Quote:
Originally Posted by Cirrus
Bikes don't belong on the street if some of them are going to break the rules? Should we apply that to cars too?
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Don't think I've coasted through a stop sign either...certainly not without a complete stop, haha. And we're not talking about vacant streets - we're talking about normal practice on normal daytime downtown streets.
I think the difference is level of awareness. Bicycling is not the same as walking. It's much faster, and situational awareness, especially at speed, is unquestionably less than for a pedestrian, probably less even than for a car, because you're multitasking. Your field of vision is smaller. It is a different mode entirely and has to be treated as such.
As for the rules... I don't even know what the rules are. Nor do, I think, most bicyclists. I do believe that the city/state can address that, and should address that better. There is simply no apparent consensus on how bicyclists should behave. And what consensus there is (e.g. red lights are optional) is absolute hooey. Either it's a car, or it's a person, or it gets its own infrastructure. Or some combination in different settings, but clearly delineated. Ad hoc rules just lead to accidents. Whizzing through an intersection is not the time for gray area.
Oh, and if I have to wear a seat belt, then a bicyclist should have to wear a helmet (and I'd go so far as to say knee and elbow pads). It's a liability thing.
I'm not saying bicycles should be held to a higher standard, not at all. They should be held to a similar standard. And right now, it's the wild west out there with bicycles.
I'm leaning toward stricter licensing requirements too (very stringent in Honolulu - ticketing bicycles is very common there... (and peds...I'm not a licensed attorney in Hawaii because of a jaywalking ticket, after all!)), but how would you do that for b-cyclists? If I'm on a shared bicycle, do ANY laws apply to me? I am being facetious, but you get what I am saying. Do I have to carry ID while on a bicycle? (I wonder... fun constitutional question there. I have no idea if Colorado has a law on that, will have to check. Yes for a car. No for a ped. But a bike?)
If we're going to subsidize our preferred modes of transportation with less stringent behavioral norms and rules, then I should be able to run my combi buses. Or at least motorized rickshaws.