[*BCM*] MassBike To Blame For Biker Awareness

[Jym Dyer]

>> * Elimination of "Obstructing the Flow of Traffic"
>> ordinances, which are used almost exclusively against
>> cyclists out here in the 'burbs - cyclists Must be allowed
>> to take the lane at any and all times;
> There is no such ordinance that legally applies to bicyclists.
> Any application of such a "law" is illegal, and a good lawyer
> will enforce this if it ever happens (as it has happened in a
> couple of states within the past few years).

=v= That's just marvy for those who can afford good lawyers.
Generally a legal definition of "obstructing" or "impeding" will
have language to the effect that it only applies to those going
slower than necessary for safety, which means that taking the
lane is just fine.  Police officers frequently don't know this,
though, so anything that spells this out for them would help.

>> *  Elevating road rage incidents to "assault with a deadly
>> weapon" status;
> Technically, current law can already can be applied this way,
> though it's not automatic.

=v= "Not automatic" is quite an understatement.  Do you know
of this law ever being applied?  The few instances I know of
have involved assaults on police officers.  (Kind of like how
the pigs in _Animal_Farm_ are more equal than others ...)

>> * Free bike registration as a further deterrent to theft;

=v= You can achieve free bike registration by recording your
bike's make, model, color, and especially serial number.  You
can engrave your own info on it somewhere if you'd like, too,
and the police might help with that (though they may insist
that you use a specific ID number).  If your bike is stolen
and you give that info to the police, they can enter into the
nationwide NCIC database.

=v= This is essentially the same thing that happens with
police-administered bike registration or the for-pay service
that you have to sign up for to get Kryptonite's guarantee.

>> * Defining a class of electric/electric-assist micro-
>> vehicles, and enacting legislation facilitating their
>> development and proliferation;

=v= Why is this a goal?  These gadgets may be hyped as some sort
of eco-whiz-bang replacement for car use, but in practice they
do no such thing.  Indeed, they are marketed to compete with
bicycles and they are an annoying, noisy, polluting, obstructing
addition to bike facilities.

=v= (I of course make an exception for people with disabilities
who truly need an electric motor assist, but that's not what the
above says at all.)
    <_Jym_>