Originally Posted by
Bekologist
as strongly as i am against mandatory use laws i recognize states have the duty of clarity in statute governing citizen behaviors. in the presence of bike lanes and paths in a state or community, the onus is on the government to describe and regulate public behavior in operation of these facilities.
like john opining bikelanes and bikelane use laws are inseprable, the 'mode neutral' camp is inexorably linked to opposing all bike specificity in road marking.
can you endorse thoughtful AASHTO compliant bike pavement markings in states with no mandatory use laws,
high roller, or do you think pavement can discriminate
? Do you support or oppose bike infrastructure like sidepaths and thoughtful road enhancements to facilitate bicycling in communities?
Can the "mode neutral"
camp endorse on-road enhancements like arterial and connector route bikelanes with thoughtful intersection treatments, wide pavement and shoulders on rural roads, sharrowed streetscapes, hybrid streetscpaes incorporating the best practices of sharrow and bikelane design in the absence of mandatory bikelane, shoulder and sidepath use laws?
As long as cyclists on roadways, with or without bike lanes, are required to operate according to the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles, I see that the situation is grudgingly acceptable. America has had a long history of encouraging incompetent, and therefore usually dangerous, behavior by cyclists, a history which it is very difficult to overcome. So, let the typical American cyclist operate incompetently, just so long as the competent cyclists are allowed to operate competently and lawfully in accordance with the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles.
I say grudgingly acceptable because it would be better still for America to strongly encourage all cyclists to operate according to the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles, which the typical bikeway system discourages, both in the way it is, unavoidably, laid out on the roadway and in the public belief that this layout enables incompetent operation to be safe.