Update 9/10/2007: Kudos to Frank for the additional details. According to this earlier news article, skateboards, roller blades, roller skates and bicycles will be prohibited in the entire city of New Llano except on private property. This is so stunningly anti-American I don't know what to say. The phone number at New Llano city hall is +1 (337) 239-3670. The councilman who introduced the proposed ordinance, Democrat Charles Balthrop, is at +1 (337) 238-1216.
The details are sketchy, but according to the Leesville (LA) Daily Leader, the city council of New Llano, Louisiana apparently wants to ban bicycling anywhere in the town.
The news article focuses on the plight on Curtis Scott, for whom bicycling is his only mode of transportation. Scott also notes, “Laws like these are what gives a town a bad name. Just think of all of the kids who aren't going to be able to go out and play now. There are a lot of older people who like to ride their bikes for leisure and many of these people probably choose to live in New Llano because it is a small town and there is low crime.”
It's too late to call the city office for comment on this. I'll give it a shot on Monday.
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Reminds me of a film I saw at last year's Bicycle Film Fest called Biking in the Bible Belt. Links and more info at (cheap plug) my blog.
ReplyDeleteSounds like another place to find a Bush speech writer!
ReplyDeleteHowdy--
ReplyDeleteI'm going to assume it's just a lousy piece of reporting--it's certainly vague on the details of the ordinance. I'll bet the ban is on sidewalk riding, which is common. While it does raise issues for kids, especially those too small to ride safely in traffic, an adult loaded with shopping bags hanging off the handlebars of his huffy is a hazard to pedestrians. This ordinance could be an opportunity for advocates to educate drivers and rider about their right to use the road.
Then again, this is the deep south, and I have seen Easy Rider...
Happy Trails,
Ron Georg
Moab, UT
(With apologies to progressive southerners; I live in a stereotyped state myself)
Ron, it's actually a lousy piece of legislation. They have proposed a law banning skateboards, roller blades and bike anywhere in town except on private property. See the link in my previous post for details.
ReplyDeleteHowdy--
ReplyDeleteWow, that's unbelievable. Most places in the country are building skateparks to solve the fountain skating issue, once they get past their innate intolerance toward kids who don't dig ball sports. It seems hard to believe the ordinance doesn't conflict with state laws regarding bicycles. Thanks for the clarification, and I loved Biking in the Bible Belt.
Happy Trails,
Ron