Vance Ermstrong

jfmckenna was screwing around I think (re-read the post) in a very weird way.

I did reply to the vent and two responses are in this morning's paper (these are not my vents - mine did not make it in):

"It’s illegal to ride a bicycle on a sidewalk, you road-hogging moron!"
and

"Running down a cyclist with a motor vehicle could be considered manslaughter or homicide. How nice to read of people’s criminal plans in the Vent!"
This is on ajc.com (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

slagjumper

My vent did not make it int the AJC, (see prev posts this thread). Perhaps I should have registered with an atlanta zip code and made the vent a little less obviously a inverted vent.

jfmckenna

Yea I wasn't really kidding but trying to make a point that as a group know as cyclists we have to put up with a lot of crap including in some cases violent threats and death! To make my point I compared us to a group who also has similiar claims. But I gaurentee the paper would never have printed it. I guess this is where advocacy comes in.

Toasted

It's the same in Savannah...I get that yelled at me through windows alot, but I scream back "read your handbook, at least I did! Usually I get an apology about a week or so later, but there's just too many people to try and keep up with! They need to have a question on the driver's test that makes it either pass/fail "Are bicycles considered vehicles the same as a car?"

scarry

Use bug me not.com

MaxBender

Thanks LittleBigMan.

I just might get the nerve to take it to the street.

tippy

I am about to make a move from Florida to Alabama and have been studying up on the Alabama traffic laws pertaining to cycling. I'm not getting a good feeling. I don't like the one law that says that if a pathway is available next to the roadway, a cyclist is required to take the pathway (no exceptions listed).

How do the road cyclists in Alabama & Georgia handle this law? Do you obey it or ignore it?

d.tipton

trackhub

See if you can get some information from an Alabama cycling club, or advocacy organization. The "must use a pathway or sidepath, if one is available" is always a problem, and that sounds like it's wide open for side-of-the-road legislation by police. Often, such sidepaths are nothing more than narrow, muddy paths frequently strewn with rubble or overgrown with with vegetation. In short, unusable. I believe Utah has such a law.
Any Alabama cyclists have any information for tippy?


Here's another thought on this: could a person who states that he / has plans to willfully harm, or even kill, a bicyclist "just because" be considered a terrorist? I mean they are trying to instill fear, right?

LittleBigMan

I'm not positive, but here in Ga. I don't think you have to use the "bicycle facility" unless ordered to by a police officer. I've not been asked to do so yet. I guess our police are too busy with real issues.

DCCommuter

Is your source the actual law, or is it a summary published by the DMV or some other "helpful" agency? Often when the law is paraphrased for handbooks and the like the meaning is twisted.

A quick google search gives this:

I would say the operating word there is "usable." That's a legalistic defense though, it won't win you friends among motorists honking for you to get off the road.

I-Like-To-Bike

An equally relevant question - Do any "pathways" exist in the vicinity of your new residence; alongside any road you would even consider cycling on; or anywhere in the entire state of Alabama?