PatrickGSR94

My dad and I were talking about bikes the other day, and road riding. He said his biggest quip with road cyclists are when "they think they have as much right to the road as a motorcycle, like when getting in the left turn lane. If they want to do that they need to get a license plate like everyone else." I told him I get in the left lane for a left turn if there's not much traffic. If traffic is heavy I'll probably go straight across the intersection, then go straight across the other side when it's clear or when the light changes.

I'm a taxpayer and I help pay for the roads, too, including the registration fees for both of our cars.

What are others' feelings about this?

TheTreauth

Is a license required to ride a bicycle now? I don't even understand his comment. What would having a license plate change? Would motorists suddenly respect cyclists more if they had one? Not likely..

MattFoley

Regardless of his opinion, the law is pretty clear. Unless specifically marked (usually on freeways and national parkways), bikes get full use of the road, just like cars. Also, you can tell him that road user fees (gas tax, other fees on vehicles) only cover about half the cost of building and maintaining roads. The rest comes from general funds, including the sales tax you paid on your bike and gear. So yeah, drivers don't "own" the roads, so enjoy them without guilt!

unterhausen

just tell him that you ride your bike like you drive your car and it doesn't make any sense to do any different than that

pallen

A license plate has nothing to do with safety or right to the road. That is an illogical connection. Do what is safe.

FenderTL5

Maybe pass this along as some reading material:
https://cincinnatimercantile.wordpres...ican-wheelmen/

or this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Roads_Movement

wphamilton

My feeling is that in heavy traffic I get in the left turn lane with the rest of the vehicles. I'm not slowing anyone down, and they can refrain from hitting me just as easily as refraining from hitting a motorcycle.

And the roads I ride, I feel like I'm subsidizing the motorists' extravagances, not the other way around. I don't put much wear and tear on the roads, but most of the funding is from various taxes rather than pump taxes. I also pay my registration fees just like everyone else, not to mention insurance, even though I don't use the car much. So I'm paying more than my fair share, and he's paying less than his fair share.

Leisesturm

Kind of a moot point since bicycles aren't licensed. Of course one has to do what is safe... ... still the debate is valid because in my area at least, efforts are underway to get bicyclists to pay a road use tax. How it would be levied is the main sticking point.

H

fietsbob

I go with the laws of Physics.. the larger mass moving at higher speed ,
always has Me getting out of the way, if at all possible.

2 Piece

+1, amen and hallelujah

daveF

You are right & your father is wrong! No need to think about what our rights are to the road, we are well versed in them. It is plainly written in state statutes & in various state guides like Florida's DOT cycling & pedestrian handbook which informs Florida's courts & law enforcement how to interpret state statutes.

Confederate

Safety is the rule. Period.

You are supposed to follow the same laws as drivers. Some leeway is granted out of recognition that we just can't go as fast as cars. But you are to ride in the lane (as far to the right as possible), to observe stop signs, red lights, and any other traffic control devices. That includes designated turn lanes. You can't just decide to turn left if you are in a multi-lane roadway, riding in a lane that is designated to go only straight or right. It would be just as wrong for you to do so on a bike as it would be for a car driver to do so. You should work your way over to the appropriate turn lane. And if it slows traffic down a bit, well....everybody can just slow down.

That's the way things are supposed to work. Unfortunately, because of jack-asses who don't understand the rules of the road, and who are operating two-ton wrecking machines at 50 miles per hour, you sometimes have to break the law. If getting into the appropriate turn lane will expose you to more danger than some other option, then go with the safer option. That could include going straight through the light and doing a U-turn, then turning right. It could include getting off your bike for a minute and crossing as a pedestrian, pushing your bike beside you. It could include illegally cutting through a high school stadium and riding across the football field. If there is an option that reduces the chance of you becoming roadkill, take it.

But your dad is just plain wrong.

achoo

NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!

Not as "far right as POSSIBLE", it's "as far right as PRACTICABLE".

There's a HUGE difference. It's POSSIBLE to ride in a pothole-, glass-, and debris-strewn shoulder. It's not PRACTICABLE.

And yeah, the OP's dad is just plain wrong.

achoo

Just ask 'em this (assuming you have a car): "Since I already pay those taxes on my car, can I get a rebate on them for those days when I bike to work instead of driving, since a bike puts much less wear-and-tear on the roads than a car?"

Rx Rider

if I use the left turn lane, drivers know I'm going to make a left turn. this is the safe thing to do. I paid for a five year plate for my car and only used 3 years of it, you're welcome.

WPeabody 

I still don't understand where motorists are getting this whole "road tax" argument from...

unterhausen

well, it probably started with the trucks having a sticker on the back that said "this truck pays $1800 a year in taxes" and went on from there. The truckers are too embarrassed to have the stickers on the back, because they are underpaying for the damage that they do by many multiples nowadays. People don't really know that the gas taxes haven't been keeping up with inflation.

PatrickGSR94

Yeah I just found this in the State of TN drivers' manual, page 114 and 115: https://www.tn.gov/safety/dlhandbook/DL_Manual2011.pdf

MattFoley

One fully loaded semi does the same damage to a road as 10000 cars! So think how little impact bikes have. Weather and plants will break a paved road faster than bikes ever could.

JanMM

Where is that? How would that work?

Rx Rider

Colorado Springs use to have a new bike tax, collected for the purpose of maintaining the worst bike paths I've ever seen. I imagine the same point of purchase tax.

vesteroid

I simply wait till I can get from the bike lane to the far right of the left turn lane. Cars come up to the line beside me, and on green we all go...don't know why it has to be either / or...seems we can both go and not hold either up.

dynodonn 

That's all fine, unless the street you are turning onto has parked cars, then things get a little dicey when the wolfpack charges through, since you let them. When I'm in the left turn lane, there's no sharing on my part.

Chief

No taxes (or other payment) are required to travel freely on public roadway in the U.S. As cyclists (human powered), we can exercise one of the few remaining basic freedoms without having to justify our existence/intentions/qualifications while moving about as a free person in a public place.
Does anyone question the tax-paying status of a pedestrian on a sidewalk? Cyclists are free from taxation/registration, and can travel freely... if we so choose! And we have have FULL right to use of public roadway, where-as motor vehicle operators actually have restrictions. Yahoo!

muu

Those guys don't matter as much though, as they're relegated to the sidewalks. I'd assume that's the mindset, anyway.