Applying Law To Cyclists

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 30, 6 February 1939, Page 3

Applying Law To Cyclists

CHICAGO Remodelling of city bicycle ordinances to raise cyclists from harum-scarums of the road to law-abid-ing coursers of the highways with motorists sharing equal responsibilities and privileges, is urged upon the International Association of Chiefs of Police here. In 1937, it is reported, there were 7UU fatal mishaps and 35,000 injuries in bicycle-motor vehicle accidents. The bicycle has become a traffic safety problem, according to safety experts. Lieut. R. O. Bennett of the Lincoln, Neb., Police Department, formerly of Northwestern University’s Traffic Safety Institute, made a survey of 16 representative cities —ranging in population from over 1,000,000 to a few thousand. All of the 16 required registration of bicycles, but said little about safety equipment. Only three cities demanded inspection for mechanical fitness. One demanded brakes. Eight prohibited sidewalk riding. Two permitted it. Seven made riding on handlebars illegal. Tests for Ability Two cities, Eugene and Grants Pass, Ore., required cyclists to pass a test showing riding ability, and a written examination on traffic laws. To resolve this hodgepodge of rules into an adequate municipal bicycle ordinance for all cities, Lieutenant Bennett recommends: 1. Registration and licensing oi bicycles with a standard license plate. 2. Periodic inspection for safety equipment. 3. Regulation of cyclists as to speed, signalling for turns, automobile “hitchhiking,” riding abreast, and riding while intoxicated. 4. (Supervision of bicycle rental agencies. Education First The slogan “Education-Engineering-Enforcement,” which traffic experts have used in solving automobile pro blems, should be applied to bicycles. Lieutenant Bennett states. At present, education ranks first in attention because most cyclists are children or young persons. “Widespread engineering activity on behalf of cyclists practically ceased when the automobile became the dominant vehicle in traffic,” he asserts. “Efforts to secure safe riding facilities for bicycles should be continued. Manufacturers should include ail safety equipment as standard, instead of charging extra for it. Only 80 per cent of the bicycles sold have electric front headlights as part of the standard equipment. ’ ’ Enforcement has been lax, according to Lieutenant Bennett, partly because people disapprove of bringing children violators of traffic ordinances into the same juvenile court with delinquent and incorrigible children, and partly because the legal status of the cyclist never has been determined. As You Were A Scots actor came to London and took lodgings. With his morning cup of tea the landlady sent up two thin slices of bread and butter. He complained. The next day she sent up three slices, but still he complained. The third day she cut a loaf in two, put a quarter of a pround of butter on each slab and sent that up. When he came down she asked, defiantly: “Bread and butter all right ? ’ ’ “Aye, no’ so bad,” the Scotsman replied, “but ye’ve gone back to two slices. ’ * All There “Now, children, I want you to write me an essay without a theme put down what is in you.” Ten minutes later Jimmy handed in the following:— “In me there is a heart, a lung, an appendix. And then there is a stomach with two pieces of bread and an apple and five caramels.”