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More efforts to ban cycling from certain roads
Last week I had an entry about a group in Colorado who want to ban cyclists from county roads. Well now the rally has spread to Iowa.
Radio Iowa is reporting that a group calling itself the “Citizens for Safety Coalition of Iowa” is asking people to sign a petition that asks the legislature to create a ballot initiative for the November 2010 election that would ban bicycles on farm-to-market roads.
It’s a tricky debate. I don’t feel safe riding my bike on two-lane roads with no shoulder unless I’m with a group. There’s a good reason for the uneasiness. Cars are usually traveling between 40-60 mph on those types of roads, a lot faster than me. It’s really not safe for the driver or the cyclist.
At the same time, I don’t think it’s a good idea to ban cyclists from these rural-type roads. There are many group and charity rides that use these less-traveled roads on the weekends. If you banned them from having access, then there would be more congestion on busier city streets. It’s not a safe move for anyone involved.
I understand both sides of the debate, but the proposed solution is not the answer.
Comments
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By Keith
July 30, 2009 12:36 PM | Link to this
I get so tired of reading stuff like your noise. You don’t think a ban is the right answer but you have no ideas of your own. So all you did was waste some time writing a namby-pamby wishy-washy admission of ignorance. If you don’t have anything to say, stay off the keyboard. And doing like you did, breaking your back by bending over so far to be oh so careful to sound supportive to both sides without saying anything, is nonsense. You’re supposed to be a writer. Writers are supposed to produce things that having meaning. If you don’t have the courage to say something, find a different job.
By Dave
July 30, 2009 4:11 PM | Link to this
Keith has a special gift if he can read noise. It is funny that someone so talented and frustrated with having his time wasted reading noise he doesn’t like still has time to comment on it. Furthermore, he has a unique understanding of news reporting. I love the fact he thinks that the reporter should have proposed a solution to the situation! Too much Fox ‘news’ for Keith!
By Dave
July 30, 2009 4:12 PM | Link to this
Keith has a special gift if he can read noise. It is funny that someone so talented and frustrated with having his time wasted reading noise he doesn’t like still has time to comment on it.
By Scott Curtis
July 30, 2009 5:45 PM | Link to this
Where does one group of road users get off thinking that they should be able to ban a road from use by another? If cyclists should be banned because (God forbid) they might cause a farmer to have to actually slow down and pause for a few seconds, shouldn’t we also have a ban against that same farmer using the public roads to drive his tractor from field to field? This entire debate is moronic: those who want to ban cyclists from roads need to take a chill pill (or anger management sessions) and just realize that they are only being incovenienced while sitting in their air conditioning for a few seconds, or possibly a minute or two. Cyclists also need to ride single file when on group rides and stay at the edge of the road. But the roads are for ALL to use, not just those who think they own them!
By elvis
July 31, 2009 11:31 AM | Link to this
Get bent keith. WTF makes your opinion special?
By Debt Settlement Program
August 10, 2009 9:47 AM | Link to this
punctilious post. due one unimportant where I quarrel with it. I am emailing you in detail.