Share the Road

To:  California State Senate

To the People of the State of California,

My club, The Orange County Wheelmen, is in the process of communicating with our state politicians and Department of Motor Vehicles to create a “Share the Road” license plate in California, such as the one that has been proposed in the state of Colorado. Shown at: www.bicyclecolorado.org.

Most of our club members have witnessed or encountered very hostile situations on the road between motorist and cyclists. Of course there are many cooperative motorists who do share the road with us. However, there seem to be many other motorists who are unwilling to abide by any rule or courtesy and will honk, yell, nick us with their side mirrors, or worse.

Recently we have had too many cyclists and joggers succumb to thoughtless motorists, because of drunkenness, road rage, cell phones, or just not paying attention. I have noticed weeks after these encounters the guilty motorists have usually gotten off with essentially just a slap on the hand. Unfortunately, the situation seems to be deteriorating as time goes by, and the list of injured, or worse (killed), cyclists and runners has grown longer.

Each special Colorado license plate sold will provide funding to support the Share the Road Education Fund in making roads safer. Some of their programs will include:

• Educating motorists on how to safely share the road
• Educating bicyclists on the rules of the road and safe riding
• Educating event directors and bicyclists on best practices for event safety
• Providing guidance to bicyclists involved in crashes
• Outreach to law enforcement on the rights and responsibilities of motorists and bicyclists

California, being a leader in innovative and safety-minded ideas, must give careful consideration to a program such as Colorado’s. Because we have such a beautiful state that encompasses the ocean, desert, and mountains, we have thousands of cyclists and runners who enjoy being outdoors everyday, for exercise and for fun and transportation. This number of outdoor enthusiasts has increased within the last few years and will certainly continue to grow.

Our club believes it is in California’s best interest to move forward with Colorado’s idea and form a petition, if we must, to let the people of our beautiful state decide. We do believe there are enough cyclists and runners in California who are willing to see this idea come to life, as they have in Colorado.

Our club is asking for support from other clubs and club members in the state of California who have experienced the same situations with motorists as we have, or who simply think this license plate proposal is a good idea.

If your club can help in any_way in discussing this with the appropriate state or local leaders in your area, we would be very grateful. We believe we can make a difference.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Share the Road Petition to California State Senate was created by Cycling Community of California and written by Michelle Kashima (kashima@cox.net).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.