According to a news article from The Daily Review, Alameda County in Northern California is proposing a law that would require “organizations with advertised rides and 50 or more riders” to pay costly fees for permits and informational road signs along the route.
The article states that “For years, bands of bicycle riders have irritated residents living along rural roads”.
County Supervisor Nate Miley said “we want people to ride bicycles, and not to impose unfair burdens on people who live along (rural) roadways.”
Is it really an “unfair burden” for local drivers to have to slow down for a few seconds, and be a little more careful when driving? I’m not sure how they are measuring this “burden” that these “bands of bicycle riders” are causing.
Should bicyclists pay extra for their right to travel on public roads than other road users? The Supreme Court has stated that the right to travel “is a right that has been firmly established and repeatedly recognized”, and went on to say that the right to travel “is a right broadly assertable against private interference as well as governmental action.”
I’m not a lawyer, but it seems like these types of laws that aim to restrict groups of people from traveling on the road is a slippery slope. There is a lot of traffic on the freeway that is a burden to a lot of people. Maybe the government should set up checkpoints and charge people extra if it is determined that your car trip isn’t as nessesary as someone elses. Not a good idea.
I wonder how many of the complaints are due to organized tours versus your average weekend club ride with groups smaller than 50 riders. This type of law is only going to cause a burden on charity rides, and probably will not do much to solve conflicts between bicyclists and local residents who think bicyclists shouldn’t be on the road.
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Please, please, please don’t let this ever happen. What a nightmare!
Bob Mionske, cycling lawyer and Velonews correspondent, summed it up perfectly:
“Under [most state] law[s], cyclists have all of the rights and applicable responsibilities that motorists have. This means that cyclists have as much right to use the road as motorists have — in fact, I believe that cyclists’ claim to the road is greater. The right to travel is a Constitutional right, while driving is a privilege that can be revoked by the state. Thus, while cyclists enjoy a Constitutional right to travel (and thereby, a Constitutional right to the road), motorists use the road only by permission of the state.”
Welcome to the nightmare.
Belgian Royal Decree of 1 December 1975 general regulations on the police of the road and use of public roads. (BS 09.12.1975) (BS 09.12.1975)
TITLE II: Rules for the use of public roads
Article 43bis: Cyclists in group
43bis1. This article applies only to groups of 15 to 150 cyclists. The groups of more than 50 participants must be accompanied by at least two way captains. The groups of 15 to 50 participants may be accompanied by at least two way captains.
43bis2.1. The cyclists driving in a group of at least 15 to a maximum of 50 participants, are not obliged to follow the cycle paths and they may drive constantly with two side by side on the roadway on condition that they remain grouped.
43bis2.2. They may be preceded and followed by an accompanying car at a distance of about 30 meters. If there is only one accompanying car, it must follow the group.
43bis2.3. If this group is accompanied by way captains, the provisions of Article 43bis3.3.1 and 2 apply.
43bis3.1. The cyclists driving in a group of at least 51 to no more than 150 participants, are not obliged to follow the cycle paths and they may drive constantly with two side by side on the roadway on condition that they remain grouped.
43bis3.2. They must be preceded and followed by an accompanying car at a distance of about 30 meters.
43bis3.3. 1° The way captains ensure the proper conduct of the tour. These way captains must be at least 21 years old and they have to wear around the left arm a band, horizontally striped with the national colors and in black letters on the yellow strip, the word “way captain”.
2° At the intersections where the traffic is not regulated by traffic lights, at least one of the way captains may stop the traffic in the crossing roads in the manner provided in Article 41.3.2, while the group including the two accompanying vehicles passes.
43bis4. The cyclists who ride side by side may use only the right lane of the roadway. When the roadway isn?t divided in lanes they may not use a width more than that of a lane and in no case more than the half of the roadway.
43bis5. On the roof of the accompanying cars must be fixed a blue plate to the image of the board A51 and underneath it must be the symbol of a bicycle in white. This board must be fixed to the vehicle which precedes the group in such a way that it is clearly visible for the oncoming traffic and to the following vehicle, that it is visible to the following traffic.
I can’t believe some folks in CA would propose something like this, especially now, since gas prices are so high and the obese rate is just as great. Aren’t we suppose to promote good health through exercise and nutrition? The only people I see proposing this plan own large, expensive, gas burning, trucks and SUV’s, so therefore, they would need more room on the roads.
Good to know that all other problems, such as drug use, traffic,infra-strusture and schools, are now under control so Alameda Co. can now focus on the “problem” of how to control bike riders. Our tax dollars at work.
Those cars really make the roads unsafe.