Richard Drdul via Flickr
In the 100-person town of Black Hawk, Colorado, you’re free to gamble away your savings at any of its fine casinos, but you better get the heck off that bike of yours if you don’t want a fine of $68. Black Hawk has recently become the first town to outlaw cycling, which it did for “health and safety” reasons since its focus on gambling has brought more auto traffic a-ramblin’ through.
Now, cycling is only illegal in the narrow, 19th century streets of Black Hawk’s historic district, but forcing cyclists to dismount and walk their bikes for the quarter mile through town where cars and trucks get a free pass to whizz on by … does this actually accomplish the intended goal of “safety”? Maybe someone should send them a pamphlet about Complete Streets, which aims to design safe, efficient streets for all kinds of people and all kinds of transportation.
“At this point the council has no intention of repealing the ban,” said Michael Copp, Black Hawk’s city manager. “They believe their actions are what’s best for its citizens in Black Hawk, which are casinos and their patrons.” Yup, casinos.
Pro-cycling groups are getting ready to challenge the even bigger danger here than cycling — the precedent of such a ban on bikes.
When I was searching for anti-bike photos for this post, I realized I stumbled on a goldmine of ridiculous and ironic pictures. If you’ve seen crazy signs against cycling and managed to snap a pic, send them to me, and I’ll put up a slideshow of the best (worst?).
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