Legal Commentary

"The bicycle, quite literally, paved the road for automobiles."

The explosive popularity of the human-powered, two-wheeled vehicle sparked road construction across the Western world?s cities. The League of American Wheelmen was a major vector for the political will necessary to build better roads with more than one million members (out of a mere 75 million people) at its peak. Sure they engaged in silliness like racing and bicycle polo (!) but at heart, the group was a potent, progressive social force that inadvertently helped bring about its own end by getting roads paved, thus making long distance ?touring? possible in automobiles.

Full post as published by Althouse on June 14, 2009 (boomark / email).