I suppose I am currently part of the “radical fringe” who participates in the combustible engine critical mass daily, on the southeast expressway of Boston.

I couldn’t agree more with your observation that we need to educate drivers to complete the loop with all of the other efforts that are advocates are tirelessly working on. Here in Southern California we have wide, clean and well marked bike lanes for the most part, yet nearly once a week I endure a close call commuting to work. I believe 9 times out of 10 a near miss can be contributed to lack of driver education.

You are also correct that younger cyclists are particularly bad at understanding how cars should interact with cyclists….yet another issue to compound the problem.

I personally have been very vocal about driver’s education including more details of sharing the road with cyclists. My understanding is that “Safe Routes to School” will address some of this. I will be anxious to hear whether or not this program has been successful in keeping the number of road incidents down in the pilot markets working Safe Routes to School.

The few/several times I’ve helped Junior riders get on their wheels (so to speak) I always have to remind them of some of the basic rules of the road. Not the laws. The etiquette and unwritten rules. Because these 12 or 13 or 14 year olds don’t know what it’s like to drive – and seeing a somewhat squirrelly young cyclist in the middle of a narrow road is not a comforting thing for a driver.

And the juniors don’t know how tricky it can be to control a large vehicle with any kind of precision. Even the drivers don’t – just check out rear quarters of all the big SUV’s in a parking lot near you.

I guess education is the biggest thing – but we in the US have such lax driving requirements (and the accompanying driver attitudes) that it might be a while before anything will truly take place.

Make driving a serious thing and people will take it seriously. Perhaps all drivers should have to ride a bike on the shoulder of a road (perhaps put sand and glass there to make it realistic – and they have to pay to fix any flats), drive a big rig and try and stop or turn it quickly, and even drive a heavily loaded van. Getting scared in a safe environment teaches respect which will translate to better awareness in the chaotic real world.

Whatever that means I have no idea — it’s nearly midnight, I just spent a whole day at Disneyland and I’m exhausted and I have another full day tomorrow. Happy biking and stay safe!