RSSOPINION/EDITORIAL
One-size-fits-all rules, such as a bike law in Colorado, can have unintended consequences
WALLA WALLA UNION-BULLETIN
WALLA WALLA UNION-BULLETIN
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Colorado is home to a great many outdoor enthusiasts, which is why its state lawmakers approved a law last year mandating motorists give bicyclists three feet of space when passing on any road.
Seems reasonable, right? Yes, in most cases.
Unfortunately, the law covers all cases.
And that has -- or, at least, had -- folks in the tiny town of Black Hawk, population 100, annoyed.
This town and its people count on busloads of tourists coming to its casinos to generate revenue. The streets in Black Hawk are very narrow as they were designed for horses and buggies more than a century ago. When the tour buses flood in there simply isn't three feet to pass.
Town leaders took care of the problem by banning bicycles.
Now it's bike riders who are outraged. This mountain community is in the middle of one of the main biking routes through the Rockies.
The town's twisting main artery, Gregory Street, links Interstate 70 -- the central east-west route through Colorado -- with the scenic Peak-to-Peak Highway. It ends outside Rocky Mountain National Park, where riders can pick up roads back to Denver, according to the Los Angeles Times, which sent a reporter to chronicle the dispute.
"It's a pretty wonderful street to bike on," Dan Grunig, executive director of Bicycle Colorado, said of Gregory Street. "A lot of communities would kill to have a street like that."
Well, there isn't as much money in bike riders -- unless you start issuing them tickets. Tickets for $68 are now being given to those who violate the bicycle ban.
"It's an important issue to us, and we believe that Black Hawk should have the right to control its streets," said City Manager Mike Copp. Unfortuately, the tickets and fines simply add fuel to this fire.
Frankly, we can appreciate the various points of view.
Too often seemingly silly disputes grow into big deals. A lot of emotional energy -- and cash -- can be invested in fights over these matters.
Grunig noted that if cars or buses simply treated bike riders like a vehicle and waited behind them instead of passing there wouldn't be a problem.
He's right, but that's assuming bike riders stick to the rules of the road as well.
It sounds like this law needs a little leeway for everybody. And that is something for local, state and federal lawmakers to think about when adopting new mandates.
In solving one problem have we created any new problems?
