Oregon Cycling Magazine

Vol 17 No 4: June 2008

Click here for this month’s articles

This summer, Oregon’s pedestrians have reason to celebrate; walking around just got a little safer. Oregon Cycling’s legal columnist, Ray Thomas, has just released a new book that addresses the legal rights of pedestrians in Oregon. Presented in the same format as his ubiquitous book on cyclists’ rights, Pedal Power: A Legal Guide for Oregon Bicyclists (now in its 6th printing), the new book focuses on issues affecting people on foot. Titled Oregon Pedestrian Rights: A Legal Guide for Persons on Foot, the book was produced in partnership with the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition and the City of Portland Office of Transportation. In it, Thomas lays out the basics from “what is a pedestrian” through more complicated issues of insurance and laws specific to municipalities around the state. Also included are legal issues relating to skateboards and rollerblades, two forms of transportation that are often overlooked—until there’s a collision or a “turf dispute”—then the questions start piling up.

Thomas observes that much of the frustration around pedestrian and bicycle laws comes from two sources: ignorance of the law and the way certain laws are written. Speaking about his Pedal Power book, Thomas says he started the project because “it seemed… that very few bicyclists really knew what the law required, and it caused quite a bit of frustration.” He thought that by putting together a collection of his writings and gathering together all the statutes that related to bicycling, he could use the law to help build a cycling movement that would garner cyclists more respect on the road. At the same time, he noticed that many laws had “moles” or traps written into them that could be used against cyclists or to support weird anti-bike laws. His book helped address those issues and is now the de facto authority for bike-related legal questions across the state. It has settled many an argument—and probably started a few as well.

The new book is available now and can be downloaded at www.wpcwalks.org or at www.stc-law.com. At 156 pages, it is a long read, but it’s laid out so you can just dip in to get the info you need. To support the information in the book, Thomas has started to hold pedestrian clinics similar to his bicycle clinics. The next one is on June 10 from 6-7:30 PM at the Portland building, 1120 SW 5th Ave in Portland. Walk-ins are OK! Also, keep your eyes open for a clinic at CAT in Eugene this summer.