[sustran] Re: [carfree_cities] Re: EU laws to put brake on bikers (motorcyclists) BUT BUT BUT

[K. Tsourlakis]

Motorcycles resemble to bicycles in having two wheels and to automobiles in having a motor. So, it is a matter of viewpoint to consider which one is the dominant feature:
if you adopt a sustainability viewpoint, then they are on a par with automobiles
if your purpose is to fill in the city with as much traffic as possible, then they are an (lucrative for some) alternative of bicycles

Moreover, although I clearly oppose to the movement of bicycles on sidewalks, I must inform those who are not familiar with motorcycles, that for pedestrians the nuisance and dangers of motorcycles on the sidewalks are orders of magnitude more severe than that of bicycles.


>Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 21:31:21 -0600
>From: "D. Scott TenBrink" <scott at pedalsong.net>
>Subject: [sustran] Re: [carfree_cities] Re: EU laws to put brake on
>	bikers	(motorcyclists) BUT BUT BUT
>To: sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
>Message-ID: <20060517213121.nyxw7a890vkog0kk at www.pedalsong.net>
>Content-Type: text/plain;	charset=ISO-8859-1;	format="flowed"
>
>Todd E. said, ?I don?t think motorcycles resemble bicycles in any way.?
>
>In addressing motorcycle use, I think it is important to recognize the
>similarities of bicycles and motorbikes.  They are both less expensive to
>purchase and operate than a four-wheeled vehicle.  They consume a similar
>amount of road and parking space.  They both tend to be single occupancy
>vehicles (though to a less extent in Asia).  They can both move through 
>traffic
>by accessing space between lanes, sidewalks, and other informal spaces. 
>Operators of both vehicles have a greater tendency to break traffic 
>rules and
>be overlooked in enforcement of those rules.
>
>This is debatable, but I also find that there is a wider variation in 
>operating
>behavior in these modes than in four-wheel vehicle operation.  My experience
>has been that within both bike and motorcycle operators, there are very
>aggressive, very slow-moving, very risky, and very inexperienced riders 
>in both
>modes.  I think the points I mention above allow for this within-group 
>variation
>to be more easily expressed than in a car.
>
>Of course there are a great number of differences between the two as 
>well. I?m hardly arguing that they should be considered the same in all 
>policy, but
>to deny any resemblance between the vehicles and their operators may 
>blind us to
>potential obstacles and solutions.
>
>-Scott
>


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