Cyclist's and their steeds

[sld]

I have a trek 6000. Great bike for the time it was bought..late 90's.

Still ride it quite a bit from time to time.

 

[Gem99ultra]

And how would bicycles be taxed? I paid sales tax on my bike and tax on all bike related purchases. I paid gas tax to transport the bike home, and again when I take it to and from the shop. How much damage does a bike do to the road versus a car or truck? What about my trail bike? Should that be taxed too? I don't ride it on roads. (and even my road bike never sees a bike lane-road or shoulder only-we don't have bike lanes in my part of the country-the road's been built and gets far more vehicular traffic than bike. I dare say bikes do less damage than semis.)

Should this be extended to runners and walkers? They break the laws, too (jaywalking comes to mind). Certainly sidewalks cost money for construction and the inevitable maintenance. So there is a pedestrian spend for their special walkways. Should we tax children to pay for parks and playgrounds? Kids get hurt on playgrounds. Should they be required to carry insurance? Perhaps they can get a bundled discount for their monkey bars, Schwinn Stingray and new pair of Keds.

And the insurance requirement is there to protect other motorists. In a car versus bike accident-how much damage is done to the car?

I certainly expected a reply such as yours sir. For your information, my experience was gained right there in your part of the country, i.e. in the Hill Country of Texas. Trains of cyclists, 3-4 across, blocking the roadway, running red lights, ignoring stop signs, and further, being discourteous and aggressive. And that's the norm, not the exception.

As I mentioned, I also have a motorcycle that cost me $100/year for a license tag and requires liability insurance. It's no different here in Georgia than it was for 70 years in Texas, i.e. safety inspection, license, & insurance. And operation requires a driver's license with a motorcycle endorsement. As opposed to zero requirements for a bicycle.

How much damage can a bicycle cause? Well - if it causes and accident and kills a few people - it can cause a LOT of damage.

How much damage does a bicycle do to the road? If the cyclist blocks half the road, then they need to pay for a proportional cost of the road. Simple as that. It's obvious that they cannot move along at normal traffic speeds - that's why they're prohibited on freeways. They block traffic thus causing accidents. Accidents that they neither shoulder the blame for nor offer any compensation to those injured.

I applaud you for not riding your bike on public roads. If it isn't licensed, inspected and insured for use on public roads, it should not be on public roads. Thank you for adhering to the law. If you haul it in your truck, then you've paid for the privilege of transporting it to a proper off-road area.

 

[sseelhoff]

I certainly expected a reply such as yours sir. For your information, my experience was gained right there in your part of the country, i.e. in the Hill Country of Texas. Trains of cyclists, 3-4 across, blocking the roadway, running red lights, ignoring stop signs, and further, being discourteous and aggressive. And that's the norm, not the exception.

As I mentioned, I also have a motorcycle that cost me $100/year for a license tag and requires liability insurance. It's no different here in Georgia than it was for 70 years in Texas, i.e. safety inspection, license, & insurance. And operation requires a driver's license with a motorcycle endorsement. As opposed to zero requirements for a bicycle.

How much damage can a bicycle cause? Well - if it causes and accident and kills a few people - it can cause a LOT of damage.

How much damage does a bicycle do to the road? If the cyclist blocks half the road, then they need to pay for a proportional cost of the road. Simple as that. It's obvious that they cannot move along at normal traffic speeds - that's why they're prohibited on freeways. They block traffic thus causing accidents. Accidents that they neither shoulder the blame for nor offer any compensation to those injured.

I applaud you for not riding your bike on public roads. If it isn't licensed, inspected and insured for use on public roads, it should not be on public roads. Thank you for adhering to the law. If you haul it in your truck, then you've paid for the privilege of transporting it to a proper off-road area.

First of all, ready my previous posts about bicycles and discourteous behavior. Bicycles are vehicles and are required to follow the rules of the road. I have no problem with that.

When have you ever read about a bicycle causing death to the occupant of a vehicle? You seriously think that happens? Really?

Blocking a road is not proper behavior. But blocking the road also does not cause wear and tear. What this tells me is that you want to impose a tax because you beleive you are inconvenienced by people on bikes. How do you suppose we impose this tax. A license and registration to ride? Think about that for a second. I started riding bicycles at the age of 5 or 6. Are you really going to require a 5 year old child to go down and get a license and register a bike at the DMV? How is little Johnny going to pay that bike tax every year? All because some group of bikers in Austin are jerks?

