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Re: Driving Pet Peeves



Dai F Toyama (borap@paul.spu.edu) wrote:
: On Tue, 20 Jun 1995, Techs Avery wrote:
: > 
: > In almost ever state in the US, it is ILLEGAL for bicyclists, even 
: > juveniles, to ride on the sidewalk. And the ticket goes on your DMV 
: > record and is counted by insurance companies. If your bicycle is on the 
: > sidewalk, you are supposed to walk it.
: > 

: I suggest that you read my original statement above.  That's why I like
: it better in Japan in this respect --- the cyclists MUST ride on the
: 'sidewalk' there, where there is one.  I'm not saying which method is
: better; it's just that I'd much prefer the Japanese way in this sense.

It's pretty inconvenient to go on and off the curb every 75 meters, which 
is the average block length. I can just picture all those cylists on busy 
downtown steets in Tokyo with all of those pedestrians packed shoulder to 
shoulder!

: Do you have any idea as to why it's illegal for the cyclists to ride on
: the 'sidewalk' in most US states?  I'd like to know the reason behind it.

Elderly pedestrians have a great deal of political clout in local elections.
They fear young whippersnappers on those newfangled two wheeled monstrosities!

--
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Steph Greenberg                       
steph@primenet.com           "Every Friday is a prelude to Monday." 
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