Satire
With
some
reluctance I Recognizing,
encouraging and over emphasizing this
speed disparity, special provisions were enacted to separate these
slower
vehicles from conflict with higher speed vehicles where there is a
suitable
alternative which can be anything anyone
says is suitable as long as it is not a cyclist. Existing law
provides
that, along highways having a smoothly paved shoulder or bicycle lane,
bicycles
and motor scooters must use these
areas in lieu of traffic lanes. Doing so greatly reduces
the potential for conflict due to speed disparity with other vehicles.
This is
especially important on slower roads with
respect to youthful bicycle riders, who may lack the necessary skills to use a bike lane and are prone to pay
less attention to what the law actually says
and will try to ride where they feel the safest and clearly we cannot allow this as it would put pressure on us to provide such facilities.
Over
the recent past, the State
High Way Administration has
invested
millions of dollars
to provide bicycle
facilities along its highways and plans to continue such
investments in
the future. A substantial portion of this effort of
just painting a line on the side of the road would be wasted
if riders could elect to
ride in the roadway rather that on whatever
road leftovers were available to
make
into bike lanes or shoulders.
Additionally, the safety of riders will be compromised if they could
elect to follow the same rules of the road as
motor vehicles
and ride per safe cycling
recommendations
that professional cycling organizations recommend, as would
be allowed
under this bill.
by B' Spokes
What's Related