The source of the standard and universal vehicular rules of the road is a very interesting question, and I've been wondering about it myself. One thing is for sure... they're not from Forester! These rules have been around since before he was born! Just this morning I was reading John Franklin's Cyclecraft, which I highly recommend. You have to do the right/left orientation flip since he's writing for Britain, but that's actually a good thing... I think it forces you to think about each situation a bit more. The amazing thing is how radically different this book is in style from Forester's Effective Cycling, yet how remarkably similar it is in terms of advise and recommended techniques for traffic cyclists. In a lot of ways Cyclecraft is a much better explanation of vehicular cycling than is EC. But I would recommend reading both books to any cyclist who spends any time riding on the streets with motor vehicles.

Anyway - as to the source of the "standard rules" - I think they were devised and adopted in the late 19th century, perhaps earlier, and evolved in detail ever since into the particular laws we have in all the different jurisdictions of the world today. But the fundamentals - the "standard" rules, are the common denominator, if you will, of all the laws governing vehicular traffic in the world.


Before you will be able to convince me that I need to examine my "separtist" attitude about pedestrians, you will have to examine and address what I already said about it, instead of quoting it without comment.