Banned in the USA
Thread started by
trickmilla at 06.11.10 - 10:22 am
GAMBLING TOWN BANS BIKES
BLACK HAWK , CO - People can go into the casinos and win while playing slots, blackjack or roulette. But if they ride their bicycles down most of the streets, city officials say it is a guaranteed loss.
"The idea behind it as you can see when cars come by, there's really not a lot of room for bikes," Mike Copp, city manager for Black Hawk, said.
In January, the city council passed an ordinance banning bikes on most of the town's streets, especially the main thoroughfares. Copp says with all the busses, trucks and cars already trying to crowd the historic town's narrow streets, the addition of bikes is a hazard.
"This city council is looking out for the best interest of its citizens, its businesses, which are the casinos and its visitors who is the gamer," Copp said.
Some bike enthusiasts believe the law is unfair. Police are ticketing cyclists riding through town giving them citations that carry a $68 fine.
"It's a public road. It should be open to all the uses allowable for roads," said Dan Grunig, executive director of Bicycle Colorado.
Bicycle Colorado is a nonprofit advocacy group for cyclists. Grunig has launched a grassroots effort through his website to try to convince Black Hawk officials to overturn the ban.
"No other city in Colorado has done such a blanket ban of bicycles like this," Grunig said. "That's why Bicycle Colorado is very concerned about it because we don't want it to set a precedent that other cities would follow."
Grunig says the ban cuts off the only way to go from the Peak to Peak Highway to the Central City Parkway.
"If you're trying to get somewhere by bike and you're unable to do it, it's closed off a whole section of the state to you," Grunig said.
If safety is the main reason, Grunig wonders why considering that Black Hawk has not had a bike-related fatality or increase in bike-related accidents.
"We're trying to be proactive on this," Copp said.
Copp points out that people can still bring their bikes through Black Hawk. They just have to dismount and walk about quarter mile before continuing on. There are signs posted around towns showing that bikes are prohibited, but none of them specify people can walk their bikes.
Copp says although people from around Colorado and across the country have expressed disapproval over the new measure, he says Black Hawk residents and businesses support it.
"We have not had a citizen come to us and say, 'My kid or I feel hampered by this, I cannot ride my bike,'" Copp said.
He says the city may grant permits to those who do need to ride regularly through town to go to work or school, for instance. They may be allowed to go down streets other than the main ones if there is a need.
In the meantime, Grunig says he and his group will do what they can to fight the ban. He worries that it may start to affect tourism and groups trying to organize bike-related events in Colorado.
"When they hear that there's an entire town that bans cycling, that doesn't look good for Colorado," Grunig said.
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This is the reason we need to keep fighting for every road to be brought up to safe bike standards. So they can't make the bullshit argument that bikes should be banned because the roads are "not safe". Fuck that!
Next step, outlaw walking?
trickmilla06.11.10 - 10:27 am
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So, are they gonna haul your ass off to the Gulag if you don't pay the fine?
More knee-jerk reactions to stupid shit, sounds like someone needs to be put in command of a fryer at Burger King.
bentstrider responding to a
comment by trickmilla
06.11.10 - 10:33 am
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And to think i was going to be moving to CO in the next year. Since reading this you can count that option out!!
rub_my_crank06.11.10 - 10:34 am
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boulder is still the place to be.
_iJunes responding to a
comment by rub_my_crank
06.11.10 - 10:51 am
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The casinos bought off the police department, and it sounds like they are due for a Critical Mass ride, they have every right to ride their bikes on the road. I ride my bike on some of the busiest roads in LA, right near tourist traps like Universal Studios and I do just fine and so does the traffic around me.
Girl Power06.11.10 - 11:15 am
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It's a casino town, it's rich, make the roads wider or create sharrows or bike lanes. Simple!
Girl Power06.11.10 - 11:18 am
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Rest of the state still seems quite chill. It's just that smaller municipalities tend to have a plethora of different mindsets.
Perhaps a thread should also be started on city-data.org as well.
bentstrider responding to a
comment by rub_my_crank
06.11.10 - 11:21 am
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if only the rich people there rode bikes at all or even cared about bikes..... they just like to guzzle gas to get around.....they just don't care at all about bikes enough to do things like that
superblueman3 responding to a
comment by Girl Power
06.11.10 - 11:49 am
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I don't understand why the casino is mentioned in this article. There is no mention that the casino is behind the law. It just says residents and businesses support it...
