The herald., 1895-11-06
LEGAL STATUS OF THE BICYCLE

The use OF the bicycle for the purpose
OF locomotion and travel is so recent that
as yet there is little adjudication as to
the rights and liability of travellers en-
ploying it upon the highway. bus the
trend of judicial authority seems to place
the wheel on plane of equality with
other vehicles. The early advent OF the
bicycle met with strenuous opposition,
both from pedestrians and agencies of
the road, tho former contsndins that it
was a vehicle and should be excluded
from the sidewalk and the latter assert
Ing that it was an object of terror, the
use of which was perilous in that it
frightened horses. But by degrees this
child OF advorsity began to DO recognized
established. Finally its paternity was
esta bhshed and it was placed In the cate
CORY of carriages and vehicles.
Although Blackstone, Coke and other
eommon-law jurists never experienced
the sensation of spin on q bicycle. yet
we looS TO the law OF the mother country
for the earliest cases involving the law
OF the wheel.
The authorities. almost without excsp-
ton, now recognize the bicycle as a
carriage" or vehicle, entitled 10 the
rights of carriages and vehicles in gem
eral, and no longer regard it as an OBJ
struction to or an unreasonable use o.!
the streets or roads. but ,Sther . new and
i'm proved method of using the same, and
"gcrmane to their principal use as a
pathway" One Taylor, an Ell gli.hman,
was the first to take the bicycle into
court, and the case of Tayolr AGAINST
Goodwin is a leading one. Mr.. Good
win sprinted OH certain road in viola-
ton OF statute making the furious driv-
lng OF carriage upon the highway an
ottense. Upon the trial he did not deny
the allegation OF lmmoderate speed, but
commanded that the bicycle was not a
''carriage,' and that the word driven, -
as ordinarily understood, was not appli-
cable to the bicycle and that the mere
fact that it had vhsels did not make it a
carriage any more thxn "a whselbarrow or
roller SIX tes. But the court was of the
opinion that il was carriage in the full
sense OF the word, and that persons rid
ing it may DO said to "drive" it IN tho
sense that an engineer drives an engine.
although he guides as we'll as propels it,.
Invssti alton disoloses American auth
critics. In applying the established law
OF the road to the wheel probably it is
not entitled to the dignity of a carriag ,
and while there is no authority for Tia,
statement it seems that the wheelman liz
riding on the road should be governed by
the immemorial usage and custom appli
bic to horsemsn. 1t has been held that
there is no law requiring man on horse
back to turn either to the right or to the
let hand. He should be governed by his
notions of prudence. A horseman should
Weld the Travelled track to vehicle
where he can do so without peril.
a bicyclist a. d horse can pass alons
track much narrower than that re-
quired or carriages; they also occupy
much linear space. In both cases the
control OF the traveller ~ more absolute
than in the case Of horses attached to
carriages, but the bcyclist cannot be
forced to ride his machine on dangerous
or ,und. The cardinal rule however, is
to keep to the right. Summing up the
IaS pertaining to bicycles in a general
way, it may be said:
First-Municipal corporations or oitiel
are liable to bicychst for injuries in