More of the same. I just got back from downtown and yet another altercation with senseless ND motorists. Here is what happened:
I'm waiting behind a red car (go figure huh, she was blond too, but this one was older) at a red light and the light turns green. The car doesn't go (as if it was waiting to make a left turn) so I pass it and continue straight. Then the car decides to go straight and starts to catch up with me. As we come to the next intersection where there is a stop sign, I take the lane in order to go straight, and stop. The car pulls into the lane of OPPOSING TRAFFIC in order to go around me and stops (so we are now taking up the entire street). She goes straight for a block, makes a left and then parks right on the corner, RIGHT IN FRONT OF A STOP SIGN! As she gets out of her car I say "hey I don't think that's a parking space, you're right in front of a stop sign, and you're blocking half of a driveway". She says "well, I'm just dropping something off". I say "and I don't think you need to be passing cyclists when they are stopped at a stop sign". she says "well, you were to the side of me, if you would have been in front of me I would have hit you". I remind her that I couldn't have been beside her because there was only one lane of traffic, and that in order to get around me she had to pull into the opposing lane. Then I wished her good luck with not getting a ticket for her awesome park job, and went merrily on my way.
Dave, your idea is good but it only really gets the message out to people on campus. What can we do about an entire culture of drivers that are sometimes oblivious of, and overtly discriminatory towards cyclists?
I also think it's interesting that aggression on the part of drivers is largely a phenomenon of the spring and summer time. When I ride in the winter people are much more respectful. I get tons of smiles and waves. Once spring hits I mostly get the finger (but thank you to those drivers that are respectful, you are truly appreciated).
I think one of our best avenues to explore might be to talk to Kim Greendahl, who is the "Greenway Specialist" for Grand Forks. She is to be working on filming a TV spot about the Greenway and cycling in Grand Forks. I would be interested to find out if she is a cyclist herself and if she would be willing to help us put some sort of cycling advocacy program or driver education program together.
Those are my thoughts for now.
Yost