WTSP Tampa: Boulder Colorado City Council considering 8 mph speed limit for bicyclists
Nov 15, 2011Â
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- Bicyclists in Boulder may have to watch how fast they coast. The City Council is considering an 8 mph speed limit for cyclists in certain locations.
The council will consider the speed limit proposal at next week’s meeting. In the meantime, the ordinance has some cyclists pedaling their opposition.
“The biking community wants to have consistent laws around the state. People travel from city to city every day,” said Bicycle Colorado Executive Director Dan Grunig.
Grunig has been hearing mutterings of a bike speed limit in Boulder for a few months. The speed limit would only apply when cyclists are pedaling through a crosswalk.
Grunig believes if that ordinance is approved, the law could do more harm than good.
“The problem with an 8 mph speed limit is that it blames the victim if they are hit in the crosswalk. Now, if a cyclist is hit in a safety crosswalk they have to prove they were going under 8 mph and that’s not possible,” said Grunig.
“It just seems kind of like a silly rule, honestly. I feel like as a cyclist we just obey the same rules as cars do. If they don’t have to do it, then we probably shouldn’t have to do it either,” said cyclist Aaron Barcheck.
Some cyclists feel the 8 mph limit is too slow. Others said they would support the speed limit, including one man who was hit by another cyclist.
“I don’t have a problem with that,” said cyclist Larry Ardito. “Sometimes people just don’t slow down or obey the signs.”
