Month: August 2008

By JANE E. BRODY

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These are a few of the hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries suffered by cyclists each year from crashes with motor vehicles. Most of these accidents could be prevented if cyclists and drivers would learn to “share the road,” as a nationwide campaign urges.

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There is some good news. Thanks to the proliferation of designated bike paths and the growing use of helmets, deaths among bicyclists have declined to around 600 a year from about 800. Still, 600 is 600 too many, as are the approximately 46,000 annual injuries that cyclists suffer in crashes with motor vehicles.

Drivers are not always at fault. One study attributed 60 percent of bicycle-motor vehicle accidents to the drivers and 17 percent to cyclists. But another study of crashes involving children on bikes found that 80 percent of those accidents were the fault of the bicyclists.

Learning to share the road safely is especially important in light of efforts to reduce the nation’s energy needs and greenhouse gases and to increase energy expenditure by overweight Americans. More and more people are riding their bikes to work or for exercise, and cities are frantically trying to keep up by building bike paths on or alongside of roadways.

In New York City, the number of cyclists has doubled in the last 20 years, far outpacing the city’s population growth. Prompted by organizations like Transportation Alternatives, the city has created hundreds of bike paths on or near city streets.

If You’re the Driver

Keep in mind that a bicycle is a vehicle and that a person riding one has the same rights as a driver of any other vehicle. Bicycles are legally entitled to use most roads, though they must ride on the shoulder when the speed limit exceeds 50 miles per hour.

Remember, too, that bicycles are hard to see and, unlike drivers, cyclists are unprotected by seat belts, air bags and steel cages.

When approaching a cyclist, slow down. When passing, clear the bike by at least three feet (five feet if you are driving a truck). Check your rearview mirror and be sure you can see the cyclist clearly before moving back into the lane.

Do not blow your horn behind cyclists. It can frighten riders and cause them to swerve.

Don’t follow closely behind a bicycle, which may have to stop or maneuver suddenly to avoid a road hazard that could cause the cyclist to fall.

Be especially wary around young cyclists, including those on sidewalks, who may cross intersections or dart into the road from a driveway or midblock without looking.

Most serious crashes occur at intersections. When turning right, signal well ahead of time, turn from the middle of the intersection rather than across the bike path, and make sure no bike is on your right before you turn. Do not pass a cyclist if you will be turning right immediately after.

In bad weather, give cyclists a wider berth, just as you would do for other drivers.

When waiting to turn left or to proceed from a stop sign, yield to a bicycle that has the right of way. More than half of collisions occur when cyclists and drivers are on perpendicular paths, and three-fourths of these accidents result from a failure to yield the right of way.

Before opening your car door, check your mirror to be sure no bike is approaching. A passenger on the driver’s side should open the door just enough to turn around to see if the path is clear.

Like it or not, bicyclists have the right to “take the lane” under certain conditions:

• When overtaking a vehicle moving in the same direction.
• When getting ready to turn left.
• When a lane is too narrow to share with a car or truck.
• When there are unsafe conditions on the road like double-parked vehicles, animals, pedestrians and potholes.

If You’re the Cyclist
Continue reading “Cars and Bikes Can Mix, When the Rules of the Road Are Clear”

By Anne D’innocenzio | The Associated Press
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According to a survey released recently by market research company Nielsen Co., which tracks consumer habits, about two-thirds, or 63 percent, of consumers are cutting spending due to rising gas prices, up 18 percentage points from a year ago.
According to the study, which queried nearly 50,000 consumers by e-mail during the first week of June, 78 percent of them are combining shopping trips and 52 percent are eating out less often. Consumers are also cutting more coupons, doing more of their shopping at supercenters and buying less expensive brands, the survey found.
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Auto executives predict that consumers’ newfound appreciation for smaller cars will be permanent, causing major pain at auto plants. Toyota Motor Corp. was among the latest to announce a product overhaul, saying it will shut down truck and SUV production to meet the changing consumer needs.
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Fred Clements, executive director of the National Bicycle Dealers’ Association, said consumers stung by $4-per-gallon gas are shifting toward utility bikes and away from recreational versions. That’s forcing bike shops to change their inventories and offer more training for consumers who may not have ridden a bike in years, he said.
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"I am seeing a younger crowd who lives in the disposable world," said owner Barbara Steube. "They are learning an economics lesson. They will see the benefit of the savings and how much money they walk away with when they fix their shoes."
Continue reading “How much money you can walk away with when you fix your shoes”

