I think part of the frustration comes from both sides not being clear on the rules of the road, courtesy and common sense.

While riding down a through street a car that had stopped at a stop sign pulled out right in front of me. I kicked off his car in my effort to turn with him and although I crashed, avoided serious injury. I did put a pretty good dent in his car. We traded info then he came to my house and wanted me to pay for the dent in his car or he'd call his attorney. I encouraged him to call his attorney and he came back and offered to take me to the hospital at his expense in case I had any injuries. I clearly had the right of way.

I've also watched families bike with their kids, no helmets, riding 2-4 wide on a 2 lane winding road through trees, going from sunlit areas to shady areas, wandering their way across both lanes, enjoying the scenery and just wanted to stop and give them a safety lectures. Hey, I've gone to more the one school to show the Head Smart film and talk to kids about being safe. Wearing a helmet has saved my life. Unfortunately wearing a helmet wasn't enough to save my brother in law when he was hit by a motorcycle rider during an organized bike ride.

If there's a bike lane, please ride in it. If there is no bike lane, we need to work together to make sure there are safe routes. Riding on sidewalks is just rude even in places where it might be legal. Let people know when you come up on them. If a car honks at you, sometimes the driver is just trying to let you know he's there. A honk with a friendly wave can be a gesture of concern.

If you can find a street off the main drag you may have a more scenic ride and more safety. I live in a small town. People ride with their kids on a street with lots of traffic and sometimes log or fire trucks. If they go one block off that street they can ride without stop signs along the lake and get to the same destination with a much higher level of safety and a lot less frustration for the motorized public too. They may have as much right to ride on the other street, but sometimes common sense should trump that right. After all, when you are on a bicycle you are much more vulnerable. Not everyone is out to get you but accidents do happen.

Motorists should slow down when they see bikes on the road. They do have a right to be there too. When they are following the rules they have the same rights of way we do in our cars. I know I would hate to hit a bike rider no matter whos fault it was.

Just as following the rules makes it easier to share the road with other motorized vehicles, when both sides know and follow the rules it makes mixed use safer too.

"riding within a single lane on a laned roadway with at least two lanes in each direction, in which case the persons may ride two abreast if they do not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic more than they would otherwise impede traffic by riding single file and in accordance with the provisions of this chapter."

Do not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic. Yes, this is talking about when and where you can ride two-abreast, but the key is to not impede normal and reasonable movement of traffic. If that guy was making a turn at a stop sign and he had his signal on, you should have yielded to him,,,,not the other way around. You have to know traffic laws for motorists before slinging into traffic on a bicycle....plan and simple. Most of the encounters I've had with cyclists in both Missoula and Helena have been encounters where the riders simply refuse to obey impedance laws in traffic....packs of riders across the entire road....riders crossing against lights....riders pedalling right down between lanes of traffic sitting at a light....swerving out in front of traffic with no reason. I could go on and on, but the simple matter is that cyclists have to understand that they must follow traffic laws....they are NOT pedestrians.

I'm going to add to that.

It is also important for motorists to be fully aware that they are driving on roads with cyclists. It is easy for them to get into your blind-spots. Keep your head on a swivel and look for cyclists when scanning intersections for pedestrians and other motorists. They are there, trust me....especially in Missoula and Helena. One misnomer is that cyclists have right-of-way at crosswalks. This is true ONLY when the cyclist has dismounted his bike and walks it across. I've seen many cyclists just jump right out into traffic on crosswalks, if you do this....STOP and dismount and walk it across. You can ride it across if you have time, but don't expect 2-ton vehicles to stop on a dime to avoid crushing you. Motorists, beware of cyclists coming off of cross-streets...they tend to make wide, high-speed turns to merge into traffic. When passing a cyclist on a street with parallel parked cars, give wide berth to them, because they are giving wide berth to drivers that could be getting out of their cars (though those drivers should be looking out for anything coming up from behind them before opening their door)
I've seen too many car vs. cyclist incidents in many of Montana's cities and there is fault on both parties mainly because they refuse to look out for one another and to obey traffic laws.