Virtually all cyclists also own cars and pay their share of road taxes. The issue is that roads should not by built in such a way that they become barriers to non-motorized movement, whether by pedestrians or cyclists. People should be able to move freely around their own neighborhoods, get across the street, walk to a local park, walk to schools, churches, and neighborhood shopping, etc. without being forced into a car. Sidewalks, wide shoulders, and/or bike lanes should be the standard for a properly designed road of any type.
The car lobby tends to assume that it has some inherent right to use eminent domain to seize other people's property for the purpose of punching commuter sewers though other people's neighborhoods. If motorists want to go nuclear against bike infrastructure, fine. But turnabout is fair play. Let's get rid of eminent domain for roadbuilding. The better approach, however, is to build complete roads that allow people to move freely around their own neighborhoods. That will take care of most of the bike issues.
“Streets” are the roads that both bikes and cars are supposed to use.
Please look at your state’s “Rules of the Road.” You appear to not be from the United States, with your strange comments.
Sounds very European. I can’t speak for the “car lobby”. This is not Europe.. this is America. Every time I get behind an idiot riding a bicycle, it slows myself and everyone else down. It negates the eco friendly bicycle because I am stuck with a longer commute and use more fuel, so are the twenty cars behind me. So in fact, it is more harmful to the environment by slowing down twenty cars, burning more fuel for each one.
In the old days my grandpa used to open his door and tap any dog chasing us. It would discourage the dog from chasing cars and keep it safer. I always think of him when I see a bicycle rider.
Typical elitist think. The working class needs to drive to work.
Get off the roads!
The bike nazi cabal around here got the city to modify roads to add bike lanes. The only thing was that in the process the city REMOVED miles of right hand lanes from the road system leading to worse traffic congestion and driver frustration. Your use of “neighborhoods” is an oversimplification. Very few people work in their local neighborhood, even fewer bike the extended miles to work. Also, your point about bike riders being car owners is a straw man. If you own more than one vehicle then you pay fees and taxes on every vehicle, cycles should be taxed accordingly. Nothing in the transportation system is free. If all vehicles left the road system overnight it would still require maintenance for the cyclers.
Eminent domain has its place (and is Constitutionally legal), but it is clearly vulnerable to abuse, and should always be watched carefully.
It's certainly easier and more cost effective to apply your standards to new road construction. But what would you do about existing roads?
How much of your property would you be willing to have taken from you to add a bike lane on your street?
And speaking of "bike issues", for me the biggest one is the reluctance of cyclists to abide by the same traffic laws that motorists are required to obey. How would you deal with that issue?
“The car lobby...” is that anything like the horse lobby of yore?