🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <39tq3s$gni@larry.rice.edu>, patrick@rice.edu (Patrick L
Humphrey) wrote:

>Sorry, but I'm footing my share of the bill.  Road taxes are supposed to be
>derived from stuff like registration fees, license fees and renewals, and ]
>the taxes that make up around 35% of the retail cost of a gallon of gas at
>the pump, but in reality they're taken from a few more diverse sources --
>like from the sales tax.  That puts a *lot* of us on an equal footing.

Someone who owns two cars pays registration fees on both of them, and they
have two vehicles which they can use on public streets.  Someone who owns
a car and a bike pays registration fees on only one of those vehicles, but
they are still allowed to use both of them on public streets.  Doesn't
sound like an equal footing to me.  Yes, there are other taxes that go to
road construction and repair, but all other things being equal, a person
with a car and a bike pays less tax for two vehicles than someone with two
cars.

>So you think passing a few more laws will solve the problem?  

I think changing the current laws would be sufficient to level the playing
field.  What's the problem with making bikers live up to the same
responsibilities as drivers if they're going to have the same rights?

>...and I wonder, who gets to determine what's residential and what isn't?
>The distinction isn't anywhere near as clear-cut as you might think,
>particularly in urban areas like Houston -- and if taken literally, you'd
>wind up with streets where every other block would have different laws
>applicable. 

It was an off-the-cuff suggestion.  I never expected that it was
fault-free as it stood and I even pointed out one of its faults.  But that
doesn't mean it is without merit.  I'd like to see the idea discussed at
length (but not here).  It very well might not work, but I'd like to hear
some diverse and well-informed opinions before this determination is made.

>Then, you have to figure out where you're going to get all the people
>needed for enforcement, and who's going to foot the bill -- do you see
>what you're getting into?

The cops are already enforcing the traffic laws, and bikers are already
responsible for obeying all the those laws.  Why does making bikers
responsible for two or three more laws (vehicle registration, operator
licensing, and maybe vehicle inspection) suddenly cause a massive increase
in the required number of law enforcement personnel, especially when these
three laws are typically only enforced when a traffic law is violated?  

>Oh, so *that's* your motivation...you don't want to be _inconvenienced_. If 
>my lawful presence on a street inconveniences you in your land barge, I'm 
>sorry, but those are the breaks.  You'd best learn to share the road, 
>because under the law, you don't have a whole lot of other options.  I 
>think the Critical Mass folks up there could find a more constructive way 
>of getting their point across -- disrupting large amounts of traffic is 
>*not* the way to do it -- but your attitude is equally ignorant.  We've 
>both got rights to the road in Texas, lump it or leave it...so it'd
behoove >us to learn to share it, and do it right.

Get off your high-horse, buddy.  I know the law.  I know that bikers have
the same rights as drivers.  I don't have to like it, but I do have to
live with it.  However, I do have the right to voice my dislikes.  That
doesn't make me ignorant, it just means I have an opinion.  My opinion is
that I don't like being inconvenienced by bikers (boy is that a shock,
someone who doesn't like to be inconvenienced), and I wish there was some
way they could use the roads without getting in the way of cars.  It is
also my opinion that if bikers are going to share the same roads as
motorists, then they should live up to the same set of responsibilities,
which they currently don't do.  If you don't like my opinion, that's fine,
you don't have to.  But save your preaching and your stereotyping
insults.  I don't drive a "land barge", I drive a mid-size sedan.  Your
implication seems to be that I think I own the road just because I don't
like being caught behind a biker struggling to climb a long hill during
rush hour on a narrow, crowded street.  I could probably come up with some
unsavory terms for bicycles and bicyclists, but I've refrained from doing
so because namecalling doesn't accomplish anything except to reveal your
own prejudices.

                                ++Don Nash

Internet: D.Nash@utexas.edu     The University of Texas System
THEnet:   THENIC::DON           Office of Telcommunication Services