Did you ever consider that those cyclists you claim don't pay fuel taxes more than likely also own and drive motor vehicles?
They pay fuel taxes when they drive a gas or diesel powered vehicle. But when they are riding on their bike, on that shoulder, or that trail through the woods or along that river, that bike didn't pay for any of what they are riding on. Something else did.
So with that logic, pedestrians have no right to walk down that shoulder or trail because they aren't burning gas or deisel. Got it - makes perfect sense...
Wish I would have known that when I was a kid delivering newspapers on my bike riding on public roads, or when I had to take my vehicle in for repairs so rode my bike to work as I had no other transportation, or had to walk a couple miles down the shoulder of the road when my vehicle broke down. I sure feel enlightened now...
Don't get me wrong - I've seen cyclists I felt deserved to get their asses run over. I do ride a bike on roads and trails and am very considerate of motorists - fortunately where I live and ride, motorists treat me the same way and I've never experienced the hostility towards cyclists that's expressed here. Carry on - don't give a chit one way or the other...
Pedestrians have a right to walk on a shoulders. Just as a bicyclist does. Or a farm tractor (if he is not burning the highway diesel - there are two kinds of diesel sold here in the US - stuff that is taxed for roads and stuff that isn’t). But when you boil it down, none are directly paying for that shoulder or sidewalk.
My rub is not so much that, it’s that the bicycle community can be so demanding about what they are getting for free. Not one time have I heard that farmer complain about the condition of a road that they aren’t directly paying to use. But the bicycle community is in your face about it. That’s what gets me. It’s that snobbish elitist attitude.
"Successful is leaving something in better shape than you inherited it in. Keep that in mind, son." Dad