I think they need a Critical Mass
adrian06.11.10 - 6:04 pm
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I'm in Colorado right now. If blackhawk is anywhere near my location I'm throwing a one man critical mass.
Roadblock06.11.10 - 9:26 pm
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As much as I don't support this law, I loath people from somewhere else that may never go to Black Hawk telling them what they should or shouldn't do in their town.
This is Los Angeles, I would hate any other city or state or country telling us that we can't or can have something. It would be for us to decide and us to work out if a controversy arose about whatever subject it was about.
Stay out of other peoples affairs!
sexy06.13.10 - 5:12 am
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Sexy I really like you man,but I gotta call bullshit on that one.It's that "mind your own biz" or "it's there problem not ours" that leads to continued slavery and civil wars.I'm not saying we should storm this casino town or anything,but saying that we shouldnlt be angry about an injustice even if it is on someone elses turf is just naive.
blackout_blacklung06.13.10 - 6:51 am
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So Sexy my dear brother,
Were the freedom riders who came to the south to support civil rights activists merely "outside agitators" as the southern "states rights" racists characterized them? Or were they like minded citizens coming in to assist an oppressed minority?
There are lots of cyclists in CO that oppose this law, but do they have big enough numbers to effect change?
This law sets a VERY dangerous precedent. For the past 100 years the rights bikes and pedestrians have been trampled to privilege those who use a car.
The result of this is roads that while legal to ride on paper are dangerous & hostile.
Now that a hostile environment towards bicycles has been created they cite that as a reason for banning bikes as a "proactive measure" to prevent bicycle based injuries.
While this is a "local" issue, I do believe that this is also an important watermark of injustice that must be addressed.
You are right that outsiders should be sensitive to the wishes and desires of the locals of the area, but is this law something that the locals asked for or the desires of a few rich casino folks?
If there are local cyclists that welcome our energy to help bring attention to, and change this unjust law, I think we should offer them our full support.
trickmilla responding to a
comment by sexy
06.13.10 - 2:12 pm
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From Bycicling Magazine and the famouse bike lawyer Bob Mionske.
Commentary on the illegal law I found an interesting point about rights to the road summarized here:
Where the roads are dominated by the automobile, it is because they have been usurped. Many motorists—specifically, those who refuse to share the roads—mistakenly believe that their possession of a driver’s license gives them a superior claim to the road. These are the motorists who exclaim that, “Until cyclists are licensed and insured, they don’t have a right to the road.” In fact, the right to travel is an ancient right, now recognized as one of our constitutional rights, and the roads are the commons, open to all for travel and other uses. Rather than signifying a superior claim to the road, a driver’s license merely grants the holder the revocable privilege of operating a motor vehicle on the commons. Because other road users are not required to be licensed (and that tacitly means this right cannot be revoked) their right to use the roads is in fact superior to that of the motorist.
Entire article
here
Foldie06.25.10 - 11:55 am
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“Until cyclists are licensed and insured, they don’t have a right to the road.”
What a bunch of fucking crap.
What do you think of it, foldie?
Joe Borfo responding to a
comment by Foldie
06.25.10 - 12:05 pm
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Because other road users are not required to be licensed (and that tacitly means this right cannot be revoked) their right to use the roads is in fact superior to that of the motorist.
From Bycicling Magazine and the famouse bike lawyer Bob Mionske
yes.... we are superior to the moterized vehicle !!!!
louisiana responding to a
comment by Foldie
06.25.10 - 12:14 pm
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That is SOP for comments on blogs when it comes to motorist Vs Cylists, however we all know it is crap.
That is why the next lines are so poignant.
"In fact, the right to travel is an ancient right, now recognized as one of our constitutional rights, and the roads are the commons, open to all for travel and other uses. Rather than signifying a superior claim to the road, a driver’s license merely grants the holder the revocable privilege of operating a motor vehicle on the commons. Because other road users are not required to be licensed (and that tacitly means this right cannot be revoked) their right to use the roads is in fact superior to that of the motorist."
Foldie responding to a
comment by Joe Borfo
06.25.10 - 12:35 pm
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What a beautifully succinct and precise quote about the essence of why bicycles and peds have a right to use common roads.
trickmilla responding to a
comment by Foldie
06.25.10 - 12:57 pm
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