The More Things Change: The Case of Thompson vs. Dodge

"Bicycles are vehicles used now extensively for convenience, recreation, pleasure and business, and the riding of them upon the public highway in the ordinary manner, as is now done, is neither unlawful nor prohibited. Because the plaintiff chooses to drive a horse hitched to a carriage, does not give him the right to dictate to others their mode of conveyance upon a public highway where the rights of each are equal."

Such was the decision of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Daniel Buck in the case of A. N. Thompson, whose horse was spooked by the sight of a bicycle ridden by W. M. Dodge. Mr. Thompson's horse took flight, the buggy was wrecked, and its driver injured. In arguing for damages, Mr. Thompson contended that the bicyclist had no right to be in the road. The early (1894) test case for the rights of bicyclists, determined that riders are granted the same rights to travel upon the "general thoroughfares" as given to other vehicles.

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