Originally Posted by
Gresp15C
I think it's always worth reconsidering traffic laws as they apply to cyclists. Traffic laws are for cars. If there were no cars, we could safely have a lot fewer traffic laws.
The reality of existing car free settings casts doubt on that belief.
Consider for example how less predictable and aware of surroundings pedestrians become where there's no threat of death by automobile.
And going the other way, cyclists become the not infrequently inconsiderate and too-fast-for conditions threat, exactly recreating driver behavior in miniature.
It's true that current traffic laws are "autonormative" but even without cars, efficient cycling at a user volume displacing even a fraction of car trips wouldn't be safe without some sort of norms and shared expectations of how "traffic" works - just see all the MUP conflict threads and realize that's pretty much driven by the recreational traffic volume, not people actually trying to go anywhere for a purpose.