Since area bicyclists last month launched an "equal rights" campaign, bikers' rights have been a heightened topic of watercooler chitchat and letters to the editor alike.  To the extent that public awareness was a goal, this effort already has achieved a measure of success.

As with equal rights campaigns for some other constituencies, it can be argued that no special "bill of rights" is necessary in this case because the rights already exist.

For now it should be sufficient to note that bicyclists already have -- under Virginia statute -- rights and protections that allow them to use public roads with the same impartiality as motorists.  Bicycles and autos are both defined as "vehicles".

Bicyclists can lawfully take a full lane whenever necessary for safe travel.  State law gives cyclists the same instructions as it gives motorists, and that includes use of the full width of a travel lane as needed.

The law says bicycles ought to stay as far to the right as is practical so that cars can pass, but recognizes that often it is not practical for cyclists to do so and permits them to take up the rest of the lane.  Such situations would include when cyclists are passing or turning or when they must avoid hazards in the road ranging from bad pavement to dead animals.  They also do not have to stay to the right when the pavement is too narrow for a car to safely pass them; in such cases, motorists must stay back until safe passing conditions appear.

Meanwhile, of course, cyclists must obey the same rules of the road as do motorists.  When everyone follows the same rules, the consistency and predictability that result make for safe travel.

In a time when cooperation between Charlottesville and Albemarle County is at a major low, four area law enforcement heads found this issue to be so important that they agreed to endorse a joint statement containing this information about the vehicular laws that already give motorists and cyclists equal rights.

That statement, apparently prepared by the Charlottesville Albemarle Bicyclist Association, carries the names of John Miller, Albemarle County police chief; J.W. Rittenhouse, Charlottesville police chief; Michael Sheffield, University of Virginia police chief, and Terry Hawkins, Albemarle County sheriff.  It includes this interesting tidbit of information: Road-paving programs were begun in this country not to accommodate cars, which were then a rarity, but to serve bicycles.

Regardless of who prepared the statement, the General Assembly of Virginia prepared the laws.  They are in force, they are indisputable, they are indispensable.  And they are here for our safety.

For the driver, endangering a bicyclist is never worth the couple of minutes such a selfish act might afford.  For the cyclist, ignoring vehicular laws is scarcely worth the criticism it calls down on all bicycle riders and the backlash it creates against shared use of the road.

If physical welfare, ours and others', is our top priority and our chief perspective -- as it should be -- then the conflict between cyclists and motorists will dwindle in significance.  We will not only be sharing the road, we will be sharing the crucial goal of safety.
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