Tell the Senate that bikes have a right to the road

The League of American Cyclists issued an online petition Action Alert to tell Senate to remove a “mandatory side path” law that has slipped into the draft Federal Transportation Bill.

From the League:

The draft of the Senate’s transportation authorization bill, S. 1813 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, includes language that would introduce a mandatory sidepath law on roads in our National Parks and other Federal lands. It requires cyclists on Federal lands to use a path or trail, instead of roads, if the speed limit is over 30 MPH and a trail exists within 100 yards, regardless of its condition or utility of the path. The provision sets a terrible precedent. Passing it would send the wrong message to transportation agencies that these policies are acceptable. Laws like this have been taken off the books in states over the past 30 years. This takes us in the wrong direction.

Section § 203 (d) (p. 226), the part dealing with the “Federal lands transportation program”, states:

(d) BICYCLE SAFETY.—The Secretary of the appropriate Federal land management agency shall prohibit the use of bicycles on each federally owned road that has a speed limit of 30 miles per hour or greater and an adjacent paved path for use by bicycles within 100 yards of the road.

Please take a moment to tell the Senate that the mandatory sidepath law is a bad idea.

Click here to sign the League’s online petition

Help us reach 2012 members by 2012 and unlock $2012 in matching!! Join today! We need 250 more members by the end of the year! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bike-pgh.org/membership