" A separate study, presented last month at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, showed that six weeks of bicycle riding or weight training eased symptoms in women who’d received a diagnosis of anxiety disorder. "
https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/why-exercise-makes-us-feel-good/?ref=health
Those that fight traffic tickets 25% more likely to be in a car crash in 3 years
B’ Spokes: Seems rather intuitive to me, if you think you did nothing wrong when you got a speeding ticket or whatever you are going to fight it. Whoopsy, there IS a reason for those silly laws.
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The researchers, based at the University of Maryland and the National Transportation Safety Board, kept track of nearly 30,000 Maryland drivers who had been ticketed for speeding.
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Overall, those who went to court were 25 percent more likely to get in a car crash in the three years following their speeding ticket than those who paid a fine by mail, the research team reported in the Annals of Epidemiology.
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Found via Stop The Maryland Unsafe Driver
https://feedproxy.google.com/~r/StopTheMarylandUnsafeDriver/~3/uHe38zOoEfE/
YPD bicycle patrol to start downtown
[B’ Spokes: Something we don’t want to see in Baltimore neighborhoods. [/sarcasm]]
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By JOE GORMAN
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Bikes are also good because they can get in some areas a car can not, and they are also good because they make less noise than a cruiser and can surprise criminals.
”You can patrol an area silenty,” Ross said. ”They have no idea the police are coming.”
Members of the unit, besides Ross and Miller, are officers William Ward, Michael Bodnar, Sonya Wilson and Shakir Perkins.
Ward said bikes gives officers chances to interact and stop crime they do not get on foot or in a cruiser.
”It combines the best of walking beats with high mobility,” Ward said. ”You get to hear and see stuff you usually don’t see.”
Ross said response has been positive. Mary Farragher and Amy Lisi, who help to run the Lemon Grove, both said they welcome the patrols.
”Just having them (police) walking and biking will keep us all safer,” Lisi said. ”The more visible they are, the safer we all feel, and the safer we all are.”
Continue reading “YPD bicycle patrol to start downtown”
US Report: Young People Like Bike Lanes, Sidewalks and Transit, but Everyone Likes Highways and Parking
Beyond Safety in Numbers: Why Bike Friendly Cities are Safer
Studies often show that bicyclists find "safety in numbers." Norman Garrick and Wes Marshall explain that the street design strategies that attract bike riders are the same ones that improve road safety for all road users.
https://www.planetizen.com/node/50020
Was Raquel Nelson Jaywalking When Hit and Run Driver Killed Her Child?
Both Georgia and Maryland law recognize unmarked crosswalks at every intersection as an extension of the sidewalk but "The nearest painted crosswalk was half a mile away. Prosecutors viewed this as grounds for a homicide case" against the pedestrian and not against the drunk driver.
https://blogs.forbes.com/erikkain/2011/07/19/raquel-nelson-was-not-jaywalking-when-hit-and-run-driver-killed-her-child/
(Update to Georgia Mom Convicted of Vehicular Homicide For Crossing Street With Kids https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20110718114448464 )
Teen Cyclist Hit on College Parkway
A pick-up truck hit a 16-year-old boy on a bicycle on College Parkway near Pennington Lane around 3:31 p.m. Sunday. According to Anne Arundel County Fire Department spokesman Steve Thompson, the teen was taken to the Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with serious, but not life-threatening injuries.
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Boy Flown to Trauma Center after Edgemere Accident
[B’ Spokes: So sad no one taught the kid to ride with traffic and not against traffic. ]
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By Ron Cassie
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"The child was riding northbound in the southbound of North Point Road on a bicycle," Batton said. "He was struck by a car in the southbound lane, driving southbound."
The boy suffered "very serious" injuries, Batton said, adding that no more information is available at this time.
The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene. Police investigators arrived on the scene and the investigation is ongoing, but no charges are expected to filed at this time, Batton said.
Continue reading “Boy Flown to Trauma Center after Edgemere Accident”
Rash of Pedestrian, Bike Accidents in Last Week
By By Tim Lemk of Odenton Patch
Since July 9, county emergency crews have responded to at least five incidents involving a pedestrian or bicyclist struck by a moving vehicle.
Firefighters and police in Anne Arundel County have been busy in recent days responding to several incidents involving pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. Here are five incidents just in the last 10 days.
July 9 – A firefighter from Station 26 in Glen Burnie was hospitalized after being struck by a car while on the scene of a fire on Telegraph Road. Police are looking for the driver of a black Mercedes-Benz.
July 12 – Kara Micciche, 17, of Pasadena died after being struck by a car while crossing Ritchie Highway nearly the Earleigh Heights Fire Station in Severna Park. Another teen, 19-year-old Sean Snyder, remains hospitalized. The teens were reportedly not in the crosswalk. Police said they do not anticipate handing down charges on the driver.
July 13 – Robert Ashworth Brown died after being struck by a pickup truck near Montevideo Drive and Montevideo Road in Jessup. Charges are pending against the driver of the truck, Keith Edward Harrell of Jessup. Police said speed and alcohol may have played a role in the accident.
July 14 – Baltimore resident Alex Canales Hernandez, 25, was killed after being struck by a car while riding his bicycle on Ritchie Highway in Brooklyn Park. Police are looking for the driver of a black midsize sedan, possibly a Hyundai Sonata or similar vehicle.
Also on July 14, a Glen Burnie man was struck while riding his bicycle north on Crain Highway. Mario A. Garcia, 41, was taken to the Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore and police are still searching for the driver of a small gray sedan, described as a white man with a beard wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a baseball cap.
Continue reading “Rash of Pedestrian, Bike Accidents in Last Week”
Bicycle Spoken Here: The State’s Role in Safer Cycling
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The Oregon DMV manual has a 900 word section on bicycling safety, and writes frequently about the motorist in relation to other traffic; bicycles, pedestrians, motorcycles, children.
Repeatedly, the Oregon manual emphasizes the message to use caution for bicyclists.
This specific phrase appears several times, “Be especially alert for bicycles and motorcycles as they are narrower than most other vehicles and can’t be easily seen.”
Bicycle safety has its own section, titled “Sharing the Road,” which details best practices for multimodal transportation.
In it are listed five, very specific examples of errors that cause people to strike a bicyclist:
- Turning left without noticing an oncoming bicyclist.
- Turning right at an intersection or driveway without checking for a bicyclist on the right who is continuing straight ahead or a bicyclist coming from the opposite direction in front of you.
- Entering or crossing a street without checking for a bicyclist in the street or on the sidewalk.
- Opening a vehicle door into the path of a bicyclist or swerving into a bicycle lane.
- Trucks, RVs, and vehicles pulling trailers with wide mirrors passing too close to a bicyclist
“We would also like to amend and add improvements to the DMV Bicycle Safety webpage,” Gilbert said. “The Virginia DMV has a unique power: that of educating every single driver to be in the state.”
“…Bicyclists are bound by nearly identical laws, and many people who drive also bicycle,” Gilbert said. “Therefore, additional information in either the Virginia Driving Manual itself, or another medium, would be extremely beneficial.”
I gained the perspective of a cyclist through commuting, and in turn became a more conscious motorist. Yet, a majority of people claim that they don’t want to try bicycling or commuting because of the danger they feel on the road—a Catch 22.
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Continue reading “Bicycle Spoken Here: The State’s Role in Safer Cycling”