Bike vs. bulbout: Missoula woman injured in crash
Becky Broeder knew it was just a matter of time before a bicyclist crashed into one of Missoula’s new and controversial “bulbouts.”
Broeder, who often commutes by bike, had called the city to voice her concerns over the concrete curb extensions, but figured the discussion would really ramp up once someone was injured.
“I figured that there would probably have to be a test case before we really figured out what to do with them,” she said Monday. “I just didn’t plan to be that case.”
Turn the clock back a week. Broeder was riding her old Schwinn mountain bike home from the Bryan Adams concert about 11 p.m. Broeder lives on Howell Street, and her route home goes west on Phillips Street, which got a series of bulbouts as part of a “Safe Routes To School” grant.
The city of Missoula also installed other bulbouts around town this summer, including near Rattlesnake, Paxson, Russell, and Lewis and Clark elementary schools.
As Broeder closed in on the intersection of Phillips and Bulwer, a car came up behind her. Although she had a bright light, she wasn’t sure the car could see her, so she slowed down in hopes of letting it pass before the road narrows at the bulbout.
“I think a lot of people have just been riding into the traffic lane to get through these spots safely, but I wasn’t going to do that in the dark,” she said.
As the car approached, Broeder watched over her left shoulder as the car came near, but didn’t realize how close she was to the bulbout.
“I hit it and went over the handlebars,” she said. “I hit my abdomen on the bars then went over and landed on my face.”
The collision left Broeder with three broken molars and 30 stitches in her chin, which was split open nearly to the bone.
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“On a low-volume street, the driver can usually just move around the bicycle,” King said. “But on Phillips, because of the median, something more than that will be required.”
Stopping, for instance, King said. But who should stop and under what circumstances?
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Broeder is very mindful of the hazards facing pedestrians. She just thinks the bulbouts solve one problem while creating another one.
“Why couldn’t we have something that works for everyone?” she asked. “That’s what I would be pushing for.”
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Where bikes are heading: a look at the trends
By MEGAN K. SCOTT
(AP)
Bicycle technology doesn’t stand still.
This product image released by Xtracycle shows a FreeRadical attachment on an existing bike and turns it into a cargo bike. (AP Photo/Xtracycle) AP
Bike makers keep tinkering to give us a smoother, more convenient, more stylish ride: bikes long enough to carry another passenger and groceries. Bikes with batteries so you don’t have to break a sweat. Aerodynamic bikes with little wind resistance.
“In the bike world, there have always been a bunch of trends going on at once,” said Loren Mooney, editor-in-chief of Bicycling magazine. “It’s because a bike is such a multipurpose tool. It’s a toy. It’s a piece of exercise equipment. It’s a mode of transportation. And so really it’s very common to have many trends at once.”
Some bike trends on the horizon:
STYLISH UTILITY BIKE: The biggest trend is casual city riding, said Mooney, “where the person doesn’t look like a spandex-clad cyclist, but rather like a normal person. And his or her bike looks like a cool, often retro object of design and casual fun _ maybe it even has a basket.”
,,,
FITNESS BIKES: An evolution from the hybrid bike _ a cross between a road bike and a mountain bike, which was “too cumbersome for true fitness riding,” said Mooney. (Fitness bikes are sometimes referred to as flat-bar road bikes.)
Mooney said hybrids were too slow and too upright for riding on roads and recreational paths, and were not rugged enough for riding on dirt trails.
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PEDAL-ASSIST ELECTRIC BIKES: A bike with a boost. Pedal-assist bikes combine battery power with pedaling so you can ride farther and faster without getting as tired.
It’s an ideal bike for someone who rides for transportation, as opposed to fitness, and when the distance is far, the terrain difficult or the rider short on endurance.
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ECO DESIGN BIKES: Bike manufacturers are coming out with eco-friendly bikes. For example, Trek’s Belleville and Atwood models have grips on the handlebars, a saddle and a steel frame that all can be recycled. The bikes also come with front and rear lights that are generated by pedaling, not batteries, said Trek spokesman Sam Foos.
