Montana to ban Cycling on rural raods!

[AndyE]

I saw a piece of news today on my Facebook feed from Cycling UK , Montana is to ban Cycling on some rural roads. In light of the fake news that seems popular at the moment can anyone confirm if this is actually true?

Andy

[bobs]

It's not April the 1st yet.

[David Simpson]

It looks true. However, it is only a proposed bill. It hasn't been made law yet. Apparently there is a lot of opposition to it.

Do a Google search for "montana banning cycling".

- DaveS

[mickeg]

I do not know if there are any federal laws that may prevent them from enacting such a ban, but it is possible that they can't do it.

I am not going to worry about it, if it happens, Montana (which relies heavily on tourism income) may realize it was a big mistake.  No other states have such a ban, but most of the interstate highway system prohibits bicycles.  The interstate hiways have the highest speeds and heaviest traffic.  The photo is on an interstate, but in this case the highway was legal for cycling.

Donald Trump at it again.

I prefer my bike forum reading to be without political commentary.

[David Simpson]

The proposed Montana law would apply only to highways that do not have a paved shoulder. The stated goal was "safety". According to this article, the original proposer was surprised that the law would cover many more roads than he was anticipating.
    http://road.cc/content/news/216273-montana-bill-banning-cyclists-ordinary-two-lane-roads-be-rewritten

Apparently he is now working with cycling groups and other interested parties to redraft the proposal. Hopefully common sense will prevail.

- DaveS

[Danneaux]

I prefer my bike forum reading to be without political commentary.

Dear Friends and Members,

The current political climate is such that it approaches the helmet issue for near-volatility on nonpolitical forums.

For this reason, I've removed BobS' comment so we can keep things on an even keel here.  Nobody's done anything "wrong", just trying to avoid discontent in our little corner of the world. 'Would have caught it earlier, but I was out of comms range at the time.

Carry on.

All the best,

Dan.
Thorn Cycling Administrator

[AndyE]

Thanks David, for that article. I was shocked to read that someone from Montana had proposed this in the first place. I'm from the Uk and my first impression, why such a draconian measure in the 3th large state in the lower 48, and that I would consider sparsely populated by 1.2 million. Safety is a big concern for us hear in the UK more so with a population of 64 million in a country 54000 sqm smaller than Montana, and most of us are not in Scotland. The ACA is headquartered in that state too! I take it Mr Usher is a rookie in the world of politics (Sorry Mick) & not realising what the impact would be, was poorly conceived.

Andy

PS Dan I will edit this if needed. Andy

[Danneaux]

I view the proposed Montana bill with great alarm, fearing its effects could spread if passed.

Oregon (where I live several states over) has a similar composition of many secondary and rural roads that make for great -- and very safe -- riding for cyclists and walking for pedestrians. To lose such a valuable resource would effectively kill much of cycling in this state and the nascent rural tourist economies that are beginning to grow around cycle-touring here. In many hamlets and small towns, recent interest in adventure touring has provided an economic lifeline for B&Bs, small markets, and campgrounds. To lose this would not only harm cycling, but our rural economies.

I am hopeful the proposed Montana bill will not proceed to approval and if it is approved, the effects will be limited to only one state and will not serve as a model for other states to emulate.

All the best,

Dan.

[Andre Jute]

That proposal doesn't need redrafting, it needs throwing out. That's my full, considered opinion.

Without defending Bobs' unsuccessful joke, which Dan has correctly removed, the problem with these things, George, is that you can't obviate politics from anything to do with road usage. The proposer of the bill, besides being an elected representative, is a Harley-Davidson dealer, and may be presumed to speak for the motorcycle fraternity; that is surely a political consideration and motivation. I'm not planning on discussing it beyond that unless another contributor really wants a debate, but surely reasonable discussion of the motivation of proposers of such radical measures cannot fall under a blanket "political ban".

[David Simpson]

The current political climate is such that it approaches the helmet issue for near-volatility on nonpolitical forums.

The helmet issue is so "old hat" (pun intended). We have a new hot issue on this forum: whether or not to re-use the Rohloff drain screw. 

- DaveS

[bobs]

I have received a message from Dan explaining why he removed my comments and agree with everything he said.  Unfortunately it was a poor attempt at a joke to make light of what is a very serious situation for cyclists in that state.
I apologise if it caused any offence to anyone.

Bob

[mickeg]

The attached photo is on the highway in Montana from Whitefish up to Canadian border.  I am not sure if that would be considered a shoulder or not.

I have received a message from Dan explaining why he removed my comments and agree with everything he said.  Unfortunately it was a poor attempt at a joke to make light of what is a very serious situation for cyclists in that state.
I apologise if it caused any offence to anyone.

Bob

I was not offended, your comment was very benign.  But I just wanted to make note because I wanted to make sure that things did not get  discussed further.

Now lets talk about those helmets.

[ají]

im all for them banning cycling on roads~provided they build dedicated bike pedestrian lanes everywhere they do!

[jags]

Some chance of that happening,

[John Saxby]

There were a couple of threads on crazyguy which included some more info on this issue. Here's the original one:

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum/board/message/?o=tS&thread_id=761091&page=1&nested=0&v=1C

A second suggests that the original bill has been redrafted:

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum/board/message/?o=tS&thread_id=761480&page=1&nested=0&v=e