Bicycle on The Road

In Colorado, the law states that a bicycle on the road is to be considered as a vehicle. In my opinion and many other drivers, this is a load of crap. The road is made for vehicles that have engines and go faster than thirty miles per hour. As far as I’m concerned the mopeds that are less than fifty cc (cubic centimeters) and do not go faster than thirty miles an hour do not belong on the road as well. There are reasons the state put sidewalks in, that’s where the bicyclist are supposed to be along with pedestrians and non-vehicular modes of transportation.


Recently, Governor Bill Ritter passed a “Bicycle Safety Act” to help the bicyclists on the road and supposedly help drivers make the road a safer place for both. What the safety act does is make drivers give the bicyclist three feet to pass them. This is in no way safe; for one, moving into other lanes of traffic to pass a bicycle is complete idiocy and if one can’t make the three foot lee-way then the driver cannot pass the bicyclist. Therefore causing slow downs in traffic and holding back the driver that cannot pass. Also, if the driver is to pass too close or be rude, reckless, or aggressive, then there is a hot line for bicyclists to call where they can report the license plate number and everything. Honestly, if they weren’t on the road to begin with there wouldn’t be a need for these petty rules and stupid hot lines.

When mopeds drive on the roads they become moving speed bumps. As they move onto higher speed limit roads, they cannot keep up with traffic and therefore become hazards to the roads, themselves and the drivers on the road. There have been incidents where mopeds have been driving on faster roads such as Arapahoe, and have become speed bumps to the cars that drive on the roads. And every one of these accidents has been fatal to the diver of the moped.

For a driver, whether it is a truck, car, or motorcycle, the bicyclist or moped driver on the road is an unpredictable hazard. Not only are they dangerous, they are annoying, time consuming and in the way. Bicyclists are not vehicles on the road. They cannot go faster than thirty miles an hour, are not considered to have a motor (anything fewer than fifty cc is considered a motor assisted bicycle) and are not shielded from other vehicle such as a truck or car. A motorcycle on the other hand can go faster than thirty miles an hour and the riders usually wear helmets and eye protection which is more than moped drivers. If either the moped or bicyclist were to get into an accident with a real vehicle they would lose and probably more than just the bike.

-Austin Bolinger