It's clear that there wasn't room to pass withing the lane because the cyclist was riding in the center.
No, it's clear that there wasn't room to pass within the lane
and it's clear the cyclist was riding either in the center or to the right of the center but not in the shoulder. Any other details are ones you made up based only on biases you brought into the conversation.
Yes, because all of us MMM readers drive giant F-250 trucks
Holy miss the point batman. Even a Town and Country is a little over 90 inches wide, and it's built on a car frame! That doesn't leave room for curb, debris, cyclist, 3 feet, Town and Country, and a margin between the car and the next lane in 12 feet.
(which apparently still leave room for sharing on a 12-foot lane, according to the linked image).
Correction: which
clearly don't leave room for sharing, because the cyclist only has 5 inches instead of the statutory 36 inches if the truck is passing within the lane.
However, the linked image seems to make the point that cyclists are idiots for sharing the road with drivers.
i. Two sentences ago the linked image was "apparently" making the point that there was plenty of room. So which is it?
ii. "Sharing the road" and "sharing a lane with other drivers passing within the lane" are not the same.
iii. "Sharing the road" is reciprocal, and depends on the behavior of motorists as well as cyclists. It's not motorists' road to share or not with cyclists, it's everyone's road to share with everyone else.
Apparently they do not have a steel cage
We've been over this already this week.
no fenders, balancing a single track vehicle, vulnerable to debris, pavement imperfections, and windblast, and are passed with the highest speed differentials. If that's your argument for giving them the full lane, then that's my argument for why they should not be allowed in high speed traffic lanes at all.
Ignoring for a moment that half of your reasons make no sense... your argument that cyclists should not be allowed in high-speed traffic lanes, while nonsensical, at least starts from a basis of concern for cyclists' safety. So how do you then use that as an excuse to drive in an unsafe manner around cyclists? Doesn't that seem a little like psychosis to you?
There is no double standard here, by the way. I would fully expect a car going 10-20 mph in a 35 or higher zone to pull over as a matter of courtesy
Sure, as would I. Again, there's the whole "compelling interest in immediate physical safety" thing I mentioned? That doesn't apply to the same degree for a sedan as it does for a bike.
AND law
That's not the law. Consult, for example, the only posts anywhere on this forum in which anyone has quoted transportation law. They've all been me, they've all been the Ohio Revised Code, and not a one has supported the 'right' of impatient motorists to be yielded to by people in front of them.
(as discussed, in certain jurisdictions,
No jurisdictions were given but the state of Ohio, which is a counterexample and not a supporting point.
but I have no qualms saying that such conventions should be codified everywhere).
"I think X should be the law" is not equivalent to "the law is X". Democracy, people with opinions other than yours, yadda yadda...
Would you let a bicycle on the freeway? If not, why a 45 mph highway?
No. Why is a street different than the interstate? Some key differences:
A 45mph street may have consistent, frequent intersections, causing drivers to expect that they will need to yield and pay attention to other activities going on (most near me do). The interstate does not have intersections.
A 45mph street has a legal requirement that it be built in a way that it is conducive to sharing between all users of the road. The interstate explicitly does not, as bicycles, farm vehicles, and pedestrians are prohibited.
A 45mph street accumulates glass and gravel much more slowly than an interstate highway.
A 45mph street typically lacks rumble strips on the side of the road, which can easily bring down a cyclist. Everything else aside, this feature of the highway makes the highway a much more difficult environment to ride in.
A 45mph street has no statutory minimum speed limit, unlike the interstate. That means that it is physically possible to operate a bicycle at a safe and legal speed on a 45mph street, but not on an interstate.
A 45mph street is able to be legally occupied by cyclists, while an interstate highway is not.