League of American Wheelmen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The League of American Bicyclists (L.A.B.), a cyclists' advocacy group, was founded in 1880 as the League of American Wheelmen (L.A.W.) to improve riding conditions within the United States of America. The League was the leading organization advocating for the improvement of roads and highways in the United States throughout the last part of the 19th century, and has continued to serve as the leading membership organization for bicyclists in the US into the 21st century. The League operates as a nonprofit organization.
History
The League of American Wheelmen was founded in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1880, and was the leading national membership organization for bicyclists in the United States. LAW also served as a governing body for bicycle racing in the US in the late 1800s.
The League was a prominent advocate for the improvement of roads and highways in the United States long before the invention of the automobile. LAW founded and led the Good Roads Movement in the United States in the last part of the 19th century, and began publishing Good Roads magazine in 1892, a full ten years before the founding of the American Automobile Association.
In 1894 the League voted to ban blacks from being able to be members. As the League was the governing body of bicycle racing at the time this banned blacks from most races in the United States. In 1999 the League disavowed the 1894 action.
The League continued to play a leading role in bicycling issues in the 20th century. One example was the promotion and distribution of John Forester's Effective Cycling cyclist education program to clubs and educational institutions across the United States from the 1970s through the 1990s. This indicated the strength of the vehicular cycling (VC) philosophy in the League, as opposed to advocates of segregated cycle facilities (SCF). However, some of the League's sponsors, such as the larger bicycle manufacturers, favored the SCF approach.
The League had often been criticized by feminists for calling itself the League of American Wheelmen. It changed to its current name of the League of American Bicyclists in the early 1990s, and continues to serve as a leading membership organization for cyclists in the U.S..
Advocacy
LAB claims to serve as a voice for cyclists at the national level, and organizes an annual National Bike Summit to bring together professionals and advocates in Washington, D.C., so that they can meet with government representatives. The major event supporter is the Bikes Belong Coalition (BBC), a trade association for the bicycle industry which lobbies Congress for funds to build bicycle usage in the U.S..
In addition to BBC, LAB works in partnership with other organizations such as America Bikes (''leveraging federal transportation dollars for bicycling'', primarily with BBC money), Thunderhead Alliance (lobbies for government money to encourage bicycle usage while receiving substantial industry funding), FHWA, NHTSA, NCUTCD and NCUTLO in order to ''create a more bicycle friendly America''.
Education
LAB coordinates and promotes the ''Bike Ed'' program, which offers adult and child bicyclist education courses for a variety of skill levels in many locations across the U.S. Much of the content in these courses is based on the Effective Cycling program developed by John Forester. However, the Bike Ed and Effective Cycling courses are now separate programs offered by different organizations.
LAB also sponsors the biennial Bicycle Education Leaders Conference, and is active in Safe Routes to School programs at a national level.