By Nikita R Stewart
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Asher Corson, director of communications for Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), found himself pinned between a parked truck and a Metro bus.
The bus driver, Corson said, apparently did not see him as he cycled in the "rightmost lane" on Thursday on H Street NW near the White House. Corson, 24, just purchased his black and gray Cannondale Sunday and was biking from his home in Foggy Bottom to the Wilson Building shortly after 9 a.m.
"I merge over. Right as I merge over, the bus begins to speed up," said Corson, 24, who found himself being squeezed. "Clearly, he didn’t see me. Or I guess he didn’t see me."
Happy to see that he had suffered only a busted knuckle, Corson said his relief quickly turned to anger when the bus simply pulled off.
Corson jumped up on his bike and caught the driver at the next stop. "I said, Sir, you almost killed me.’ At which point, he closed the door," he recalled. "I was…"
This is a family D.C. Wire, Asher.
He again jumped on his bike and at the next stop, he got all the information he needed to file a police report.
Corson said he has learned in his research that the driver was supposed to "stop, call a supervisor, call the police."
"Instead of it being accident, I filed a hit-and-run (report)."
Corson said he’s not interested in suing the city or WMATA. He said he just wants "WMATA and bus drivers to pay a little closer attention to bikers."
"If it (the bus) was an inch over, I could have broken my shoulder. If it had been two inches, I could have been dead," he said. "It scared the daylights out of me."
Corson has every intention to "keep on riding."
Continue reading “I Want To Ride My Bicycle! Stop That Bus!”

Street Films- Nearly five years ago, legendary bike mechanic Hal Ruzal and I walked the streets surrounding Bicycle Habitat and graded the bike locking ability of New Yorkers – producing many humorous and enlightening anecdotes. The resulting video aired frequently on bikeTV and at many festivals, and because of it – Hal is still frequently asked by complete strangers to judge their bike locking.
I always endeavored doing another, but as with most sequels you need a new wrinkle. This time we thought we’d give Hal some company and invited former Recycle a Bicycle mechanic Kerri Martin (and founder of The Bike Church in Asbury Park, NJ) to weigh in with her expertise.
Continue reading “Hal (and Kerri) Grade Your Bike Locking (5:43)”

[I will encourage all to sign the petition in the link.]
The National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running is dedicated to reducing the incidence of red light running in the United States and the fatalities and injuries it causes. The Campaign has assembled a team of leaders from the fields of law enforcement, transportation engineering, healthcare and emergency medicine, and traffic safety, to tackle this crucial safety issue.
The National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running aims to better inform the public and their elected officials about the seriousness of this all-too-common danger, as well as the law enforcement practices and tools that can make our roadways safer. The Campaign promotes public education about the core safety issues and provides support for broad, coordinated law enforcement, including red light camera technology.
For example, the Charlotte, North Carolina red light camera program cut violations by more than 70 percent in the first year, and crashes dropped by more than 10 percent citywide, demonstrating that these systems have a positive community-wide impact.
The Campaign is an independent advocacy initiative focused on both the national and grass roots levels and is guided by a National Advisory Board.
Continue reading “The National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running”

WITH petrol the price it is, more and more people are riding a bicycle to work. In Broward County, Florida, about 35,000 people a month typically put their bicycles on a bus bike-rack, thereby shortening a cycle commute. In May of this year, 68,000 people did so. Denver saw 25,000 people register for a recent “bike to work” day, up from 15,000 a year ago. In Seattle cyclists complain about a shortage of bike stands, while in Portland, Oregon, some 6,000 cyclists cross just one of the city’s many bridges each morning.
Bicycle-boosters are thrilled with the sudden popularity of their humble machine. “Ridership is just skyrocketing,” says Elizabeth Preston of the League of American Bicyclists, a Washington, DC, advocacy group (even cyclists have lobbyists these days). Performance Bicycles, a retailer with shops in 15 states, says bicycle sales in June were the highest ever recorded.
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After years of federal and local spending on bike routes and other amenities, most cities are ready to handle more cyclists. But many motorists simply don’t see their two-wheeled brethren or, when they do, find them aggravating. Managing more cyclists is going to take more than new bike paths or fresh stripes on the roads. It looks as though there is a need, on both sides, for a revolution in manners.
Continue reading “Bumpy roads”