Originally Posted by CB HI
And that is what I do not understand, how is it possible that such “stay out of our way laws” are still on the books in such a bike friendly Mecca as Portland. Since Portland supports such “bike friendly” bike lanes and since Portland declares itself bike friendly, then certainly the city would remove the bike unfriendly mandatory use and stay right laws.
I and many VC’ers (including JF) believe that mandatory use and stay right laws should not be on the books and that the slow moving vehicle laws that apply to all vehicles are the laws that should also apply to cyclist. Same roads, same laws, same rights, same responsibilities.
I think the city would remove the bike lane law, were it a city law. It's a
state law, and it's supported by the kinds of legislators who feel we should all be on the sidewalk all the time, period. It's certainly not on the agenda this legislative session, and even if it's on the agenda next biennium, I'm not sure if it would pass. Like many state governments, there are other political undercurrents that are completely unrelated to cycling. Sometimes they co-opt issues unrelated to what they're really squabbling about in the first place, and this mandatory bike lane law definitely falls into that category.
As to the "far right as practicable" law, I think getting rid of the bike lane law in this state would be more politically acceptable at this point in time. Since I don't think
that is going to happen anytime soon, I'm not sure how feasable a campaign to get rid of the "far right as practicable" law would be.
Just because one city in Portland would be happy to see the laws change does not mean the rest of the state would support it. The general trend in Oregon is that if Portlanders would like to see something happen, that it reason enough for the rest of the state to oppose it. Politics. <sigh>