Welcome to the Comment of the Week, where we highlight good comments in order to inspire more of them. You can help us choose our next one by replying with “comment of the week” to any comment you think deserves recognition. Please note: These selections are not endorsements.
In another BikePortland first, “Comment of the Week” has selected the same commenter two weeks in a row. What can I say? For someone who is square he sure is on a roll.
BikePortland has a few commenters who are, to put it neutrally, contrarian. Like pieces of orange rind in the fruitcake, they can be counted on to provide a bitter note.
This week’s comment by Squareman pivots off one of these bits of negativity to offer a wonderful list of bicycling privileges to counter our list of driving privileges.
Here’s what Squareman wrote:
Let me start:
[Bicycling privilege is when you…]
— Can legally operate as a vehicle or a pedestrian in Oregon
— Don’t have to fill up on gas or pay gas taxes
— Don’t have to register the vehicle or use plates
— Doesn’t require a license to drive
— See the city all the better without it whizzing by
— Can more easily fix your vehicle yourself
— You’d have to try really, really hard to kill someone with a bike
— Your brain health is better
— Your heart health is better
— Traffic will never immobilize you
— You can put your vehicle on the bus or MAX
— You can ride directly on the waterfront, along the river
— Are legally allowed to roll stopsigns, provided there’s no one to yield to
— Can carry your vehicle up stairs and over obstacles (not all bikes)
Thank you Squareman! Squareman’s comment and all the others too can be found under the original post, Opinion: What driving privilege is.