Just because a cyclist is not insured does not mean they are not liable for the damage they cause. If a cyclist causes damage, they can still be sued, and a judgment rendered against them. Which is collectible from their assets. It may even be covered by homeowner's insurance, which does provide some liablity protection in certain circumstances.

So what do we want to tax and insure next? Horses? Scooters? How about kids running in the street? They all have the potential to do damage as well.

We get it. You don't like bikes because they "inconvenience" you. As I said before, I'm a cyclist, but I'm a driver too. 10 seconds out of my day is not a crushing defeat to my schedule.

 

[ferrari99]

Well we are getting a little off topic here... My two bobs I think (even though I'm from a different country) there could be room for some fines for cyclists if the break road rules why shouldn't they get fined? Anyway I don't feel further discussion is necessary.

 

[sseelhoff]

Well we are getting a little off topic here... My two bobs I think (even though I'm from a different country) there could be room for some fines for cyclists if the break road rules why shouldn't they get fined? Anyway I don't feel further discussion is necessary.

Cyclists are subject to traffic fines for violating traffic laws in some states. I have seen cyclists stopped and ticketed for failing to stop at stop signs here. Group of riders blew through a stop sign and a cop was sitting down the road looking for speeders. Pulled over the entire group and issued tickets to each of them. Good for the cop.

 

[KennyG]

All this antagonism between drivers and cyclists seems to be an example of an increase in aggression and tension we're seeing on the roads. When I ride, I run stop signs. At 10 mph with clear visibility, why not? I don't run stop signs if there is traffic. Most people are courteous and try to give bikers lots of space. A minority are just mind numb or in attack mode when they drive. I've been hit by a car that ran a stop sign (after first coming to a complete stop - she "didn't see" me). I've had people try to hit my arms when passing me, I've had people run me off the road, apparently to avoid slowing down and taking an extra 10 seconds to get where they are going.

I try to avoid busy roads but I'm not going to give up riding. Most of the world mixes cars and bikes successfully, we should be able to.

 

[RobS]

Action shot of yours truly at a cyclocross race Sunday. I like how the photog made me look like I'm at the front!

 

[9973720wb19]

if people would drive cars the actual speed limit that would give us riders time to communicate ("Car Back" or "Car Up") and single up to allow the car to pass. cars come up on bikes within seconds. you really don't understand the difference between 25-30 mph (which is the average speed limit on type of roads we ride) and 40-50 mph or even 40 to 60 as the case may be. To test my claim, for you non riders, get your old paperboy bike out, ride along the road and have your spouse go by at the stated speed limit then at 40-50...Big difference. Then you'll understand. i don't care if you all want to drive reasonable above the posted limit, ( i know it's hard not to because I have a car too) but when you see bikes (as you do with tractors), just take your foot off the gas for a second and give them some time. And btw, when a rider crashes with clip peddles...shoes come out of the peddle every time and it's not an issue. you can try that too. I've been riding for over 25 years.

 

[Baby Grand]

About 40 years ago, a cop in my hometown gave a good friend of mine (Bike Freak Brian) a speeding ticket for exceeding the posted speed limit by over 20 mph on his 10 speed. Brian had the citation framed.
-Jim

 

[9973720wb19]

All this antagonism between drivers and cyclists seems to be an example of an increase in aggression and tension we're seeing on the roads. When I ride, I run stop signs. At 10 mph with clear visibility, why not? I don't run stop signs if there is traffic. Most people are courteous and try to give bikers lots of space. A minority are just mind numb or in attack mode when they drive. I've been hit by a car that ran a stop sign (after first coming to a complete stop - she "didn't see" me). I've had people try to hit my arms when passing me, I've had people run me off the road, apparently to avoid slowing down and taking an extra 10 seconds to get where they are going.

I try to avoid busy roads but I'm not going to give up riding. Most of the world mixes cars and bikes successfully, we should be able to.

we'd be better off if car drivers would not just look at us as "bikes"...i.e.: to my point as described in this thread. rather, we are average Joe's (Dads, Moms, Husband - wife) just like them...we just happen to riding a bike.