Reuters:
Americans leery of bicycles despite gas price jump. “This is the U.S. and people will kill you out there riding your bike ... [snip] ... I would not take my life in my hands and ride a bike.” Sad, but this quote is quite representative of exactly why many won’t consider bicycling. Automobile drivers don’t consider bikes ‘vehicles’ and legitimate users of the roadways. When a bicyclist is picked off by an automobile, the legal ramifications are frankly astonishing. The driver can be completely at fault, taking a legal walk while the bicyclist resides in pieces in a tomb. Start at the Miller case, and read the next page or so. Bicyclists are widely considered to be ‘asking for it’, and it is an attitude that needs to be harshly reversed through Federal, State and local legislation.
