TexasCHLforum.com

srothstein wrote:If you follow the logic of many of the 2A rights cases, they use the same path. If I have a right to self-defense, as decided under Heller, do I not have the right to the method of my choice? If I have the recognized right to travel, I must have the right to choose how.

I explained part of it in a pm, but this was research I did for an academy lesson back in 87, so it is real fuzzy now. Back when cars were coming out and scaring horses, some people tried to ban cars. The cases were decided on an equal access/equal protection basis. If it is legal for me to ride a horse drawn wagon, how can it not be legal to ride a car there?

srothstein wrote:

WildBill wrote:Actually, I believe it is a constitutional right to travel [on a public road], but the darn courts have overruled me.

Lats time I did any research on this (and it has been a long while), the courts did find that the right to travel was inherent in the Constitution. This also meant that riding a bicycle was a protected activity since the means of travel must be protected if the right to travel is. They recognized equal access to most roads, except those that had limited access, such as toll roads.

I have to admit that some of those decisions dated back to arguments over whether a driver's license could be required (adopted in Texas in 1936) or whether cars could be banned because they scared horses (much further back than the 30's). I am concerned that some of the courts may have changed their minds since 9-11, given the TSA actions and cases arising from it. I am also concerned that the public in general has accepted that driving is a privilege and not a right, but that is also a separate argument.

I do know that Texas law recognizes the legal authority to ride a bicycle on any public road that is not a limited access highway. It also forbids riding on sidewalks, which pretty much guarantees that they will be in the streets. The law does require them to obey the traffic laws though, and recently Austin has been stopping bicyclists (and pedestrians) and enforcing those laws too. That has not been popular, of course but when is law enforcement ever popular.

Driving is a Privilege, Not a Right

Driving is not a constitutional right. You get your drivers license based on the skills you have and the rules you agree to follow. After you get your driving license you must continue to demonstrate your ability to drive safely on the road. If you fail to demonstrate this ability, you will be issued traffic tickets, or even have your license suspended or revoked. No one has more right to the road than anyone else. If you're going to drive, you owe it to the other drivers and yourself to operate the vehicle in a safe manner.

jmra wrote:

MaxBerlin wrote:A cyclist on a roadway is exercising his Constitutional rights just as we CHL holders are.

It would be nice if narrow aim didn't so often coincide with 'narrow minded'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of ... States_law" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I just read thru the constitution and I didn't see any mention of bicycles. I do not believe a bicyclist has a constitutional right to ride on a roadway designed for the horseless carriage. I think people often confuse a legal activity with a constitutional right.

jmra wrote:

WildBill wrote:

jmra wrote:

WildBill wrote:

jmra wrote:

WildBill wrote:It didn't see this story when it happened. This is one of the cases that lead to passing the Houston Ordinance.

League City police say tipsters have identified a driver possibly involved in hit-and-run incident that took the life of yet another area cyclist.

Kevin Ronald Munson was struck around 2:30 a.m. early Thursday morning as he cycled along the 1900 block of East Marina Bay Drive, roughly a mile west of the Kemah Boardwalk area. Emergency officials — who were contacted by a witness at the scene — rushed the 45-year-old victim to Clear Lake Region Hospital with serious head injuries. Munson was pronounced dead soon thereafter.

Surveillance shows a woman removing a large piece of wreckage from her sedan.

Investigators released surveillance footage from a guard shack of the Waterford Harbor gated community, located next to the crash site. Recorded just after the accident, the video shows a woman and a security guard removing a large piece of wreckage from the front wheel of a grey, four-door sedan. The woman tosses the piece in her car and drives away.

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/city ... -cyclists/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nothing good happens on the highway at 2:30am.

The driver of the vehicle is an RN. She could have just gotten off work. If so, how ironic.

It would be, however, 2:30 am would not be the proper timeline for most shift work at hospitals (source - wife, who has been a RN for 24 years and currently runs several nursing departments). More likely she had been off work for several hours and stopped somewhere to "unwind" before heading home.

You could be correct. There hasn't been much new information since the arrest.

Also thought it was interesting that the damage to the car in the video was to the drivers side. I would have expected it to be on the passenger side.

jmra wrote:

WildBill wrote:

jmra wrote:

WildBill wrote:It didn't see this story when it happened. This is one of the cases that lead to passing the Houston Ordinance.

League City police say tipsters have identified a driver possibly involved in hit-and-run incident that took the life of yet another area cyclist.

Kevin Ronald Munson was struck around 2:30 a.m. early Thursday morning as he cycled along the 1900 block of East Marina Bay Drive, roughly a mile west of the Kemah Boardwalk area. Emergency officials — who were contacted by a witness at the scene — rushed the 45-year-old victim to Clear Lake Region Hospital with serious head injuries. Munson was pronounced dead soon thereafter.

Surveillance shows a woman removing a large piece of wreckage from her sedan.

Investigators released surveillance footage from a guard shack of the Waterford Harbor gated community, located next to the crash site. Recorded just after the accident, the video shows a woman and a security guard removing a large piece of wreckage from the front wheel of a grey, four-door sedan. The woman tosses the piece in her car and drives away.

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/city ... -cyclists/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nothing good happens on the highway at 2:30am.

The driver of the vehicle is an RN. She could have just gotten off work. If so, how ironic.

It would be, however, 2:30 am would not be the proper timeline for most shift work at hospitals (source - wife, who has been a RN for 24 years and currently runs several nursing departments). More likely she had been off work for several hours and stopped somewhere to "unwind" before heading home.

jmra wrote:

WildBill wrote:It didn't see this story when it happened. This is one of the cases that lead to passing the Houston Ordinance.

League City police say tipsters have identified a driver possibly involved in hit-and-run incident that took the life of yet another area cyclist.

Kevin Ronald Munson was struck around 2:30 a.m. early Thursday morning as he cycled along the 1900 block of East Marina Bay Drive, roughly a mile west of the Kemah Boardwalk area. Emergency officials — who were contacted by a witness at the scene — rushed the 45-year-old victim to Clear Lake Region Hospital with serious head injuries. Munson was pronounced dead soon thereafter.

Surveillance shows a woman removing a large piece of wreckage from her sedan.

Investigators released surveillance footage from a guard shack of the Waterford Harbor gated community, located next to the crash site. Recorded just after the accident, the video shows a woman and a security guard removing a large piece of wreckage from the front wheel of a grey, four-door sedan. The woman tosses the piece in her car and drives away.

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/city ... -cyclists/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nothing good happens on the highway at 2:30am.

rp_photo wrote:3 years of being a carrying CHL has conditioned me to abhor the "looking for trouble" mindset, which in my opinion this cyclist has.

rp_photo wrote:In my opinion, what he's doing would make him the instigator, making the use of a concealed weapon unlawful:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas ... 425186.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;