October 27, 2011 6:13 AM

The shock, I suppose, is that some cheeseheads are fit enough to ride bikes

Public officials in the sleepy town of Hull, Wisconsin are considering a plan that bans bicyclists and pedestrians from town roads or requires them to register travel plans in advance, in response to a “growing problem with road safety,” reports Stevens Points Journal (via Grist). Cyclist advocates have been quick to criticize the proposed ordinance, which they say violates state laws that assign the same rules of the road to motorists as bikers. While it turns out the town of Hull hasn’t had a crash involving a bike or pedestrian since 2008, the community’s chairman contends that bikers and runners take up too much of the road, leading to a rash of complaints from irritated drivers.

For those of you convinced that the “nanny state” is upon us and out of control, I’d submit that this is one of the silliers bits of evidence you could reasonably use to support your argument.

Hull, WI, is not a large municipalities- almost 32 square miles- nor is it a particularly dangerous place for cars or bicycles. Over the past 10 years, Hull has had five car-pedestrian accidents and one car-bicycle accident (in 2008). So you’d have to be wondering where the fire is, right? Not so fast there, cowboy….

Town Chairman John Holdridge said there is anecdotal evidence to consider, too. He said the town gets a lot of complaints about groups of people running down the middle of the road at night or taking up most of the road during the day, or bikers riding on the wrong side of the road.

He said roads such as Old Highway 18 and North Reserve Street might be too dangerous for bike traffic because of traffic volume and lack of shoulders.

So…instead of any educational efforts or attempts to convince or coerce automobile drivers to drive safely and be vigilant for pedestrians, Hull’s city fathers have decided to make cyclists the scapegoats for any real or imagined traffic issues. What about the marauding groups of runner who use the middle of roads as their privat domain? Call me naive, but doesn’t that seem like blaming the murder victim for being in the path of the bullet?

Living in Portland, which considers itself the center of the bicycle commuting universe, this effort would be received with about as much enthusiasm as a cure for Liberalism.

Having evidently solved all other pressing problems facing the tropical Paradise that is Hull, city fathers are now going after the biggest remaining threat to Life As We Know It ©- bicyclists.

Is that some inspired leadership or what??

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on October 27, 2011 6:13 AM.

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