Comments on: AAA President: What If Bicycling Became as Mainstream as Driving?

By: The Bike Pittsburgh Blog Archives » Week’s Links: 4.27.12

The Bike Pittsburgh Blog Archives » Week’s Links: 4.27.12 — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:20:01 +0000

[...] president of AAA writes about the rise of cycling in the nation and encourages people to celebrate Bike [...]

By: Link roundup: August 26 | Tucson Velo

Link roundup: August 26 | Tucson Velo — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:16:35 +0000

[...] AAA President: What If Bicycling Became as Mainstream as Driving? [...]

By: Erik

Erik — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:28:25 +0000

Let’s hope that Mr. Gaffney can gain control over AAA Mid-Atlantic who recently came out against safer speed limits in urban neighborhoods “because elephants can run faster.”

By: Khal Spencer

Khal Spencer — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:01:04 +0000

AAA has a huge membership base, according to Wikipedia (51 million–we should do as well!). So I suspect it carries some clout if it wishes to. I don’t pay much attention to what they, or I should say we, are up to, though.

Although I now fall into the geezerly age group as Ron suggests, we joined when we moved to New Mexico as mere fortysomethings, to take advantage of their long range emergency roadside assistance plan–distances between cities are often measured in hours and hundreds of miles and being stuck halfway between Elephant Butte Lake and Silver City in the Black Range can be difficult.

Last time I checked, my emergency assistance plan for long bike rides means calling my long-suffering wife, assuming I get cell phone reception in the mountains!

By: Ron Rizzardi

Ron Rizzardi — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:36:14 +0000

Agreed. Members of both groups share common public spaces and each should work cooperatively. This alliance of sorts between the two I am hopeful will continue to have positive results.

Anyone know to what degree AAA has legislative influence? What demographic does AAA serve these days. When I was in my 20′s I thought AAA to be more for older folks – like the 50 year – 70 year old range.

By: Khal Spencer

Khal Spencer — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:58:04 +0000

Andy’s overtures to the AAA are paying off, as I hoped. Here is a virtual beer for Mr. Clarke for helping open that door.

Now, I hope AAA members pay attention to Mr. Gaffney’s admonition near the end of his article: “Motorists and cyclists can move past an often contentious history by simply following the rules of the road” That is something surely we can all agree on.