Treat Bikes Like Cars?

A link to an article on Wired.com:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/cycle-law-should-bikes-be-tr...

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by payton on August 4, 2009 at 12:01pm

Sorry, but the idea is specious. The laws this guy cites (and many, many more) came into being AFTER cars were widespread -- and, more importantly, due to public outcry over the number of people being killed and maimed by cars, particularly in hit-and-runs. Even the humble stop sign didn't exist until 1915.

A hundred years ago -- indeed, not all that differently a thousand years ago -- the streets were filled with bicyclists, pedestrians, horses, vendors, streetcars, children playing, people socializing, and NONE of these laws existed. (Oh, were the streets filled with bicycles: bikes were to the 1890s what iPods were to the 2000s.) There was just no need! And yet the laws we have still don't adequately manage the threat that cars pose to life and limb. If two city buses filled with people exploded every single day, no one would ride buses -- but just as many Americans (118) die every day in car crashes.

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Permalink Reply by joe on August 4, 2009 at 4:11pm

jakie treehorn treats objects like women man.....

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Permalink Reply by o0_dan_0o on August 4, 2009 at 11:29pm

joe said:

jakie treehorn treats objects like women man.....

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Permalink Reply by Homebuilt on August 5, 2009 at 8:47am

Some nice arguments for the bikes-are-not-cars argument. And every time someone says that we should stop for stop signs I'm tempted to ask whens the last time you saw a car (in Chicago) stop for a stop sign?
Oh sure, they'll sometimes slow down, but a complete stop? Almost never.

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Permalink Reply by Michael J Blane on August 5, 2009 at 10:38am

I got stuck watching the Dude get struck in the head, over and over and over. Thanks, I think. haha

o0_dan_0o said:

joe said:
jakie treehorn treats objects like women man.....

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Permalink Reply by mattbikes1 on August 6, 2009 at 3:15am

Etiquette, I believe is what the streets of Chicago need. Imagine, red blood cells, white, platelets, and plasma pumping through the arteries of the human body in harmony. Smoothly diverging in order to fulfill the bodies needs. No traffic jams, accidents, or hostilities. I ride like this, I drive like this, and I wonder, why don't they get it. Inattentive drivers, selfish bikers, and inept fools flying in mobile entertainment cocoons saturate the paved arteries of this city. To train the populace to proficiency would prove an insurmountable task requiring a great economic sacrifice. We are not evolved enough. We will continue to die on the roads we build.