scarcity of horses and citizens and law enforcement officials on the food to fuel them the rules and regulations applicable to cycling, brought on by an ontrain fleet drivers how to proceed safely round going famine, Drais bicyclists and pedestrians, and teach cyclists de-signed and built the how to maintain their bikes and choose the velocipide, a prototype best routes. for the bicycle that he An obstacle he encounters is that many peounveiled in 1817 as an ple erroneously believe they have sufficient alternative to horseknowledge of the dos and don’ts of cycling. For drawn traffic. instance, there is a commonly held belief among many cycists that it is safer to ride If Drais had hoped against the flow of traffic. It’s not only unsafe, to solve the transportasays Jatres, but it is illegal. tion problems of the Jatres recalls a conversation on the subject day, those hopes were with a woman who insisted that it was more derailed by the rutted important to her to see what was coming at and gnarly streets plaguher, a conversation that ended with her asserting most cities. Riders ing that she would continue to ride against who were forced to traffic “because I’ve been in seven accidents navigate their way along and I’m still OK.” city sidewalks became Jatres has his work cut out for him. A bike a menace to pedestrimay be an efficient, environmentally sustainable ans, causing the invenmethod of transportation, but it is also a birthtion to be banned in at day present, a hand-me-down from an older least four countries. brother, a reward for good grades—all of which Nevertheless, the connect to the inner child of every rider. free-spirited partner“People tend to think of bicycles as toys,” ship between man and A cyclist manuevers the narrow streets of the French Quarter, while another ignores the the directional markings of a designated bike lane says Liz Davey. machine has endured along St. Claude Avenue. The lane opened in spring 2008, and … And as Jatres notes, law enforcement nearly 200 years of officials are often no better than the general public … will offer protection to those who use it properly, says Dan Jatres, an advocate for bicycle and pedestrian safety. when it comes to applying traffic laws to cycling. “Unfortunately,” he says, “the general law enforcement culture is that it is not real police work.” All of which suggests the need for education. “Ultimately, a bike lane is not going to protect you from a car,” says Jatres. “It’s just a stripe.”
Loose affiliations Hats off to Karl Drais, who was born into European aristocracy in the late 18th century, but grew up to be a fervent democrat and an inventor with a populist bent. Responding to the
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