Originally Posted by
GriddleCakes
Again, electrik was using trains as an example of vehicles that share our transportation space and have a different set of rules. They have a different set of rules and infrastructure because they operate differently. If his argument is that bicycles deserve a separate set of rules because they operate differently, then I don't see why trains are a terrible analogy. The laws of physics come into play because they describe how different vehicles will operate.
Let's use physics and turn this whole argument on its head. A train doesn't stop at each intersection because trains are too heavy, i.e. have too much momentum, to do so. It would just take too much energy to stop them (and they couldn't stop that fast anyway) and too much energy to get them going again. Any fixed rail vehicle suffers from the same problem. That's why they get the right of way, even though many people each year each year have to learn that lesson...usually the last lesson they ever learn.
But what about 80,000 lb trucks? They have a lot of momentum. They take a lot of energy to check that momentum and then reestablish it. A stop sign or stop light is a major problem for them. Why not just let them roll through them? It makes little sense to make 80,000 lb trucks start and stop at each intersection. The only vehicle they should have to yield to are trains.
What about smaller trucks of around 17,000 lb? They have momentum too. It takes less energy for them to stop but still more then other vehicles. Why not just let them roll through except when a train or larger truck is present?
SUV have less momentum then 17,000 lb trucks, shouldn't they go next? Cars have more momentum and are harder to stop than motorcycles they should go next.
Bicycles have very little momentum and require very little to stop...we use our hands which aren't exactly the strongest part of the human body. We also require very little energy to start. We aren't particularly good at acceleration nor do we have a particularly good top speed. We really are only an impediment to other traffic since we can't get out of their way and only serve to make them waste energy.
Saying that bicycles should have special rules because of our weight is just as silly as the argument that trucks should have special rules because of theirs. A homogeneous set of rules is exactly what is needed...not that people follow them. The same set of rules lets everyone predict what the guy next to you is going to do.
Having a set of rules where everyone gets to do whatever they like doesn't make the roadways safer, it makes them more dangerous for all users...including the light weight ones.