Category: Biking Elsewhere

By: Jonathan Wilson, WAMU
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"Push had come to shove, really," she says. "I just felt like it’s one of these products that you just can’t justify buying anymore. For me, I couldn’t."
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https://wamu.org/programs/metro_connection/13/07/12/three_years_later_bp_oil_spill_still_inspires_woman_to_ditch_car

[B’ Spokes: I’ll note if you can bring a friend that bikes for your first few rides, other than that this is a good intro into cycling.]

By Rick Bernardi, Bicycle Law
What does one say, in the middle of the night, when once again, a cyclist lays dead and our system of injustice gives us its grotesque pro forma ritual of shifting the blame to the cyclist, and exonerating the driver? What does one say, when over and over again, the justice we receive is nothing but a mockery of justice? What does one say, when all one feels is a cold fury at the lies that perpetuate our system of injustice? What does one say when there are no words? What does one say?
I will try to find the words.
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That future was cut short five days ago, when David fell beneath the rear wheels of a tractor-trailer truck a few miles into the first day of the Trek Across Maine, a charity ride for the American Lung Association.
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And then the mockery of justice began.
Within days, Maine State Police announced that it was unlikely that the driver would face charges. The investigation determined that as the tractor-trailer was passing David, he “veered into the path of [the truck] while sipping water.” Well, isn’t that tidy. You see? The fatal crash was the cyclist’s fault. He was taking a drink of water. “He only had one hand on the handlebar.”
Never mind all of that other, inconvenient eyewitness evidence. Never mind that the truck passed David at about 3-4 feet distance, and that David was sucked under the rear wheels by the turbulence of the passing truck. Never mind that the truck passed “close and pretty fast.” State Police Lt. Walter Grzyb acknowledged that “witnesses said they felt a draft when the truck went by, and it seems plausible, but we just can’t know for sure.” What do the witnesses know? “He pulled his water bottle out and he’s taking a drink of water. He has the left hand on the handlebar, a little less stable than two (hands)," Lt. Grzyb explained. David was trying to take a sip of water, so of course, he was to blame.
Now let’s talk about what really happened, based on what we know.
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Furthermore, the driver was in a no-passing zone, so under Maine law, it was illegal to pass the cyclists unless it was safe to do so.
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He was sucked into the path of the truck, and the water bottle in David’s hand does not mean that the driver is absolved of his responsibility to pass at a safe speed and distance.
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But in our American system of injustice, drivers are routinely absolved of all responsibility, routinely exonerated, and in the rare instances when they are held accountable, routinely slapped on the wrist. In our American system of injustice, police routinely overlook the laws and the evidence and base their “investigations” on noticing irrelevant things like the cyclist taking a sip of water. In our American system of injustice, the District Attorney will receive the shifting-the-blame police report, and make a decision. While we might expect justice, do we believe that David will have justice?
Look, I get that this was an “accident.” I get that the driver didn’t mean to kill anybody that morning. I get that prosecuting the driver won’t bring David back. But I also get that drivers have a responsibility to operate their vehicles safely. I get that justice demands that we stop pretending there’s nothing we can do when negligent driving takes a life. I get that doing nothing when a life is negligently lost sends the wrong message to every other driver on the road. I get that shifting the blame to the victim sends the wrong message to every negligent driver on the road. So yeah, I get it.
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So yeah, the cyclist gets blamed, and yeah, negligent drivers are routinely given the kid glove treatment, and yeah, I’m fed up. And I’m not alone. We have to stop accepting this “blame the victim” system of injustice. We have to stop accepting this “bend over backwards to exonerate drivers who kill” system of injustice. We have to stop accepting this “slap on the wrist” system of injustice. We have to stop accepting excuses.
We have to start demanding justice.
https://www.bicyclelaw.com/blog/index.cfm/2013/6/19/Words-Escape-Me

By Jan Heine

In the discussion about separate or “protected” cycle tracks, it has been surprising that planners and decision makers don’t seem to want input from those who actually ride bikes.

https://janheine.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/separated-cycle-paths-who-asks-the-cyclists/

[B’ Spokes: I’m not sure if I agree with everything here but the main point is valid, Solicit the ideas from those that do ride. Granted if you have two cyclists you get three opinions and it’s an art form trying to distill that down to something that works well on the ground. But still my impression is that trails are done by trying to find every penny to skimp on to the detriment of cyclists and to “benefit” the motorists. Which to me is kind of like saying “Look at all the money we can save by not putting in any side windows on buses.” – It’s silly argument that any mode can do consistently without the best engineering standards when it comes to the “little” details.

