it up she was at my
door again riping me a new ass. So I told her I am going to force the Association to take it down, she says " my
husband is the VP ", so I looked at Ed and challenged him to take my sign down. He stands there like a dead tree
while she goes out, rips the sign out of my yard, steps on it and bends it in half. Wow......I told her you stunk it up
for a sign. She runs her mouth some more and tries to give me the sign back......oh, no no you now own that sign.

So, I go out and challenge Ed to change the speed limit sign before a kid gets killed on the street and ole badshit crazy
wife stands there and then pokes me in the chest " that she is not afraid of me ". Wow.

I let it go. Since then I have put up 3 signs in the neighborhood and one back in my yard. I told ole badshit crazy
neighbor " you take my sign down.......that is vandalism, you take my sign away.....that is theft, you come in my yard that
is tresspassing " and I will put your ass in jail.

She backed off and the signs stays. Bottom line they are doing upwards of 50mph in neighborhood with kids and
people running & walking and the only way I can slow it down........post the signs.

As far as her doing the poke in the chest......my wife told me to press charges. What, you better hit me and damn hard
before I press charges. I told her I can not hit a women, but Ed is in serious trouble.

Like the signs.....

Wow! What a crazy lady. Next time she starts thumping you in the chest, wife should push you aside and whack the lady in the nose. It'd be epic.

Imagine the plight of crazy lady's poor husband.

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Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart

can you link to this article please? or did you see it in print edition?
would love to pass this on to my bike lawyer friends :)

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Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com

Hello mhepp, zten, and All,

As your write, the sign below is preferred .... as I recall some studies have shown that Share The Road signs fail for the reasons you note.

Of course....... a protected bike lane or bike path is better yet .... when available ...... support your local (and national) bike advocacy groups.

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

Trust me...he already knows. You had to deal with that shit for about 2 minutes. Poor hubby has to deal with that shit every minute of every day until death. He has the bad deal, not you, haha

Think about that every time you meet a crazy person. If they are driving you nuts you are probably not alone.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

yeah poor ole Ed has to deal with her ( batshit crazy ) everyday....I do not. Do not poke the bear and the bear will
stay calm. She poke, started the fight and knows better to push it. My patience is low and I will let it slide this time but
that was strike 2.......there will be no strike 3.

We have lost a lot of bikers here in NE Indiana over the past many years so it is mostly to pay attention if your driving.
I do all I can to get away from cars, ride inside the white line all day long. But for the most part I am lucky, damn lucky
where I live. In about 1.5 miles from the house I am on roads that are cornfields and farms so for the most part it is usually
clear training.

I believe the law here is motorist have to give bikes 3'. I may be wrong here.

I was reading some "community" comments in regards to an article that was in a local paper and this sort of interpretation followed many of those comments. The article was in essence about sharing the roads with cyclist. I could go into all of the hateful talk about cyclist, how they hold up traffic on a back road road, should pay special taxes, etc... but I'll just say the common "Share the Road" sign leaves its intent a pretty gray area.

Some fat cow driving a Subaru tried to run me off the road this weekend literally in view of a "Share the Road" sign. I yelled out at her as she nearly killed me, upon which point she stops, pulls out into the oncoming lane (she clearly didn't feel the need to do this when passing me, but did so to yell at me), and proceeds to scream at me that I belong to the right of the white line (the shoulder was literally 6" wide and broken up) and that I have no right to be in the road where she belongs, blah blah blah...

I really hate people. She CLEARLY knew what she was doing when she buzzed me just so she could lecture me about her rights to the road and my lack of rights. Right in front of a "Share the Road" sign.

This thread got me a-googlin', and it seems that "share the road" signs have been shown to be confusing and not worthwhile. Many states have removed them.

A very good take on why "sharing" is a bad concept:
http://www.ohiobikelawyer.com/...hare-the-road-stinks

Still, I live in a state where cyclists are "not intended road users", so I'm lucky I get to use the roads at all?

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Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com

Sorry, print edition. From last Spring/Summer. It was one of the editorial columns.

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Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart