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Cycling advocates in San Francisco are upset with a continued effort to create a cycling speed limit on the Golden Gate Bridge.
The proposed speed limit would be 5 mph when navigating around any iron tower, with a 10 mph speed limit across most of the bridge. There is no official speed limit and there are times when people can be found exceeding 20 mph on a crowded bridge, making a possible incident more likely.
The base fine for law violators would be $100, but would drastically increase after court fees and other charges are included on the ticket.
Riding across the GGB draws thousands of visitors every day, as tourists, residents and athletes pedal across the bridge.
I think the focus should be on those towers, where you go around a blind turn that is narrow and sometimes hazardous. An avid cyclist friend agreed, saying he agreed that 5 mph around the tower seemed like a fair speed limit.
There are plenty of rude cycling snobs that have passed me on the GGB even when I was riding a fairly reckless pace. It’s going to happen, and it causes the most discomfort and danger among tourists with shaky bike handling abilities.
I’m all for keeping people safe on the bridge, but a $100 (plus added fees) on the ticket seems too ridiculous right now. Besides the fact that the proposal wasn’t well thought out — and didn’t involve any bike advocacy groups in SF or Marin.
