No Bikes in TX ??

[Jeff]

From VeloNews.com
Legally Speaking - with Bob Mionske
Please step away from the bike, sir


By Robert Mionske JD



Interestingly, a case from your state of Texas was decided only a few weeks ago, on January 9. The Village of Hunter's Creek, near Houston, had a law prohibiting all bicycle use on roads running adjacent to a useable path. A cyclist, was fined $100 for breaking the law, and appealed, claiming that it violated her right of free travel. The court rejected her argument, finding that a local ordinance cannot impinge on the right to free travel because only interstate travel is protected by the U.S. Constitution. This ruling (Toma v. State, 2003 WL 139720) may help open the door to citywide bicycle restrictions and the effect of its ruling should be watched carefully by bicycle activists and lawyers.

 

[Habanero]

Ugh, that's such crap to have an ordinace like that, but then again, so is everything nearing Houston.

 

[Runner]

Why should bicycles be allowed on the roadway in Texas? They just clog up the radiator grills of SUV's. Trying to outfit every SUV in Texas with a front bicycle deflector to minimize damage on impact would be prohibitively expensive. The cheap alternative is simply to outlaw the use of bicycles.

What were you thinking Mike?

 

[green22]

texas biking

In NY state they have a law that you must not stray from the bicycle path if one exists on the street you are riding on. Bicycle advocates argued that the law shouldn't appy in nyc where bicycle paths are pretty useless. In nyc cars, trucks, taxis and police cruisers use them for parking, and the markings are often not replaced after construction. The state agreed and verbally assured nyc bicyclists that the law would not apply in nyc. Unfortunately since the statutes have not changed, police still charge nyc bicyclists under the law.