Dan Gainor
2007-04-24 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

For some local do-gooders, driving at all drives them crazy. So they want to put brakes on our motoring, not just their own.

Joining the growing list of eco-fanatics is the group One Less Car that has the ironic strategy of “helping to reclaim our basic right to freedom of mobility” by taking away our basic right to freedom of mobility.

According to an Examiner article by Ron Cassie, the group wants to end Baltimore traffic on Sundays by banning automotive travel. One Less Car thinks this is a good idea.

To the OLC crowd, bicycles and walking are more important than the way most Americans travel. One Less Car claims its staffers “advocate for providing safe and effective cycling and walking for all citizens.” The group’s Web site sells the book “Divorce Your Car” and even has a T-shirt with an image of a bicyclist, a greater-than sign and then a car.

I think their bike is only greater than my car for a remake of the movie “Breaking Away.” Other than that, I’ll take high gas prices, air conditioning and the ability to travel long distances every day of the week — especially Sundays.

Cassie’s article explained that bicycle-friendly days or mornings have been tried in Bogota, Colombia; Ottawa; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and are to begin this month in El Paso, Texas. Stupidity is an international trait. Of course, other cities might not have the same-size metro area.

I like to walk and hike, so if I think the One Less Car people have One Less Brain Cell, that’s bad. Maybe it’s because this would devastate suburbanites and businesses.

To eco-extremists, suburbanites are bad guys. So I guess they don’t matter, even if they can’t walk or bike 20 miles or so round-trip to catch a ballgame.

And what about all those people who actually work on Sundays? Police officers? Firefighters? Doctors? They must love having someone steal their cars one day a week.

The business angle is far worse. The 2005 statistics show Baltimore had 17.7 million visitors. Twelve million of those came from more than 50 miles away, so it’s safe to assume most might stay in the city. But 5.7 million came from within 50 miles. Does OLC really think that many people are going to ride bikes or walk into the city?

Scarily, they must. OLC President Offie Clark believes new Executive Director Richard Chambers has a background “advocating for the health and vitality of Maryland’s vital downtowns.” Let’s advocate for the health of the city by driving away at least 5.7 million visitors.

Forget the blue laws that limit shopping on Sunday, buying alcohol and buying cars. Now we get green laws. To quote The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

We won’t get fooled, will we?

Dan Gainor is The Boone Pickens Free Market Fellow at the Media Research Center’s Business & Media Institute, a career journalist and media commentator. He can be reached at gainorcolumn@gmail.com