In 1896 a group of cyclists in DC that included the League of American Wheelman and the United Wheelman of the District of Columbia met with two of the district's three commissioners to discuss a list of regulatory changes they wanted to see made. These included lowering the speed limit at intersections for all vehicles, requiring vehicles to make turns from the middle of intersections, mandating lights on all vehicles and that mounted police officers look after teams of horses to make sure they follow the law just as mounted police do with cyclists. Because everyone knows that the teams of horses are the real dangers on the road.
What's most interesting is this.
Yep, bicyclists would be empowered to arrest people who throw glass on the street or who park in the bike lane. Ok, that last part was made up, but it would nice. In many cases these laws (lights, speed limits at intersections, etc...) only applied to cyclists. Cyclists were literally making the "if you want to share the road, you need to follow the same laws" argument.
Anyway they have a whole list of rules (park on the side of the street, pass on the left, pedestrians cross at crosswalks, etc...) that are currently law. It's like the first attempt at Vision Zero.
In the end commissioners decided that cyclists could cross intersections at the same speed as drivers and that some cyclists would be deemed special policeman empowered to arrest those who throw glass in the street.
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