MO County Council Rejects Bicycle Ban
A Missouri County Council rejected a bicycle ban on state roads that don’t have paved shoulders 6-0. The member that sponsored the ordinance voted against it, but he claims the majority of his constituents support it. 
Rolla Barr, of the Defiance area, supported the bike ban during public hearings.
“Anybody with any common sense can see there’s no room for bicyclists on these roads,” Barr said Thursday. He said when vehicles come from both directions on the shoulderless highways, there is no safe place for bicyclists.
“As far as I’m concerned, if you want to ride a bicycle, ride it on the trails or get out of St. Charles,” Barr said.
Can we say that the Central Florida drivers think differently?
When activists demand lanes and trails, thinking like this is the inevitable result. The ordinary motorists thinks “Why pay all that money from fuel taxes if the cyclists won’t get off the roads and use the trails?”
“….The ordinary motorists thinks “Why pay all that money from fuel taxes if the cyclists won’t get off the roads and use the trails?”
This mentality really chaps my hide. I pay fuel taxes on TWO vehicles, thank you very much! For those of us that can somewhat afford the luxury of two vehicles, we are presented with a choice. Do I drive my truck, or my wifes car?
Telling me to get off the road is akin to me telling you to drive your wifes pink station wagon EVERY time you want to go somewhere. We as a nation have been dumbed down so far that we can’t see past the nose on our face (read can’t or won’t think for ourselves)
If these ordinary motorists only KNEW how much cycling road users (butts on bikes, roadie, recreational, and utility/transport sorts) SUBSIDIZE them, they would be terribly ashamed.
I’d have to suggest that the “ordinary motorists” taken as a whole are incapable of being shamed. It’s difficult to get through to some people about matters as simple as this and equally difficult to fairly paint all motorists with the same brush, but I do it all the time. Not the fairly part, of course, but if there’s a person driving a pickup truck on the road, he’s one class of driver, while motorcyclists are another. It’s biased, it’s unfair, it’s reality.
I’ve had only one driver tell me he had greater rights to the road than I did, because he paid taxes. I avoided laughing in his face, as he appeared to be somewhat antagonistic and perhaps prone to unwarranted violence.
I’m still waiting for five or ten buck gasoline.
I’ve already witnessed $5 diesel. It was UGLY on the wallet and prompted me to use my bicycle as primary individual transport.
“…I’ve had only one driver tell me he had greater rights to the road than I did, because he paid taxes. “
I counter this fallacy with “Since when did a revocable privilege become a right?
I heartily agree with your counter argument. My right to travel is no less than his, but his alleged right to use a motor vehicle has so many more requirements attached to it.
I have to say, I’m happy to see that it was solidly rejected, even the councilman that was browbeat to introduce it voted against it. I think people sometimes overlook the great way our goverments arre structured at times, having people like a council that can look at an issue and resist the ignorant will of a majority.
I’m heartened that the Missouri Council refrained from using the power of government to restrict use of public facilities by a portion of that public.
Steve, we saw a council in action regrading Orlando’s Mountain Bike Park. I was in attendance and, admittedly, the residents did have some excellent concerns.
However, in light of these concerns, the City Council voted to move forward and we will soon see our MTB park. There IS hope in one form or another.
“…there’s no room for bicyclists on these roads.” There is only room the majority. They told African Americans to get on the other side of the road, too. They also told African Americans where to position themselves when they were using public transportation, like busses, at which they had to sit at the back. They also gave them separate facilities, like their very own water fountains (how could you possibly complain or want to use the white water fountain? You have your own!). Finally, the people making these laws weren’t the ones abiding by them. These are not coincidences; they are symptoms.