Road Test/Fix Motorists, Not Cyclists

From ICE-BIKE post July 27, 2005 that Richard liked:

Motorists would have to be required to take the test that cyclists take so they would know the rules of the road as it applies to cyclists. I renewed my driver's license (I haven't driven in years but keep a license "just in case" [in case I get the crazy idea to drive I guess]) in May and was shocked that the guy next to me didn't know about the rules of the road for motorcycles. I mean, he did not know that as a person in a car he needs to give motorcyclists more space, that sort of stuff.

Some idiot recently wrote to the Tribune saying bicyclists should be banned from the streets effective immediately because they are at risk of getting killed by motorists. Seems backwards to me - how about fixing the real problem - MOTORIZED TRAFFIC - instead of removing "obstacles". I think that's how motorists look at pedestrians and cyclists anyway. It's not that they are upset that cyclists are breaking the law. They are upset that something is in "their" way. A billboard in the Chicago area says something to the effect that s**t happens and the s**t is a picture of the pedestrian road sign and cyclist road sign and curvy road road sign. I have no idea what they are trying to sell... the advertisers lost me when they essentially called peds and cyclists obstacles... but I think motorists just see cyclists as obstacles. I think it also pisses motorists off when cyclists get to the same destination in the same amount of time (or sooner) than an automobile does. I mean, if I spent $30,000 on a hunk of metal that I'm caged in for 4 hours a day to go to/from work and I saw someone on their "toy" pass me over and over again on my commute, I'd think back to those commercials that sold me on said $30k car and I'd remember the clear roadways and no obstacles and no cyclists. I'd feel like an ass and would start to act like one.