An acquaintance, a bicyclist, sent this article to me.   The article was then picked up by a blog called “Chicago Bicycle Laws.” According to the first article, by Ray Thomas of Portland, Oregon, lawyers who handle bicycle cases are noticing that jurors are showing increasing frustration with injured cyclists:

When trial lawyers report that bicyclists are losing cases that should be won, we must respond or lose the hard won progress that got so many people on bikes in Oregon in the first place. There are many things we can do to improve our image in the minds of people. Not running stop signs, flipping people off, or yelling is a good start. But there are other ways as well. All of us should also become jurors as often as we are called upon to do it. The views of experienced riders give important experience and perspective to the jury . . .

We must recognize that the law provides legal recognition of rights to the roadway that are misunderstand or otherwise not recognized by many motorists.

An exemplar case involved a woman cyclist who was injured when she took the full lane rather than unsafely move far to the right, which would have invited dangerous passing.   There is increasing concern that because more cyclists are out on the road, this will invite ever more frustration on behalf of motor vehicle drivers.