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The National Equal Rights for Cyclists Campaign is dedicated to publicizing and promoting one historic, fundamental civil right: that every person may travel on public roads by their own power, in safety, and under the equal protection of the law.

The Kansas Supreme Court stated that "Public streets are highways, and every citizen has a right to use them .... each citizen has the absolute right to choose for himself the mode of conveyance he desires ... subject to the sole condition that he will observe all those requirements that are known as the 'law of the road.' This right of the people to the use of the public streets of a city is so well established and so universally recognized in this country that it has become a part of the alphabet of fundamental rights of the citizen."

The late Supreme Court Justice William Douglas said "Freedom of movement is the very essence of our free society ... once the right to travel is curtailed, all other rights suffer." And the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld that "... the right to move freely about one's neighborhood or town is indeed implicit in the concept of ordered liberty and deeply rooted in the nation's history."

Please note that this right has always existed, and still does; but it is under constant assault. It is neither remembered nor respected by the general public. Roughly 100 million children, seniors, and others who need or might choose to travel by their own power have been scared off of our public roads.

The NERCC has one simple goal: educating everyone of their rights and responsibilities when using shared, public roads. Our agenda is brief:
== Please remember that every person, young or old, without exception, has a fundamental civil right to travel by their own power on public roads -- in safety, and under the equal protection of the law. The primary interest of government must be for the safety of all road users. In this, they must regulate the dangerous users -- not deny the civil rights of the most vulnerable.

== Everyone operates in traffic throughout their lives: even the youngest children walk and ride on sidewalks that have cross traffic at driveways. We should be teaching everyone the basic rules of safe practice, and standard rules of the road, continuously and in-depth throughout their lives; so they progress from safe pedestrians, to lawful cooperative cyclists, to attentive, qualified motor vehicle operators.

== Cyclists: please learn Advanced Traffic Bicycling from knowledgeable traffic cyclists. You can maximize your safety and enjoy riding on nearly every road, in traffic or not, with equal or greater safety. Please teach yourself and your family: see Cooperative Cycling/ Advanced Traffic-Bicycling at www.CycleMedia.org.

Police nationwide, including the Colorado State Patrol & Florida Highway Patrol ( fhp.state.fl.us/html/BST.htm), have expressed agreement with NERCC's public-service announcement "Share The Road". This is a clarification of existing traffic laws addressed equally to cyclists and drivers. It has been carefully developed and test-marketed over several years so that 95% of the public understands and agrees with it.

Share The Road is easy to promote and easy to accept: it is just common sense and existing traffic law. Simply publicizing this information immediately improves relations between cyclists, motorists, and police.
Please understand: it is no longer acceptable that those who choose to travel by their own power be forced to "sit in the back of the bus". It is time that this bus, our public roads, be available equally and to all.

Thank you for your thought and consideration.

The National Equal Rights for Cyclists Campaign

Ms. Lauren Cooper, Teacher & Bicycle Commuter
Chief J.W. Rittenhouse, Retired Police Chief

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Share The Road

Please Understand These Traffic Laws

Agreed with by most state laws and the
Florida Highway Police and Colorado State Police *

Not every person may drive a car. But every person does have a fundamental civil right to travel by their own power, in safety, on public roads. While millions enjoy bicycling safely, others are concerned by the few bad drivers who pass unsafely or illegally squeeze past . Please remember: overtaking drivers must Share The Road by waiting to pass safely -- there are no exceptions. Squeezing past people is dangerous and illegal, no matter where they are.

"Drivers shall pass at a safe distance." (Uniform Vehicle Code)

Nor should bicyclists ever squeeze over. Most people think the law says to ride as far right as possible.
This isn't true. That is only one part of a sentence, taken out of context, which in most states has always been:

when passing or turning left; or to avoid objects, parked cars, moving vehicles, pedestrians, animals, surface or other hazards; or when in a vehicle lane too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to pass safely side by side within the lane."

For these exceptions, which occur on every ride, cyclists don't stay right. The law requires that they politely *merge* left and ride nearer the center of a vehicle lane until any hazards are past -- just as any safe driver must do. Some may think this unsafe: but please understand that there is only one general rule in the law for safe bicycling, and it requires that safe bicyclists behave the same as safe drivers:

"Every person riding a bicycle shall have all of the rights, and all of the duties, applicable to other drivers."

Any delay to others rarely exceeds 5-10 actual seconds. Please note that all drivers create equal delays when slowing to turn left or parallel-park.

These rules are, and have always been, common sense and standard traffic law. Bikelane, crosswalk, or not, squeezing past people is illegal and dangerous, no matter where they are. And bicyclists who squeeze over or always stay right get squeezed between hazards, collide with parked-car doors, and invite drivers to squeeze past. So please -- * don't * squeeze over, and * don't * squeeze past.

Advanced traffic-bicyclists act like serious adult drivers. They politely cooperate with other drivers by using all advanced traffic rules; including ALL the exceptions to the ride-right rule. They not only signal turns, but politely merge, yield, change lanes, use lights at night -- ALL the rules. This allows them to bicycle in traffic without collision or trouble -- at least as safely as drivers overall. Please see Cooperative Cycling/Advanced Traffic-Bicycling at www.CycleMedia.org .

Please remember that traffic laws exist to protect everyone's right to travel in safety; even if they travel slowly or momentarily delay others. Please use traffic laws to protect the public from truly dangerous road users: cyclists who weave recklessly through traffic or without lights at night; and motorists who drive inattentively or recklessly, or who harass, threaten, or squeeze past cyclists or pedestrians.

A person bicycling lawfully down a public road presents no danger to anyone. Please remember that every State Drivers Manual requires that overtaking motorists:
"Adjust speed for pedestrians, bicyclists, slow-moving vehicles, blind curves, and hills.
These conditions make the posted speed limit unsafe. By law, you must drive slower.
It is your responsibility to adjust your driving to assure everyone's safety." (Va. DMV)

Public roads were not built just for cars. Before the car existed, public roads in the USA were already being paved for bicyclists.

Please understand that every person, young or old, without exception, has a fundamental civil right to travel by their own power on public roads -- in safety, and under the equal protection of the law.

Thank you for your thought and consideration.

The National Equal Rights for Cyclists Campaign
Ms. Lauren Cooper, Teacher & Bicycle-Commuter
Chief J.W. Rittenhouse, Retired Police Chief
nercc @ CycleMedia.org

* Florida Highway Patrol version at fhp.state.fl.us/html/BST.htm .
Free copies available. Permission to copy & reprint freely is granted.