The word "cyclist" is dehumanizing

[IndigoErth]

It's kind of weird though that should be illegal vs the road. I mean, the level of possible injury between a person on a bike and one on foot is so far less extreme, and far more quickly avoided, than that of a car vs a bike. But make the less risky one, that is also less often encountered, illegal? Huh?

[Leo656]

I'm quite certain it's because a bicycle is technically a vehicle, and the law states, "Vehicles go on the road, people traverse on the sidewalk."

While operating a bicycle, you are technically "a motorist" in the eyes of the law, and thus, the laws are more about protecting pedestrians from you than they are about protecting you from other "motorists".

Again, I don't know how other schools worked it but they used to have police officers come to our school to give bike safety lectures up through like second or third grade and they'd send us home with pamphlets and activity books and whatnot. Some of the rules may seem strange but there's a valid reason for all of them.