Bike Forums - View Single Post - quoted to me by a lady in a small car today

03-06-12 | 02:03 PM

#92

Chief

Senior Member

Joined: Feb 2004

Posts: 379

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From: Sacramento

Bikes: SR, Bianchi, Raleigh, Bertin, Kona, Schwinn, Eisentraut, Zunow, Columbine, Naked, Nishiki, Phillips, Specialized, Giant

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2 Piece

Hey guys,

Chief, thank you and yes I know and agree that you have a right to travel, but how you travel is a privilege. I can walk any where I like on public lands, I can ride in a car, plane (sometime you can be banned from air travel), boat train any where as well. But under certain situations you may not have the right to operate a vehicle (a bicycle is a vehicle) on public roads, just get a DUI and see what happens to your rights. A commercial drivers license is basically the same as a personal drivers license (I am a commercial driver) but the consequences are greater. In order to maintain my commercial drivers license I can not have violations against me whether I am driving my commercial vehicle or my personal car. Say for the personal driver gets a speeding going 20+ mph over speed limit, that would be considered reckless driving and a big ticket. For me with a commercial license if I got a speeding ticket 20+ mph over the posted speed limit while driving my personal car, I would have my commercial drivers licenses suspended on the spot.

I really hated getting this far off OP topic, it was just about every time one of these post pop up cyclist start talking about rights this and rights that. I know that either driving a car or riding a bike is both a privilege and a great responsibility that need to be taken seriously.

And yes I did enjoy the freedom of my 11 mile commute today even thought it sarted snowing!

2 Piece :
Don’t on one hand tell me I have a right, then say to exercise the right is a privilege. I can’t compute that!

Actually, this thread continues very much in line with the OP’s topic; a motorist not understanding cyclists’ rights. And many of these sorts of posts reflect that many cyclists do not understand, nor believe they should exercise their rights.

As you become less new to the forums, you will read plenty writings of cyclists who express that they are "intruders" on the road. And you will possibly ride with those individuals who constantly move over, stop, or detour themselves to accommodate every motor vehicle that comes along. Their actions say "I don’t have the right to be here, so I will be as inconspicuous as possible"

For me, I will not concede my right to human-powered travel, and I will not acknowledge that anyone has "given" me a revocable "privilege" to travel on public roadways for my own private reasons. Take some time, and read about the right to travel. It will shed some light on why your commercial license is more of a privilege to own.

And private vehicle licenses are quite an infringement on our rights, but we seem to have swallowed the pill (over the years) in the name of safety, or revenue collection, or "peace-of-mind" about other drivers, or something… Many court cases have rather weakly upheld regulation of motor vehicle travel (by states) with the reasoning that other forms of human-powered travel are left unrestricted. (That’s why I said "Rejoice…use the freedom!")

I’m somewhat saddened at the number of citizens that I encounter who don’t want to accept that they have a variety of rights (non-negotiable, birth-to-death rights). Instead there is a common thread of attitudes/opinions that our lives are a conducted using a series of privileges earned with good behavior, or paid for with taxes/fees, or some other arbitrary guidelines. Somehow, it’s too good to believe we are worthy of certain freedoms & behavior just because we were born!

Just remember… when a cop pulls you over, and asks "Where are you coming from?"… a lot of sacrifice has been made so you can ignore the question; and instead ask them a question.

Moderators: Feel free to move this to the Anarchy Forum!

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