So says Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters.

http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/08/1...ransportation/

That would be news to any number of bike tour companies and cyclists.

Yikes. I mean, I understand her point that museums don't take people from place to place, but I'm pretty sure that I'm transporting myself when I ride my bike to the office each morning.

Maybe when cyclists start to act like vehicles (read: obey the traffic laws) instead of trying to be pedestrians, people will consider them transportation.

I guess she'd be suprised that in Holland and Denmark they are.

I frequently (read: more often than not) see cars not using turning signals when changing lanes. I also see quite a few drivers on cell phones. I also see many cars speeding. These things are all violations of traffic laws. By your logic, should we therefore not consider automobiles as transportation???

No kidding. I'm in AMS every year & it seems as though it's the primary mode of transport!

Cheers.

I have also seen many bikers doing the same thing.

Rails-to-Trails allow cyclists and pedestrians a safer alternative to roads. Encouraging more people to ride in such an environment is the green and healthy way to go and I ride them all the time! In Maui the bike I rode down Mt Haleakala was licensed as a vehicle.

So???? There are all sorts of people using all sorts of modes of transportation who break all sorts of traffic rules. Why on earth does this mean that bikes are not transportation?

I commute to work in Boston via bicycle and have done so less than usual because of harassment from drivers. I find it amazing that most driver's AND cyclists are unaware of traffic laws affecting both parties. Driver's don't realize that cyclists have the same legal rights to ride in a travel lane so long it is not posted otherwise (ie. highways where a minimum speed limit is involved). It's amazing how many times in a single day a cyclist hears "Ride on the sidewalk!" Not to mention a cyclist CAN legally ride on the sidewalk so long as it is not a heavy retail area.

I can say that I stop at red lights, have lights, use turn signals and refrain from using my cell while riding. It is very irksome to see other cyclists not following traffic laws, and even more so when something well over a ton is on the city streets not following the laws either.

they can be considered the same as cars/scooters/etc in the USA, yet i never see cops stopping them when they break the law. yay legal system.

I've been pulled over on my bike before, and know many people whom have received tickets. I really think it is a matter of perspective. Riding or walking I can't tell you how many cars I see running red lights and wish there was someone there. It's made me a more cautious rider and driver. On the flip side when stuck in traffic in a car, you see bikes passing and basically go on red after stopping. When not in a car the perspective of getting hit by a giant piece of metal breaking the law is more real, and when in the car, the comparative movement of cyclists is more apparent.

I wish everyone was ticketed, every time they pulled a fast one, regardless of car/bike/pedestrian(j-walkers you know who you are!).

should have said earlier - i commend you for your abiding of the law ^

good to know they are sometimes enforced. i was just saying ive never seen it myself - whereas i see cars pulled over all the time, have been pulled over, etc.

plus my point was when people take the advantages of having their bike being considered a car, but then dont follow any of the rules/responsibilities that come along with that. which doesnt really apply to cars, if you see what im saying.

In many cases obeying the traffic laws is a good way to get yourself dead.

I haven't used my bike since we moved to the big city because there is noplace I want to go that there is a route that I would feel safe using.

I saw a cyclist get ticketed once. We were in a retail strip mall in Scottsdale and I was driving slowly and turning right into a parking space. Meanwhile a cyclist quickly passes me on the right as I'm about to turn, and he glared over at me. A cop coming out of the "Cop Shop" told him to stop and wrote him up. Good stuff.

Clearly we have more drivers here than cyclists which isn't unusual. But those of us who commute by bicycle are already quite used to the harrassing comments, narrow buzzes, near doorings, near right/left hooks/crosses and the usual assortment of anecdotes of how some cyclist ruined some drivers day. But such is life. Selective presentation of comments by people with impecable driving skills.