Bikes and the Law

Has anyone even noticed that Bikers don't mind sharing the road with cars, as long as they don't have to follow the same rules as the cars? Bikers it seems can cross an intersection if there are no cars coming, even if they are crossing against a red light. Does this bother anyone? How is it the Bikes are allowed use of the road, without having to follow its rules? Does anyone have any stories about this kind of event? I know that there have been several times when I was going to turn right at a red light, but if I had tried I would have run over a biker crossing the street against a red light. Who would have been at fault there? The biker not following any rules, or me, the person in the car? I hope I never have to find out. I believe that some of the explanation to this biker hypocrisy is due to specific laws that bikers rights that cars don't have, but still allows then the same privilege of using the road. Do you think this is the case? Have you any familiarity with any laws that might fall into this category? As part of my research I would like to discover whether or not there actually is legal impetus for people to ride their bikes. Is it just the 'go green' climate that we live in, or are there legal factors here at work? And do we even live in a 'go green' climate? Is it possible that all these people who are biking are just trying to save on gas money? Which way do you think I should investigate this topic... is the driving force behind the increase in biking legal, environmental, or economic?

The return of the bike?

I will research why people are using bikes more often to get from point a to point b. I believe that there are several social factors that are pushing people towards bikes, and away from cars as a means of transport. The first question I need to pose for this topic is, are people riding their bikes more now then they were in the recent past? And to narrow the subject down a little, is the riding of bikes for practical purposes. If people are riding their bikes more now just because they find it to be a fun activity it won't really work for my topic. I intend to investigate the replacement of cars with bikes, not just the increase in bike riding. There are several factors which I believe might be influencing the increase in bike riding. Environment factors are the first the come to mind. Burning less gas is good for the environment, and everyone loves the environment right? Additionally, with burning less gas by driving less there is an economic incentive. Less gas equals less money, and we all know people love to save money, there isn't even a question there. There are also social factors. One of these is the New Belgium Brewing Companies 'Tour de Fat' in which they advocate biker awareness and give away a new bike, in exchange for that persons car. I wonder if there are any other events like this. Have you heard of any? The final incentive that I considered is time. Maybe it is faster to avoid traffic on a bike than it is in a car. But for this to be true, there would have to be some special circumstances. I believe that by giving bikers certain rights, local governments are able to encourage biking over car driving.

A return to the Bike: Devolution in the transportation system

I hope I did this right

-Allen Spurgeon