Holiday reader: The war on bikes

[B' Spokes: I say this is a must read, but a few highlights.]
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by David Alpert, Greater Greater Washington

"Is it okay to kill cyclists?" That's the question an op-ed in the New York Times asks. It's not, but if a spate of other op-eds are any indication, it's sure okay to hate them and the facilities they ask for in a quest for safety.
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But studies performed in Arizona, Minnesota and Hawaii suggest that drivers are at fault in more than half of cycling fatalities.
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legal to kill people, even when it is clearly your fault, as long you're driving a car and the victim is on a bike
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To a lot of people, though, the problem in our society isn't that those who hit and kill cyclists face no consequences; the problem is that those damn cyclists are in the way of driving faster.
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Except, Caldwell argues, since our transportation system is over capacity, that means we can't afford to give up a single square foot of asphalt to cyclists or let them slow down drivers. Never mind that you can move more people in less space when some drive and some bike,
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But, as many have said many times before, if there is a war on cars, why are cyclists the casualties?
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<a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/20759/holiday-reader-the-war-on-bikes/">http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/20759/holiday-reader-the-war-on-bikes/</a>;