“It’s a more upright style with a wider saddle, so it’s more comfortable, to encourage people to use their bike more often,” he said.
FOLDING BIKES: These have been around for years but the technology is getting better. Traditional folding bikes, which have small wheels, were better for folding than riding, said David Montague, owner of Montague Bicycles in Cambridge, Mass. The company introduced SwissBike TX earlier this year, a full-size bike that folds in half.
“It really rides very nicely and you can throw it on a bus, or in the trunk of a cab,” said Montague. “When you get to your office, it fits underneath your desk. … The whole folding system takes about 10 seconds.”
XTRACYCLE: a kit that makes a bike 15 inches longer so you can carry a passenger, groceries, books. Some people use it to carry camping gear, said Nate Byerley, president of Xtracycle, in Oakland, Calif. He said he knows a home inspector who uses his Xtracycle to carry equipment including a 10-foot ladder.
“Competitive cycling has been traditionally dominated by men,” he said. “And what we’re finding is when you start offering a product that’s about day-to-day living and carrying groceries, you’re offering a product that speaks to moms and dads.”
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AERODYMANIC ROAD BIKES (High-End): Bikes are already very light, but they can be made faster with aerodynamics, said Mooney. On these road bikes, the down tube and seat tube are shaped to reduce drag. Examples include Ridley Noah, which the company claims is the fastest bike on the planet, Cervelo S3 and Felt A2.
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Continue reading “Where bikes are heading: a look at the trends”
Which Cycling Politics: Doom or Possibility?
A woman walks into a marketing and public relations firm and sits down to talk with their lead strategist.
“Our organization has a fun, safe and healthy activity we wish to promote, but we’re struggling to figure out the right approach,” she says.
The strategist thinks for a moment, then responds, “I recommend the approach bicycle advocates have been using for the past 20 years; reinforce the public’s fears about your activity.”
The woman is taken aback, pauses for a moment, then says, “Oh! You had me going there for a moment!”
“What do you mean?” asks the strategist.
“Well, you were joking, right?…”
If only.
Continue reading “Which Cycling Politics: Doom or Possibility?”
News bits
WHAT MAKES EUROPE GREENER THAN THE U.S.?
-> According to a Sept. 28th Yale/Environment 360 article by Elisabeth Rosenthal, "…Europe, particularly northern Europe, is far more environmentally conscious than the United States, despite Americans’ sincere and passionate resolution to be green. Per capita CO2 emissions in the U.S. were 19.78 tons according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, which used 2006 data, compared to 9.6 tons in the U.K., 8.05 tons in Italy, and 6.6 tons in France…
"Part of the problem is that the U.S. has had the good fortune of developing as an expansive, rich country, with plenty of extra space and cheap energy. Yes, we Americans love our national parks. But we live in a country with big houses. Big cars. Big commutes. Central Air. Big fridges and separate freezers. Clothes dryers. Disposable razors…"
Source: https://tinyurl.com/ybvcotk
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD: WILL THAT ROAD MAKE YOU SICK?
-> According to a Sept. 28th Washington Post article, "[Montgomery County, Maryland,] officials on Tuesday will propose requiring health studies before major roads are approved. They want to gauge how vehicle exhaust will affect minors, seniors, women who might have children, heart patients and others.
"’If one lives close to a major highway, it can have real impacts on respiratory function and lung capacity,’ said council member Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At Large), who is introducing the idea with four of her colleagues. ‘If a project is going have a negative impact on the population…we have an obligation as public servants to work with that information and make sure we protect the public’s health and well-being.’
"The regulation would require predicting pollution levels near proposed roads and their effects decades into the future. Major state and county roads within 1,000 feet of parks, schools, day-care centers, retirement homes or hospitals would be affected. Federal highways would get a pass…"
Source: https://tinyurl.com/ybbho7p
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Title: "Montgomery Wants to Know: Will That Road Make You Sick?"
