Thousand Oaks Police Department Bicycle Safety Enforcement Announcement

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What is a “sharrow”? (From City of Thousand Oaks Website)Sharrow
A sharrow is a road lane marking that shows a stencil of a bicycle with two chevron markings above it. The purpose of a sharrow is to remind residents to share the road when driving or riding in Thousand Oaks. It's designed for use in areas too narrow for a separate bike lane. Sharrows are about 3 feet wide and 10 feet long. The California Department of Transportation officially adopted the design in 2005. Thousand Oaks will begin stenciling sharrows in September 2008.

Sharrows have several applications in improving safety for cyclists and motorists:

  • Sharrows tend to keep bicyclists from riding too close to parked vehicles,
    which puts them at risk for unexpected opening car doors.
  • With sharrows on the road, motorists tend to give more space to bicyclists
    that they pass.
  • Sharrows help reduce wrong-way riding by bicyclists.
  • They help decrease aggressive bicycle-car interactions.
  • They can help reduce the level of pedestrian-to-bicycle conflicts on sidewalks.