just sent this (totally used the water guns/hand guns analogy too - thank you!)
I am exceedingly tired of people portraying cyclists as scofflaw vagabonds, out to terrorize poor motorists just trying to drive to deliver alms to the poor or whatever.
YES cyclists sometimes break the law. Sometimes it's done in ignorance. Sometimes it's done out of spite or because they perceive themselves to be in too big a hurry. I'll not excuse them at all for that, I think it's reprehensible and agree they should be cited for their transgressions - JUST LIKE MOTORISTS WHO DO THE SAME ARE. If they're not, that's a complaint to address to the police department, not the less than 5% of the population biking around town every day.
However there's a practical difference between your average cyclist breaking the law and your average motorist breaking the law. For example, say a person on a bicycle traveling as fast as he or she can (in the city that could be around 25-30 mph) decides to blow a red light and in the process slams into a school bus carrying 40 children to school. The cyclist is probably dead. The bicycle is destroyed. The bus is decently scratched and dented, the kids and driver probably need counseling, maybe a bandage or two. Now what if that person, instead of going as fast as they could on a bicycle, were traveling as fast as they could in an SUV? In the city, that's closer to 45-70mph. What would the school bus look like after that collision? Airbags and seat belts might give the SUV driver a chance to regret being in too much of a hurry, though the vehicle is likely destroyed. The bus full of kids? bus driver? How many ambulances would be needed? THAT is why cars, SUVs, and trucks have to pay registration fees and pass inspection, THAT is why drivers have to pass a written and practical state license exam, THAT is why a patrol car may not stop a cyclist but is more likely to stop a motorist. Because the laws of physics mandate motor vehicle operation be respected or paid for dearly on a scale that no miscreant cyclist could ever achieve. Saying cyclists should go through the same obstacles to ownership and operation as motor vehicle operators is like saying water pistols should have the same limits as hand guns. It only makes sense to people who don't understand the difference between them or to bitter and spiteful people looking to "punish" others the way they perceive themselves to be "punished" with requirements for their own safety.
When people who drive 3,500 pound vehicles at 10-30 miles per hour above the speed limit through intersections on "pink" lights are treated like the psychopaths that they are by society and police on patrol, I will join in the chorus of rage against cyclists who roll through stop signs slower than most cars do and the police who ignore them. Until then, I'm sorry, but I can't share in the indignation.
(noted - I think I got the #s wrong on vehicle weight, I think it's 3.5 ton, making it 7000 pounds. still.)
