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@ ae: "If we're going to rely on reasonable cops, why not make everything illegal and then allow them to arrest people whenever they find they've done something they consider unreasonable."

Because we live in a democracy where we all decide together what the rules are.

"If you don't think it makes sense for bikers to have the legal option to yield at a red light, then say so."

I think I did when I said "Quite frankly, I think red light should not be ignored by anyone. It is very dangerous." in my comment from 2h32.

"Oh, and on the "on the same road" issue... I'd like to note if you go on "bike paths," you'll usually find pedestrians, rollerbladers, bikes and horses all have different rules. (And that bikers yield to pretty much everyone.)"

Not so much. The rules there are that everybody needs to share the road. And quite frankly, it doesn't happen that nicely. There are plenty of speeding bikers that pay little attention to the slower pedestrians. And likewise, there are plenty of obvious pedestrians not looking for faster bikers. And I've been in both groups.

@ David Ramos:

Actually, I think you mean that p=mv, or F=dp/dt and that the concept of (in)elastic collisions is relevant. Sorry.

@ washcycle, Rich:

I do know that there are different rules, and that there are practical purposes for that. However, I think it's also important to keep the rules as much the same as possible, just to keep things simple. People have a hard time mastering traffic rules as they are. We don't want to make them more difficult.

by Jasper on Feb 9, 2009 9:46 pm • link • report