Author: Michael Laris
-> "Be an Ambassador for Cycling: Just because there’s some road rager out there who wants to mix it up with cyclists doesn’t mean that we have to dance to his tune. The most powerful things we can do to effect positive change in the road environment are proactive, not reactive. You have the power to bring a positive influence to your road environment, just as you have the power to bring a negative influence to your road environment…"
— Bob Mionske, Bicycling Magazine
Source: https://tinyurl.com/lc5kcf
School District bans biking to school
[From my mail bag:]
"When the pair stuck with their plan, they were met by school administrators and a state trooper, who emphasized that biking was prohibited."
Read more: https://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=847190&TextPage=1#ixzz0Shb57gTg
Please take a minute to support Adam and Janette’s RIGHT to freely choose their method of transportation by sending a quick email.
Contact Maple Avenue Middle School Principal Stuart F. Byrne at:
s_byrne@saratogaschools.org
Let Mr. Byrne know that you support Adam and Janett’s RIGHT to free movement and self determination, and that a ban on biking to school is simply wrong.
Thanks for your time and your support.
Brian McCormick
"I bet I can find 1 million American families who want big beautiful bike paths"
Pedestrian Safety
Each year, approximately 900 pediatric pedestrians younger than 19 years are killed. In addition, 51000 children are injured as pedestrians, and 5300 of them are hospitalized because of their injuries.
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Driver Characteristics
Driver characteristics also contribute to child pedestrian injuries. Male drivers, drivers younger than 40 years, and those with a record of multiple driving infractions and suspended or revoked licenses are more likely to be involved in a collision with a child pedestrian.50,51 Two studies performed by the National Safe Kids campaign show that large numbers of drivers speed and fail to stop at stop signs in school zones
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Driver Education and Enforcement
Although pedestrian advocates recommend driver-education programs to remedy dangerous driving, there is little research regarding interventions aimed at improving driver knowledge, attitudes, or skills to avoid pedestrian crashes. Furthermore, a study that looked at state driver’s license manuals showed that most of these publications had no information about common locations for pedestrian-vehicle conflicts, automobile movements that are most hazardous for pedestrians, safest ways to conduct turns, or requirements for yielding to pedestrians at stop signs and intersections.58 One 4-year program that combined a media campaign with strong police enforcement of crosswalk laws did not result in drivers becoming more willing to stop for pedestrians.59
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Walkability Checklists
The Partnership for a Walkable America (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) advises the use of a "walkability checklist," available on the Internet,85 to score the walkability of a community and identify the safest pedestrian routes for children. For each type of pedestrian problem, the checklist outlines specific strategies to help individuals and community groups who want to create safe walking routes for children. Formal evaluation of the ability of such checklists to decrease pediatric pedestrian injury is lacking.
Continue reading “Pedestrian Safety”
Highway to hell: control the car
Abuse of power and social control is a far greater threat than cars and cigarettes, argues Michael McFadden
I believe motorists should be treated just as fairly as smokers. Taxes should be roughly triple the cost of the basic litre of fuel and hospital campuses should be car-free with parking available a minimum of four blocks away to encourage healthy exercise and avoid physical threat to normal non-driving visitors and patients.
Children should be taught that if their parents love them they won’t insist on driving them around in pollutomobiles, leaving them off at school stinking of petrol fumes and all the lovely chemicals that make up that delightful “new car smell”. College scholarships can be offered to those students who remain “car-free” to graduation, and employers can restrict job openings to non-drivers only.
Surgeons should refuse operations to accident victims who refuse to sign a legal commitment to surrender their drivers’ licenses and significant speed bumps should be put at every intersection to discourage automotive commuting.
Continue reading “Highway to hell: control the car”
REINVENTING AMERICA A Free-Wheeling City
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Until recently, Columbia (pop. 100,733) was, like most American cities, designed almost exclusively for automobile transit, offering up a host of four-lane mini-highways over which motorists could zoom between parking lots. For Hindman, a retired lawyer, the situation was all wrong. “If we depend too much on cars, then we increase our reliance on foreign oil, childhood obesity goes up, and life just isn’t as much fun,” he says.
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Continue reading “REINVENTING AMERICA A Free-Wheeling City”