MCBC - Share the Road Campaign

Share the Road Campaign Keeps Rolling

Roadside Sign The Share the Road campaign is educating bicyclists and motorists to share the road courteously and safely. The Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC) has been at the forefront of providing this education to the Marin community.

MCBC’s current program consists of three main components: Checkpoints, Basic Street Skills classes and public PowerPoint presentations. Partnerships with Marin General Hospital, Marin County Law Enforcement and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have allowed us to implement this valuable campaign and reach thousands of residents and visitors.

Sharing facilities with others requires education of all the users about their rights and responsibilities, as well as how to behave courteously, safely and visibly. Due to the growing need to address concerns of both cyclists and drivers as they use our roads and multiuse paths, MCBC is expanding our campaign to address the issues and reach the varied user groups.

Knowing your rights and how to behave predictably is key to sharing roads and paths. Check out these additional resources to learn more:

Share the Road Checkpoints

In May and July 2008, approximately 2200 motorists and 600 cyclists were provided with Share the Road materials at four Checkpoints in Sausalito, Novato, and Ross. In September, MCBC hosted three more Checkpoints in West Marin, Tiburon, and San Anselmo for back-to-school awareness raising, reaching another 600 motorists and 235 cyclists. Each year, MCBC’s goal is to continue reaching more people. Our slogan for the Checkpoints: Get educated; don’t get ticketed!

Local law enforcement agencies and MCBC team up for the Checkpoints to show their united support of reducing road rage and increasing traffic safety for motorists and cyclists. Uniformed officers and MCBC volunteers provide Share the Road flyers to motorists and cyclists that pass through each Checkpoint. The flyers contain California Vehicle Code information, Codes of Conduct for bicyclists and motorists to insure their safety and foster respect for each other and additional safety tips to prevent road rage. MCBC asks you to share the safety information with friends and family to help save their lives!

The Checkpoints continue to provide the public with the opportunity to provide feedback to the officers and MCBC volunteers on their Share the Road experiences. The comments received highlight the need to address single issues with each road user group:

cyclists need to stop at stop signs
motorists need to give cyclists more room when passing them

Click on the following links for more checkpoint information:

“Basic Street Skills” Bicycle Safety Classes

Ongoing, free bicycle safety classes called Basic Street Skills are being held at Marin General Hospital's Greenbrae facility. These classes uniquely allow bicycle traffic citation fee reduction through class attendance. The Marin County Superior Court will refund a portion of the traffic infraction citation fee upon successfully completing the class (refunds depend on each defendant’s circumstances). This partnership with Marin County Superior Court is the second of its kind in the Bay Area to provide bicycle education as a traffic court option.

The mid-week, evening class consists of a two-hour powerpoint and interactive presentation that teaches participants to safely and confidently use a bicycle for transportation. Topics covered include how to avoid collisions and citations, improve visibility, ride through intersections, the legal rights and obligations of cyclists, and more. Drivers benefit from the class as well, by learning how and why bicycles maneuver on the roads. Cyclists aged 16 and up are invited to attend.

Click here for class dates, details and to register

Share the Road Public Presentations

Due to a grant received from NHTSA in 2005, MCBC has created 20-minute and 45-minute “What is Share the Road?” powerpoint presentations to provide to city officials/employees, bike clubs and teams, ride organizers, motor clubs, parks and recreation departments, Boy/Girl Scouts, chambers of commerce, school groups, service clubs, businesses, etc.

The interactive presentation captures the experience of sharing the road from both the motorist and cyclist perspective and focuses on ways that each group can behave courteously to avoid common types of collisions. Whether a driver or a rider, the information provided (especially the California Vehicle Code info!) teachers viewers why courteous and predictable behaviors by all road users saves lives on our streets.

If you know a group (big or small) that needs to learn more about motorists’ and cyclists’ shared rules, rights and obligations when using the roads, schedule a presentation with Jo Ann Richards at MCBC, 415-456-3469 x7# or joann@marinbike.org.

The first draft of the “What is Share the Road?” presentation was unveiled at MCBC’s 2005 annual membership meeting. After numerous free public showings of the presentation to gather feedback, we fine-tuned the powerpoint. Since April 2006, the presentation has been seen by over a dozen community groups including Rotary and Lions Clubs, PG & E, cycling groups and various city employee groups. MCBC has three Share the Road Ambassadors – Frances Barbour, David Hartman, and Mike Deverell – who ably give this presentation as requested.

