[MtnGoat]

Bill de Blasio eyes license requirement for bike riders

[neek]

When more people bike, everyone wins. Putting up barriers to biking will mean more people will die in cars and waste time stuck in traffic. It's a bad idea... and won't happen, so I'm not going to waste any more time on the matter.

[Randito]

I had an interesting discussion with cab driver on the way to JFK a while back. His view was the ubiquitous (and technically illegal class 3+ eBikes / electric motorcycles) that form the backbone of the food delivery system in NYC have actually made driving a cab easier. Prior to eBikes arriving on the scene and driving very fast through red lights and the wrong way on one way street, etc, etc, pedestrians didn't even bother to look before walking out into the street, now at least pedestrians look out for eBike food delivery riders before walking into the street. I'll believe that NYC police will start enforcing a licensing requirement for bicycles when they start cracking down on the swarms of unlicensed dirt bikes and ATVs that zoom up and down avenues pulling wheelies for many blocks and running red light after red light.

[Cyclopath]

This is about as likely to happen as reanimating all the dinosaurs. Not I'm not surprised to hear a libertarian calling for more government.

[Slugman]

How many bike bashing threads does this forum need? I think the hundreds that exist should be enough. It is all a sham anyway, just another sneaky way to shove right wing politics onto the forum. It is the same with the Seattle bashing, we all know it is a dog whistle.

[MtnGoat]

I don't see what the issue is. There is no right to commit traffic violations, no right to escape accountability for committing traffic violations, and a continual push to establish cyclists as legitimate road users. As such, there should be mechanisms to insure accountability. Yet some argue against it. Dog whistles show what's in the claimant's head, not what is actually argued. It's how you claim someone said something they did not actually say, and better yet, in an unfalsifiable manner so you cannot be shown to be wrong. Best of all, even after I explicitly note my willingness to share the road.

[Randito]

[CarriesNineFires]

As a cyclist who regularly rides the streets of Seattle I feel like I have enough experience to announce that the biking situation here is kind of frightening on the regular. I am law-abiding, and I am alert, skilled and conscientious, and will go to inconvenient lengths to remain responsible and careful rather than be one of the scofflaws who make car drivers resent cyclists. It's simple: I just follow the rules of the road and act like a decent human being. I have been told by a couple of angry drivers at red lights that they "hate bicyclists." That's disturbing. There are drivers and cyclists who eschew the idea of law and order and courtesy and this battle is annoying and dangerous. I have no solution to offer other than to always be on the right side of things, and if that is a confusing choice to make then you ought to consider the fact that you're not the only person on the road. Strange that that must be remembered.

[Randito]

[neek]

Hope no one is offended by this...

I bike commuted for 20 years and found it hilarious.

[JonnyQuest]

[Stefan]

They will need to expand the regulations to walkers too. Jaywalking is a serious threat to peoples safety. Oh the humanity!!!

[Schenk]

I find it disappointing that some folks dismiss the illegal or discourteous actions of some individuals and groups because their actions may have a low initial impact, or impact only a few individuals. Carry that way of thinking to its fruition and it would seem that, for some folks, nothing is off limits as long as nobody notices right away. Jaywalking isn't just crossing the street somewhere other than at an intersection or crosswalk. It involves putting others at risk by your actions too. In Spokane this is the rule: RCW 46.61.240 Crossing at other than crosswalks. (1) Every pedestrian or personal delivery device crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway. I was in an accident caused by a jaywalker last Summer. I wasn't driving but our driver had to slam on the brakes, another car hit us from behind, and the guy behind him hit a parked car when he braked and swerved. I find it hard to believe anyone would condone actual jaywalking and dismiss it as trivial.

[Randito]