No matter how you stand on the Front Street bike lanes, there is no doubt they are serving their initially stated purpose of making motorists, cyclists and pedestrians more aware of the rules of the road.

And they are making all residents aware that more public education needs to be done.

That’s good.

Here are some areas that Albert Lea motorists, cyclists and pedestrians could improve upon:

• More bike riders need to wear their helmets. It’s not against the law to go without one, but it is dangerous. Head injuries account for the majority (62 percent) of bicycle fatalities.

• More bike riders need to understand that they belong on the right side of the road at all times, whether they are on arterial or residential streets. When a person rides on the left side, it shows that person probably shouldn’t be on a bike or even possess a driver’s license.

• More automobile drivers need to stop viewing themselves as king of the road. Some complain that the new stripes on Front Street limit the space in which they have to drive. That’s the talk of lazy drivers who wish they didn’t have to pay much attention while behind the wheel.

• More pedestrians need to understand that bikes indeed can ride on the street and on the sidewalks. The only part of this and most cities in which bikes cannot ride on sidewalks is in the downtown business district. Bikes are allowed on that sidewalk along the south side of Fountain Lake. The city considers it a shared-user sidewalk.

• More motorists need to obey state law and stop when a pedestrian is waiting at a crosswalk or at a corner to cross the street. Too many drivers either don’t notice the person waiting to cross or they just ignore them. A prime example is the crosswalk on Front Street for Lou-Rich employees.

• Motorists might be surprised to learn that they, when executing a right turn, can pull into the bike lane when it isn’t being used by bikes. State law advises motorists to check for bikes and if there are none, pull to the right and out of the auto lanes, then make the right turn, whether it is at a stop sign or into a driveway. We see many drivers turning right from the auto lanes when they very well could get out of the way of the regular flow of traffic as they slow.

For some motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, learning to obey the rules of the road more closely than before is a headache. We suppose that for some people learning anything new is a headache. However, for the majority of people, getting along happily and safely is what they expect whenever they travel — whether it is 18 wheels, four wheels, two wheels or two feet.