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Re: ideal bicycle rules
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Ryan Sharpe
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Nov 07, 2009 08:41 PST
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If there's one single concept that covers most of the common problems,
you've nailed it. At the few classes I've taught, once I said, "Ride
like you're a car," the nature of the questions changed from the
inquisitive "where should I ride?" to the intuited "should I ride in the
street?" The rules that are left would probably not be hard to mop up
with a brief course. What worries me is that cyclist instruction will
always be at a disadvantage, since the law doesn't limit bicycle use but
requires all drivers to display competence and knowledge about the rules
of the road. It doesn't help that the last half of that "bikes = cars"
equation (present even in CVC21200) subtly reinforces the notion that
automobiles are the gold standard of road users.
I agree fully about crosswalk riding, but that loophole is tempting the
jerkwad punk bicyclist in me.
I've got an interesting circumstance, Owen: at a short-legged 4'11", my
mother is most comfortably (and frustratingly, if you try finding her a
bike) fitted to a child's bike, which severely limits her speed, line of
sight, and visibility. Your rule mandating adult street riding would
force her onto the road whenever she leaves her apartment at 5th and I,
which I don't think would serve anyone well.
--Ryan
owen howlett wrote:
| | Ryan,
do you think it would be fair to summarize your observations about
illogical bicycling rules by saying that most people think bicyclists
are legally the same as pedestrians, and they're surpirised to find out
that bicyclists are legally treated as drivers of vehicles? From
teaching traffic cycling courses, that's basically my impression--that
once you let people know that all the rules of driving apply to them as
bicyclists, they go "aha", and then after you spend a few hours with
them on the street working through the consequences of this realization,
they pretty much completely change the way they ride. That's why I
enjoy teaching courses so much..... ;-)
Personally my priority regarding statewide bicycling laws would be to
make it illegal for adults to ride on the sidewalk, or in crosswalks.
At present this is left to local jurisdictions, and we just had a
clarification of state law that says that if you're legally allowed to
ride on the sidewalk in a certain area, then you're also allowed to ride
in the crosswalk, which I find totally unbelieveable--riding in a
crosswalk should certainly be illegal under all circumstances, because
realistically cyclists don't ever stop before riding into a crosswalk.
I think the law should allow children to ride on sidewalks, but require
them to walk their bikes in crosswalks.
Owen.
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