Why the Missouri bicycle flag bill is not as funny as you think | PeopleForBikes

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

Missouri representative Jay Houghton (R-Martinsburg) recently introduced legislation that would require bicycles to be equipped with 15-foot tall orange fluorescent flags when traveling on certain roads within the state. This bill has quickly inspired an array of responses illustrating its total lack of feasibility (not to mention the outright dangerous side effects of complying with the law).

While these responses are well deserved, this proposal should be viewed as another misguided attempt to shift the burden of safety completely on to the shoulders of bike riders rather than making real attempts to correct the conditions that cause collisions on our roadways.

Last year, seven state legislatures (California, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wyoming) considered bills to require bike riders to wear fluorescent or high-visibility clothing. These proposals ranged from fairly basic attempts to require this clothing when riding at night to rules specifying that people be coated in a specific number of square inches of fluorescent clothing.

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