John Forester

The rules of the road for drivers of vehicles apply whenever vehicles are operated on roadways; they do not apply for the operation of vehicles off the roadway, for example when motor vehicles are driven across fields (with the owner's permission), or when bicycles are driven on sidewalks, where this is allowed. This discussion concerns only the operation of bicycles on roadways.

You talk of special privileges. So far as I know, the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles grant no privileges to drivers of bicycles that are not granted to other drivers of vehicles. The basic privilege is that of operating in accordance with the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles.

The restrictions with which we are concerned restrict cyclists' right to operate on roadways open to other drivers of vehicles. The restrictions limit cyclists to the right-hand edge of the roadway or to a bike lane or prohibit them from using the roadway where there is an adjacent path. These restrictions were originally created by motordom and enacted by motordom (about 1940) to make motoring more convenient, without regard for the safety or convenience of cyclists. When the operation of these restrictions was finally examined, in 1974, they were found to endanger cyclists. But instead of repealing the restrictions, motordom demanded that they be retained, but with exceptions saying that cyclists didn't have to obey the restriction under some conditions, at some times, maybe. As a result, the public and the police know full well that cyclists are not allowed to obey the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles, while remaining ignorant of the exceptions.