Category: Biking Elsewhere

If you’re on Facebook, click here to see the “There’s a Perfectly Good Cycle Path Right Next to the Road…” page set up to advocate intentional violence against cyclists. Probably set up as a joke, it now has over 31,000 fans. There are only four posts, all in November 2009, so my hunch is it’s not an active page, but the number of fans it has is alarming. [Ah but comments on those 4 posts are very active.]

Scroll to the bottom left of the page and click “Report Page” and let Facebook know you think it’s inappropriate content.
Continue reading “Facebook Page Encourages Violence Against Cyclists”

A interesting read for those into urban revival but what struck me was this opening about a car centric city in all its spectacular gray:
IT IS January 2007 in Detroit; 8am, so morning is just starting to moan across the sky. Detroit is on the far western edge of the eastern time zone; winter days are short. You are preparing to head downtown from an Oakland county suburb—West Bloomfield, maybe, Southfield or Farmington Hills. To get into Detroit from any of them you’ll take the Lodge freeway. You have to: Detroit has no commuter trains, no subway, metro or underground. In the Motor City, you drive. So you trundle along on the Lodge, the morning growing lighter but not sunnier, the sky becoming the same nondescript grey as the tarmac, when, at the Lodge’s southward turn, where it meets the Davison freeway coming from the east, something unusual catches the corner of your eye.
Continue reading “The art of abandonment”

by Doug Landau
Free
Continue reading “10 mistakes that can derail your bike injury case”

WHO WE ARE

i-SUC is the passionate work of two founding members.

Robert Sikkernar
A upstanding member of his community, Robert is well-known from the tv commericals in which he stars, promoting his car dealership – The SUV Showroom. He is a leading member of his church, the Ford Enthusiast’s Motor Club and in his spare time, he likes to relax at the shooting range.
He says it best himself!
“One of the most beautiful sights I know is that of a helmeted cyclist on the roads. Whenever I see one I honk and give them a big thumbs up!”

Emma Tidspild
A childhood friend of Robert’s Emma started riding her bike when she was seven years old and the passion just caught on. She works at a law firm that represents large corporations like Tech Chemicals and she, too, is an upstanding member of her community.
Emma says:
“We live over 2 miles from the supermarket and Church so I don’t ride much but my passion is teaching and tutoring parents to make their kids wear bike helmets. I have helped so many people see the light and that is a wonderful feeling.”

[yes, this website is a spoof website, you moron.]

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[My comment:]
Which reminds me of this conversation:
Cyclist: “Watch where you are driving, that was really unsafe.”
Motorist: “If you wore a helmet I would not have to drive safe.”
Continue reading “I-SUC for mandatory helmet use”

I saw a commercial for On-Star automatic crash response "This can help save your life." Which seems like a continuation of the never ending "safe crashing" mentality which has actually done very little to improve car safety or reduce injuries. One of these days hopefully we will learn to put pressure on "safe driving" over "safe crashing" but till that day it got me thinking about the 37,261 traffic fatalities and the 2,346,000 traffic injuries by the 124,124,523 drivers*. That is 1 in 52 drivers that could use this service annually.
My point in this post is everyone could use safer roads. And rest easy, drivers’ in Maryland take a grueling 20 question test before being allowed to drive.
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By Catherine Clifford, CNNMoney.com staff writer
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Auto accidents cost each American more than $1,000 a year, 2-1/2 times the cost of the traffic jams that frustrate the nation’s drivers, according to a report issued Wednesday.
The motorist advocacy group AAA said accidents cost $164.2 billion each year, which based on the methodology used in the report comes to an annual per person cost of $1,051.
…
Yet, the annual tally of motor vehicle-related fatalities barely registers as a blip in most people’s minds."
The nation needs to change its "cultural complacency" regarding accident deaths on its roads,
…
Elly Martin, a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, told CNNMoney.com that the cost of accidents to society could be even greater than what the AAA study is predicting.
Martin said a prior study by her group concluded"that the cost to society was $230.6 billion in 2000 and the likelihood is that it is even greater today."
"Society is paying a huge price for motor vehicle crashes on our roadways," she said. To top of page
Continue reading “U.S. car accident cost: $164.2 billion”

During the past four decades, the obesity rate for children ages 6 to 11 has more than
quadrupled (from 4.2% to 17%), and it has more than tripled for adolescents ages 12 to 19
(from 4.6% to 17.6%).1, 2 Regular physical activity can reduce the risk for obesity and help
people lead longer, healthier lives. Yet studies show that less than half of U.S. children and
adolescents meet the recommended guidelines of at least 60 minutes of daily moderateto-
vigorous physical activity.3–5 The same studies indicate that less than 10 percent of adults
in the U.S. get the recommended 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity
per day.6–8

Walking and bicycling for daily transportation are important sources of physical
activity, but they have declined dramatically over the past few decades. Between 1977
and 1995,a the number of all walking trips decreased by 32 percent, and there was a similar
decrease in trips made by adults walking to work.9 Adults walk for only 21.2 percent of
trips that are one mile or less, and children walk for only 35.9 percent of trips to school
that distance.10 Reversing the decline in rates of walking and biking for transportation,
especially for short trips, presents a major opportunity for improving health among
children, adolescents and adults.

Transportation investments can either support or impede walking and bicycling in
neighborhoods and near schools, depending on how they are implemented. Evidence
is accumulating about how infrastructure improvements, programs that aim to manage
neighborhood road traffic, and efforts to make streets and sidewalks safer for active travel
influence travel patterns among both children and adults. This research brief presents
an overview of findings demonstrating the potential impact of infrastructure investments
and other transportation programs on walking and bicycling for transportation, and on
related health outcomes. It focuses on public transit, greenways and trails, school-related
infrastructure and programs, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and efforts to manage
car traffic.

Continue reading “Active Transportation Making the Link from Transportation to Physical Activity and Obesity”

(Photo from the Cooperative Social Responsibility blog.)

Via the Internet, Richard modified it slightly to include walking and transit.

Climate Change is Coming to Town

(To the tune of Santa Claus is Coming to Town)

You better watch out, you better not drive.
You better walk, bike and ride transit I’m telling you why.
Climate change is coming to town.

We’re making it hot, we’re raising the seas.
Gonna feel life at a hundred degrees.
Climate change is coming to town.

If people keep on driving.
The poles will soon be lakes.
The air will stink like petrol fumes.
Walk, bike, and ride transit for goodness sake.

We’re making a list, we’re checking it twice.
We’re gonna find out who drives and who bikes!
Climate change is coming to town.
Continue reading “Climate Change is Coming to Town”

The highlight is sharrows and the sign “Bikes may use full lane” are in the new edition.

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National News

MUTCD Final Rule The Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) Final Rule was published in the Federal Register December 16, 2009. The MUTCD defines the standards used by road managers nationwide to install and maintain traffic control devices on all public streets, highways, bikeways and private roads open to public traffic. States must adopt the 2009 National MUTCD as their legal State standard for traffic control devices within two years. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published the new edition of the MUTCD at mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov. The MUTCD Web site includes a series of documents detailing changes from the 2003 edition and additional materials are available upon request.

Share the Road – Buses and Bicycles from Chicago Bicycle Program on Vimeo.

The Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Transit Authority partnered to create this training video for bus operators and bicyclists on how to safely share the road. With an overall theme of shared responsibility, the program provides guidelines for avoiding crashes at key conflict points such as intersections and service stops. CTA is using the video to train bus operators, and CDOT urges all Chicago cyclists to view the program and practice safe cycling. This project was funded in part with a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Traffic Safety.