There is a very compelling reason cars require registration, insurance, and licensing: they grossly augment mortal danger to others. While bicycles and air conditioners falling out of windows kill on occasion, nothing comes close to the over 40,000 yearly American deaths caused by the automobile. Our procedures to mitigate that risk have proven sadly inadequate, but they are in fact necessary in a way that they are not for bicycles. It's not just a case of annoying costs and paperwork that everyone should have to deal with for some imagined principle of equal suffering, there's a lot more at stake. And from a greater good perspective, adding unnecessary hurdles to "transportation" bicycling (I don't know how this would be distinguished from recreational use) is only going to discourage cycling, keep potential cyclists in their cars, and perversely increase the transportation death toll. It's a big net loss for safety and public health.

Also: since when can you take pictures of cars running stop signs, red lights, and doing other illegal stuff and have the driver face consequences? As a New Yorker witnessing regular traffic violations that put me in grave danger, I would love to be able to just report dangerous drivers and have them be penalized. But if the police are not around (or inclined to act), motorists are just as much "immune to all" as bicyclists. As a pedestrian, I'm unfortunately not immune to cars crashing into me.

EUGENE, Ore. - Roughly 100 bicyclists either naked or almost naked rode through the streets of Eugene this weekend in an event that turned confrontational.

The riders cheered, chanted and stopped traffic as they pedaled through the streets. But police officers stopped naked cyclists several times for failing to obey traffic laws and ordered some women to put tops on.
At one point, the officers tried to make arrests. But as the crowd grew angry, they decided to let the riders continue rather than risk a potentially dangerous situation.
Naked bike rides have been staged in dozens of cities around the world in recent years, including Portland.

The purpose is to protest global oil dependency and celebrate cycling and the human body.

3/10/2008

http://www.koin.com/Global/story.asp?S=7991982

Police tried to do the right thing

I bet he doesnt wear a bike helment.

I don't consider myself a troll, but trolling is all really a matter of opinion.

It's time to do some reading, and educate "yourselves."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/331734_firstperson17.html

http://www.vtpi.org/whoserd.pdf

http://pubs.its.ucdavis.edu/publication_detail.php?id=1088

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/331734_firstperson17.html

Here is a sampling of them:

JuanJalepeno, BusMallBob, blondbarking, MrBergis, TedKSucks, rotaxmax126, MEXCIANPride, TwoBuckChuck, Dually, TryingSkills, prostatepete, bipolarbear, BobbinWeaver, PaulLip, wereakingball, bedfordfalls, PuTtyIsDeAD, PDXDriver, COregon, JoeCOOL, LordofChaos, PaddyMcGuire, OregonTiger, GoDucks, TypicalJoe, Interest55, and on and on...

Ignore the troll.

False : subsidizing the motoring population

False: much road spending is for freeways

False: maintaining roads that are worn down by multi-ton vehicles

False: licensed to drive, and insured (even on our bikes) when we own a motor vehicle.

Part of road maintenance and building does indeed come from gas taxes and registration fees, but building and repairing roads is expensive, so quite a bit of the money comes from the general fund, which in Portland cyclists pay into through income and property taxes just like everyone else. I've seen the numbers run a few ways, and any way you add it up, cyclists are actually subsidizing the motoring population. That's right. We are paying, literally, for people to drive.

This is not even taking into account the fact that much road spending is for freeways which cyclists don't directly use (though yes we rely on freight as much as anyone) and for maintaining roads that are worn down by multi-ton vehicles (ie, even the smallest car). And that's also not getting into the many externalities of widespread automobile use such as the cost of caring for an increasingly obese population, the lung problems caused by living (especially as kids) near major roads and freeways, and the high cost car crashes in courts and hospitals and general productivity.

The thinly veiled implication in these "don't pay their way" arguments is that cyclists don't have jobs, don't pay taxes, aren't licensed to drive, and aren't insured (even on our bikes) when we own a motor vehicle. This implication is in direct contradiction to another common argument that cycling is an elite luxury that most people can't afford to mess around with.

And I could go on. The argument that cyclists don't pay their way is just as hackneyed as the one that we cause pollution by slowing down traffic. Though the connection of cycling with unshaven armpits is new to me. Congrats, Lisa, for reminding us that cycling has become a civil rights issue whether we're seeking that or not.

I have never in my life read, heard such whining and excuses that the bicyclists give for not paying their fair share or riding safely. And when they flub up run a stop, fail to signal and get killed it’s always the motorists fault even when one doest exist they turn and start pointing fingers. “The curb jumped out and got me. Move the curb”. And the stupid bicyclists feel they can flood the streets with more and more of their unlicensed uninsured helmetless unsafe no brakes, lights or safety devises on the streets and then ask for safer street improvements for them to ride. If streets are safe enough to attract more riders then why are we asking the legally licensed and insured motorists to fund their improvements?

With a bike rack ten feet outside our Portland downtown office door why does the dripping wet foul smelling forgot to shave my pits this past decade messenger girl insist she must bring her bike into the building and onto the elevator several times a day when signs clearly posted “no bikes allowed in building”. Clearly a sign of no respect for others. Maybe we should change the sign to read “no dogs allowed.

Now Paddy, since you are accusing cyclists of not paying, I'm going to assume you are a driver, and your driving is spewing co2 and various pollutants into the air. Can you please email me a copy of the receipt where you paid the environmental and health costs to your city, country, and planet, that resulted from your driving. Please include an itemized receipt for health care costs borne by others as a result of your driving. And since my taxes are paying for these various costs (health care, environmental protection, etc), can you please send me a check as a tax refund for problems I'm currently not contributing to.