Dear Betty, I have had it nearly up to here with you cyclists and your "share the road" nonsense.

How is it "sharing" if you are in the middle of the traffic lane or riding two and three abreast and I cannot pass? Sometimes, in order to get to the next red light ahead of you in the rain, I have to cross over the center line into oncoming traffic and then cut back in front of you real close and hit the brakes. Sometimes I drop my cell phone. Whenever this happens, I worry I might get sued if I hit you or cause you to crash. I have places to go, things to do, people to meet. Get the hell out of my way. Oh, did I actually say that out loud? Security Mom Dear Mom, Yes you did, but at least you did not lean on your horn, for which Betty thanks you. Betty cannot speak for all cyclists, any more than you can speak for all motorists, but when Betty talks about "sharing the road," what she is saying is that the roads are there for all of us -- motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians alike. There are rules regulating the interactions among these various modes, and with a handful of exceptions these rules actually tend to favor motorists at the expense of other road users. Under the law of nearly every state, a cyclist is allowed to take the lane where it is too narrow to share safely, even when the cyclist is traveling more slowly than other traffic. Where there are two traffic lanes in each direction, the left lane is of course available for passing, and a cyclist asserting the right lane cannot really be said to be "impeding" you. If what you are suggesting is that a cyclist should ride far enough to the right to allow you to pass when it really is not safe, or simply leave the roadway altogether, then Betty will have to disagree that this is "sharing the road" in any meaningful sense of that phrase. When you cannot pass without crossing the center line, the law requires that you first look to see that the oncoming lane is clear for a sufficient distance ahead that you will be able to pass without creating safety issues either for oncoming traffic or for the cyclist (or motorist) you are overtaking. Crossing over the center line to pass is usually forbidden approaching the crest of a hill or within one hundred feet of an intersection. The question you raise about cyclists riding "abreast" is more difficult, and Betty acknowledges that there are some cyclists who do abuse the rules, just as there are motorists who do not signal turns

or lane changes, or who roll stops or fail to yield rights of way, or who habitually drive five miles an hour over the posted limit. You know who you are. Again, the law of most states says bicyclists may ride abreast "when not impeding other vehicles," subject to the "ride to the right" rules, which do permit taking a narrow lane. Cyclists who ride abreast in such a way as unnecessarily to impede others are indeed not "sharing the road," and Betty is not here to defend their actions. But if two cyclists are riding abreast in a lane which would have been too narrow to share safely with an overtaking motorist in any event, or if there is room for you to pass, then Betty cannot see how you are harmed. Also, Betty would note that in order to pass a slower cyclist (on the left), an overtaking cyclist will momentarily be riding "abreast," but again, this does not really "impede" you, because the situation will be resolved in a few seconds. Just be patient. Betty