SBinNYC

It does not take much effort these days to determine which people create false histories. All that's required is an internet search to find and read contemporary documents to judge whether such histories are false and created. It's something that can be done even from a recliner.

The NY Times search on their website is my starting point. The vehicle code was originally only for motor vehicles. Bicycles and pedestrians were not subject to it. The effort to restrict bicycle and pedestrian road access by extending the vehicle code to include them started in the 1930's.

It was a pivotal time for the automobile industry. The Great Depression was on and auto sales had tanked. There was a bicycle boom in many cities. Bicycles offered an inexpensive alternative for many with very little additional travel time. The automobile industry was worried.

A June 3rd 1934 NY Times article reported on the National Conference of Street and Highway Safety. The following was among the recommendations for headlights and turn signals, "Adoption of a regulation making bicycles and animal-drawn vehicles broadly subject to the rules of the road as they apply to other traffic."

The clear inference is that only motor vehicles were subject to the rules of the road at that time. There are several other Times articles that support this conjecture in NYC. Bicycle riders were not subject to the vehicle laws in New York State until 1937.

Pedestrians were not subject to the restrictions on their street use in New York City until 1958. That's within my lifetime. I remember when those anti-jaywalking laws were passed. The June 23rd 1958 Times has an article that reads, "The city's effort to reverse the rising trend of pedestrian traffic deaths enters its third phase today, when anti-jaywalking regulations become effective."

Which history is false and created becomes clear, once anyone does a little armchair research from original sources.