Once NHTSA finalizes the powerpoint’s layout and website accessibility, it will become a nationally-available tool for spreading the Share the Road message to improve road safety.

Click here to read the press release about this program

MCBC's Share the Road Campaign History
Updated July 2007

The MCBC works with the Marin County Board of Supervisors, law enforcement agencies, the Marin County District Attorney, the Marin Superior Court, local towns and cities, Caltrans, schools, other bicycling organizations, and through the media to educate both motorists and cyclists about the need and means for "sharing the road."

Since our inception, MCBC has organized many efforts to promote the Share the Road campaign:

Marin Sanitary Service became the first garbage disposal company to promote Truck Fleet Safety by participating in MCBC's Share the Road program in 2007. They are providing "tailgate safety meetings" with their drivers to enhance their awareness of bicyclists, learn about dangerous traffic situations, and prevent collisions.
Starting in 2006, MCBC has been offering workshops several times each year that teach bicycle safety, road positioning, rules of the road, commuting skills, visibility tips, route planning and Share the Road behaviors. The workshops include Road I, Bicycle Commuting 101, Riding with Youth and What is Share the Road?
Developed Share the Road flyers in English and Spanish - Bicyclist Information, Motorist Information, and Bicycling Safety Tips in 2005 in partnership with Marin law enforcement. The flyers are distributed at our annual Share the Road Checkpoints, our many outreach events, to law enforcement and the Superior Court, have been provided to all Bay Area cycling teams/clubs and ride coordinators, and are available to any interested parties.
In 2005, MCBC provided a well-received Share the Road powerpoint presentation with Sausalito Police Chief Scott Paulin to the Sausalito Rotary.
MCBC acquired a $50,000 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration two-year grant in August 2004 to develop a What is Share the Road? powerpoint and Toolkit of STR campaigns in use nationwide. The powerpoint was shown to various community and agency groups during its development for feedback, and is currently presented to local groups including cycling teams/clubs, motorist groups, and large employers.
MCBC has worked with Golden Gate Transit as they developed a driver training powerpoint that includes "Share the Road" training for bus drivers with regard to sharing the road with bicycles.
Helped distribute Road Rage Report Cards (developed by MCBC members Dolores Mosqueda and Tom Fallon) to bike shops and through our various tabling opportunities in 2004.
Developed a Share the Road Sign-on Statement and outreach campaign consisting of a statement of support for sharing the road safely with bicycle and motorist codes of conduct, a signature sign-up page, and a copy of the CA Vehicle Code sections related to bicycles. This was launched in 2004 and resulted in numerous signatures collected in support of safer roads.
Since 2003, partnering with Marin General Hospital to provide free Basic Street Skills classes to instruct cyclists on how to ride safely in traffic, teach motorists about cyclists’ equal rights to the road, and provide bicycle traffic infraction recipients with an educational fine reduction option approved by the Marin Superior Court.
Since 2002, hosting Share the Road Checkpoint days with law enforcement where bicyclists and motorists are provided with road safety information in a friendly atmosphere. MCBC has expanded the Checkpoints into an annual activity that occurs for consecutive weekends in the summer months at designated roadway stop signs and along multiuse paths, in partnership with law enforcement.
Partnering in 2001 with the County District Attorney’s office to print large Share the Road posters with Lance Armstrong's image. These were distributed and posted in thousands of stores all over Marin County.
Distributing information and teaching about Share the Road through the Safe Routes to Schools program.
Securing Caltrans’ approval of the Share the Road sign (W79 A) for official use throughout the public roadways in the State of California in 1999.
Working with Caltrans to have them install 30 Share the Road signs (W79 and W79A) in their territories in Marin County (Highway 1 and Highway 101).
Collaborating with the County of Marin and local jurisdictions to install another 40 signs.
Writing letters to newspaper editors and articles for magazines and email newsletters.
Holding memorial rides in conjunction with the family when a cyclist was killed.
Promoting the need for the District Attorney to seriously address and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law all cases where cyclists are injured by a motor vehicle.
Maintaining our Share the Road webpage with current safety activities, information and resources.
Running regular articles in our Pedal Press newsletter and working with other groups such as Marin General Hospital to feature articles in their newsletters.
Holding a membership meeting on ideas to improve the Share the Road campaign.
Printing and distributing Share the Road water bottles, bumper stickers and t-shirts.
Doing interviews with local papers, radio and television about bicycle safety and the need for everyone to Share the Road!