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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
More on Perry’s gaffe
An interesting read from examiner.com on Gov. Perry’s veto of the safe passing bill. …
Texas Governor Rick Perry affirmed his state’s reputation as one of the country’s most bike unfriendly places to ride today by vetoing a “safe passing” bill that would have given cyclist 3 feet when being passed by cars.
Perry, who is a cyclist himself, shocked the cycling community by vetoing the hard fought bill and saying:
“While I am in favor of measures that make our roads safer for everyone, this bill contradicts much of the current statute and places the liability and responsibility on the operator of a motor vehicle when encountering one of these vulnerable road users.”
Its good to know that in Texas at least the responsibility to avoid 6000 pound SUV’s and other cars rests with the cyclist on a 20 pound pound bike.
Reaction to the veto was immediate and not unexpected.
“We are stunned because he’s our guy, and we feel disappointed, even betrayed by our guy,” said Robin Stallings, executive director of BikeTexas, the educational arm of the Texas Bicycle Coalition.
Comments posted on some local Texas newspaper web sites are telling as to why the governor vetoed the law. For instance posted by Reality Kid:
“Guess I don’t understand how bicycles have a right to be on a road. They pay no road tax, they are not a motorized vehicle. Even golf carts have to be registered to be on a road. Farm equipment which generally move faster than bicycles have to have special triangle plaques on them to be on a road.
Most bicyclist do not follow rules of the road by stopping at stop signs, they don’t stop at traffic signals, they don’t ride single file.”
And posted by Batjeep: “I have to agree that most of the bicyclist are snobbish. They are a different group of people. In this world, big fish wins. It is not about sharing a two lane road. To bicyclist, it is about seeing what they can get away with. They seem to be an angry lot. Bicyclist say they have to follow the same traffic laws, watch next time you are at a stop light or stop sign. They rarely stop, they may slow down. Honestly, when was the last time you saw a bicyclist stop at a stop sign? If they are truly vehicles, than any vehicle going slower then 20 mph should have a nice shinny orange triangle.
Just like the rest of the “vehicles” that go that speed or slower.”
Which to anyone who is a cyclist just affirms that Texas is a great place to stay out of when riding a bike.
And of course many cyclist will also realize that if the Texas governor does not want me on my bike on the local roads, he and the people who feel cyclist are “snobbish” also don’t want our money and business.
