As a long time bicyclist in America, I am used to being considered (at best) an after-thought on the road and (at worse) an obstacle to be eliminated. But automobiles are the late comers to traffic and it is an article of faith among bicyclists that at one point, car drivers were much more legally liable when they hit someone with their car. Now it seems reversed: 'what was that bicycle doing on the road?'
How did personal automobiles become the dominant form of transit? Is the story about changing legal liability true?
Hi there!
Transportation Historian here!
I give you a just a real quick small history lesson! I would argue the bicyclists became "second class" at around the 1950s-60s!
Around this time, President Dwight D. Eisenhower invested heavily into building the interstate system in the United States! This allowed cars more accessible to different parts of the country. Around this time, we see an uptick in car sales, for many of the people buying these were cars were people just returning from war and had the mentality of "living the good life", so to them, that included buying cars!
With this mentality, we can see other forms of transportation declining as well! For example, the Pennsylvania Railroad (one of the largest railroads in the world), who before WWII, main source of income was passenger service, however post WWII, there was a dramatic decrease in ridership. In fact, in 1961, it would be the last year the Pennsy. Railroad would earn any profit from it's passenger services, then in 1967 the Pennsy. would merge with it's competitor to try and save itself (this would also fail, leading to the biggest corporate bankruptcy in US history for the time).
This extends to other things such as trams and street cars, many of which would have their rails torn up and the space would be used to accommodate an increase in automotive traffic!
As for the legality portion, I am not sure, for I am not a lawyer and cannot answer any legal questions!