Comment Re:Options (Score 3, Insightful) 789
riding is a choice.
That's a flimsy argument - driving is a choice. In fact, for some people, biking is the only choice (I'm talking about people too poor to afford cars, or areas with unreliable public transport and no parking, or people disqualified from driving, or people with health problems which prevent them from getting a license but not from biking).
Cyclists should not be allowed on congested major roads if they can not keep up.
Are you talking about the law, or courteousness? Let's say you were talking about courteousness. I'm guessing that cycling is not an option for you - you may live too far away, or it's too hilly, or you work a job that demands you can come in quickly (eg, on-call sysadmin), or health reasons, or bad climate, or any other number of reasons. I don't begrudge your choice/need to drive - but realise that not everyone's situation is like yours. I'm lucky in that I can do either; but what you're basically saying is that you want to enforce laws that would make cycling illegal for all intents and purposes. That's unreasonable and unfair. So if your attitude is such that you're not willing to reach a compromise that would allow both groups of people to use the road, then how can you expect cyclists to compromise?
But perhaps you were talking legally. Well, I checked the laws in my jurisdiction; whilst there is a uniform minimum legal limit, there's an exemption for bikes so long as they keep to the edge of the outside lane where possible, and don't go on roads where bikes are explicitly disallowed (motorways, etc). Though quite frankly, that doesn't matter. I've never seen anyone get a ticket for riding a bike too slowly, nor can I imagine one being issued (apart from anything, it'd be pretty easy for the offender to get away - no plates to record, more maneuverability than a cop in a car, and faster than a cop on foot).
You said it yourself; "cyclists should not be allowed on congested roads". As the old adage goes - "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride". We can either sit here arguing all day about what should be, or we can talk about what can be. If you continue to talk about what should be, then the problem will never go away. And if you're not interested in an actual solution, one that benefits both parties, then there's no point in talking to you.
You missed a major point in your acceleration theory; cars have much more power than bicycles which more than compensates for the weight difference. I have never been out-accelerated by a bicycle for more that 40 feet(and I do not drive a hot car). Now I am on the cyclist's bumper and limited by the cyclist's speed. The same thing can be said for every other driver in the line that was passed at the stop by the cyclist.
I can usually do nearer 40 meters before anyone accelerating from the lights at a normal rate comes back up on my bum(per). Yes, if they put the pedal to the floor in a halfway decent car, they'll match or best my acceleration. But that's not how most people drive (even if it is technically possible), and they certainly can't take the moral high ground if that's how they're driving. And if they need more than 60m (let's say plus 20m to cancel out the advantage) before the next turn or light, then you're right, they shouldn't have pulled ahead. But it's been my experience that the roads only start to get thin (enough that cars can't easily pass) at the city limits, by which point the traffic's already bad enough that you're not going to get a 60m run.