Can you imagine a 16′ wide trail? That’s twice the width of what we do here.

Now don’t get me wrong, something is better than nothing but there is a problem when almost everything we do is described that way. We seriously need a bikeway upgrade program.]

Do you think that using a hands-free device is the safe alternative to driving while holding your phone or fidgeting with your car’s controls?
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Today, however, the AAA Foundation is challenging these perceptions with brand-new research on mental distractions, and the suppressed brain activity and impaired driving performance of motorists who are engaged in cognitively-demanding tasks – even when they keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.
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[From the linked study:]
Summary and Conclusions
The goal of the current research was to establish a systematic instrument for
measuring and understanding cognitive distraction in the vehicle, and this has been
accomplished. Using that instrument, we established that there are significant
impairments to driving that stem from the diversion of attention from the task of
operating a motor vehicle, and that the impairments to driving are directly related
to the cognitive workload of these in-vehicle activities. Moreover, compared to the
other activities studied (e.g., listening to the radio, conversing with passengers, etc.)
we found that interacting with the speech-to-text system was the most cognitively
distracting. This clearly suggests that the adoption of voice-based systems in the
vehicle may have unintended consequences that adversely affect traffic safety.
Ref: https://aaafoundation.blogspot.com/2013/06/your-eyes-are-on-road-and-hands-are-on.html

B’ Spokes: I’m going to stress this: "Using the phrase "safety and comfort" as a pair of core values in street design, but not as a pair of synonyms." and "we use the phrase "low-stress" to describe the bike networks we value most."
Read the article: https://greenlaneproject.org/blog/view/what-if-bike-comfort-is-more-important-than-bike-safety

Via Phoenix Spokes People

ABSTRACT
This article investigates various ways that transportation policy and planning decisions affect public health and better ways to incorporate public health objectives into transport planning. Conventional planning tends to consider some public health impacts, such as crash risk and pollution emissions measured per vehicle-kilometer, but generally ignores health problems resulting from less active transport (reduced walking and cycling activity) and the additional crashes and pollution caused by increased vehicle mileage. As a result, transport agencies tend to undervalue strategies that increase transport system diversity and reduce vehicle travel. This article identifies various win-win strategies that can help improve public health and other planning objectives.
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031912-114502

Steve Magas (Ohio Bike Lawyer) had a collection of thought provoking links I thought I would share:
Seeking Answers After Youth’s Death in Police Stop
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/us/seeking-answers-after-youths-death-in-police-stop.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0
Pensacola Officer Fires Taser at Teen on Bike From Moving Car and Then Runs Over the Teen
https://jonathanturley.org/2010/08/03/pensacola-officer-tasers-teen-on-bike-from-moving-car-and-then-runs-over-the-teen/
Police ‘killed deaf cyclist with stun gun after he failed to obey instructions to stop’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2065629/Police-killed-deaf-cyclist-stun-gun-failed-obey-instructions-stop.html
Stun gun-wielding pregnant woman attacks bike messenger
https://www.komonews.com/news/local/Police-Stun-gun-wielding-pregnant-woman-attacks-bike-messenger-199625021.html
TASERED BIKER SUES IN CIVIL RIGHTS CASE
https://www.bicyclelaw.com/news/n.cfm/tasered-biker-sues-in-civil-rights-case
Steve’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ohio-Bike-Lawyer-Steve-Magas/116310091736573?ref=stream

Via The Wash Cycle

I like this idea so much. Just a recap, a ghost bike is

Painted white from their spokes to their handlebars and often decorated with flowers and a sign to memorialize killed cyclists, the bikes are sometimes defaced, stolen or removed.

We’ve had some interesting experiences with Ghost Bikes in DC. But here’s a better idea of a way to memorialize cyclists and call attention to the issue of road safety. 

As an alternative to ghost bikes, Willens’ law firm at 30 N. LaSalle St. is planning to donate a ghost bike rack for each cyclist who falls victim to a fatal accident and bolt it to the sidewalk. The white racks would serve as memorials to the deceased cyclists, placed near the sites where they were killed. They would also be functional, allowing cyclists to lock up their bikes.

Willens said it would be harder to steal a ghost bike rack, and that complaints about the memorials becoming eyesores and having no practical use would become null. The bike racks would serve a purpose, especially as the city pushes to get more two-wheel travelers on the streets.

https://www.thewashcycle.com/2013/06/ghost-racks-instead-of-ghost-bikes.html