Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, then mayor of Denver, prepares for an Earth Day bicycle ride on April 22, 2010. (Cyrus McCrimmon, Denver Post file)
Re: “To pay for Colorado biking plan, license and tax bicycles,” Sept. 22 letter to the editor.
Kudos to reader Judy Robinson, who recommends that in order to help pay for prospective bicycle lanes/venues in Colorado, bicyclists pay license fees on their bikes. I would suggest that bicyclists also not get a free ride when it comes to obeying traffic laws. Coasting through stop signs and stoplights, going the wrong way on a one-way street, and riding two or more abreast on a narrow road or street are not behaviors that endear bicyclists to those of us who are also expected to pay for their amenities.
Jon Weimer, Denver
This letter was published in the Sept. 27 edition.Why do some people presume that cyclists don’t pay for road usage? Other than young children riding to school or to the park, the vast majority of us do own cars and have driver’s licenses. So we do pay for road usage; we just sometimes choose to use a non-motorized vehicle. Also, most of us do pay attention to stop signs and traffic lights: itap basic survival.
Cyclists should no more be asked to pay an additional fee for road usage than pedestrians should be asked to pay an additional fee for sidewalk usage; we’re already paying for it.
Betsy Glesner, Littleton
Those roads most often used by cyclists are city and county roads, which are mostly funded without gasoline taxes or vehicle fees. They are funded by income taxes, property taxes and sales taxes that cyclists pay in the same ways that motorists do. In addition, many cyclists are also motorists, and pay both gasoline taxes and vehicle registration fees. In short, bicyclists do not “get off free,” as letter-writer Judy Robinson suggests. They pay plenty of taxes, and one might argue that because cyclists pay the same vehicle registration fees but generally use their vehicles less than those who do not ride a bicycle, they are paying more than their fair share of vehicle taxes and fees.
David Newman, Fort Collins
This letter was published in the Sept. 27 edition.Licensing bicycles is appropriate if Colorado is to become the best bicycle state. But it does not address the need for bicyclists to follow the rules of the road. As I live in Durango, a very bicycle-friendly town, I see constant reminders that bicyclists are given a free ride when it comes to etiquette. Riding two abreast is allowed in our state when no vehicular traffic is present; however, bicyclists ignore the rule and often ride conversation style — almost daring motorists to hit them. They run red lights with regularity, weave in and out of traffic, don’t signal when making turns or changing lanes, and use the sidewalks whenever they like.
Police look the other way, and without any enforcement, nothing will change.
Governor, are you listening?
Patrick Jones, Durango
This letter was published in the Sept. 27 edition.
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