Action request--please read and comment!

I am not generally one to "cry wolf." I don't like hyperbole, as a rule.

I don't think I'm overblowing the potential significance, here, though.

First, a little background: A woman I encountered through the magic of that book of faces social site was cited not once, but three times over the last several months. Her offense? Driving her bicycle in a manner that shows awareness of safe traffic movement. She was using the right lane on US27 between Nicholasville, Kentucky and Lexington, Kentucky, as she rode to work and back.

Apparently a lot of motorists took umbrage at the gall of a mere cyclist who would use the road as a vehicle operator, and called the police in effort to have her removed from their exclusive domain of fast motoring.

A week or two ago, the Jessamine County Attorney filed to gain an injunction against this cyclist, in effect forcing her to NOT drive her bicycle to work.

As a side note, not that it matters a whit to the situation at hand: Cherokee Schill, the cyclist in question, has a car, but it's old and unreliable. She had some sort of problem maintaining her license in some other state, and is temporarily ineligible to carry a driver's license in Kentucky. As I said, this doesn't change things at all--she still has to get to work to support herself and her two teenagers.

Last week, the judge who was asked for the injunction turned down the request, which was a small victory for Ms Schill--she can still drive her bicycle to work on US27. There remains a trial over the citations, coming in August.

This trial has potential for real consequences affecting cyclists in Kentucky (and perhaps elsewhere). Under the collection of Statutes in KRS 189, a cyclist has the right to a full lane as a vehicle operator. If Jessamine County's charge against Ms Schill succeeds, we could lose a lot of that right.

If she wins, cyclists in Kentucky get another jurist's support. We need that support.

There is a legal defense fund. Please donate. Your right to ride on public roads may be affected by the outcome, so donate accordingly.