> No, that's never been the "purported goal." The goal is to protect people who already ARE cycling.
The real goal is often to reduce the number of people biking. This is why there is strong correlation between supporting mandatory helmet laws (and bicycle taxes, license plates and mandatory training) and opposing safe infrastructure such as segregated bike lanes.
No strong evidence but this things* come from people really disliking cyclists, at least in my experience.
*supporting mandatory helmet laws, mandatory insurance on bicycles, other bicycle taxes, license plates on bicycles and applying car-related legal requirements in general, requiring driving license to use bicycle, ban on cycling by children, opposing safe infrastructure such as segregated bike lanes, opposing any bicycle infrastructure, wanting to ban cycling on roads, wanting to remove cycleways.
The real goal is often to reduce the number of people biking. This is why there is strong correlation between supporting mandatory helmet laws (and bicycle taxes, license plates and mandatory training) and opposing safe infrastructure such as segregated bike lanes.