Month: May 2009

KOLKATA, May 4: Two brothers were killed in a road accident on AK Mukherjee Road at Napara off Baranagar in North 24-Parganas this morning. Locals damaged the vehicle and beat up the driver. They later put up a roadblock in protest against the accident, alleging that the negligence of traffic police had led to the incident.
The police said the accident took place around 6.30 a.m. today. Victims were identified as Sourav Patra (9) and his brother Sanjib (7), students of class III and I respectively, at Adrasha Primary School in Baranagar. They were going to their school on a bicycle paddled by their mother Mrs Bimal Patra, a resident of Metro Colony, when the accident took place. A speeding truck lost control in a bid to overtake another vehicle and hit the bicycle from behind. The victims fell on the ground and were immediately run over by the truck. Locals rushed the victims to Baranagar State General Hospital, where the mother is in a critical condition. The two boys were both declared brought dead.
Local people pelted stones at the truck, smashing its windscreen. They dragged the driver out of the vehicle and severely beat him up. A large contingent of policemen rushed to the spot and resorted to a lathi charge to quell the mob. They rescued the driver, arrested him, and seized the vehicle. They put up a roadblock on AK Mukherjee Road, which continued for half-an-hour.
Local people alleged that a number of accidents had occurred in this same area, due to a bad road, reckless driving and the absence of policemen. Four severe road accidents have taken place in the past two months in the area. Local people alleged that despite complaints, no steps have yet been taken by the police to deploy a traffic constable and the PWD is reluctant to repair the potholes. Several memorandums submitted by the local people attempting to draw the attention of the municipality have failed to evoke any response."
Continue reading “WOW! Some people take road safety a little more seriously then others”

[Baltimore Spokes: Please note that Maryland law allows cyclists to "take the lane" when the width of the lane cannot be safely shared by a car and cyclist side by side. AASHTO defines that as as least 14′ and most of our road lanes are 12′ or less.]
From here on out on certain roadways I am taking the lane. No more of this "as far to the right as practicable" crap! I am sick and tired of being passed too close. The law/ordinance says cyclists have to ride as far to the right as practicable. What this translates to is as long as there is no road hazards, debris, broken pavement, etc. on the right hand side of the roadway cyclists are to be close to the curb. The problem is as far to the right as practicable opens the door for motorists who are in too big of a damn hurry to wait to pass safely to pass too close almost hitting a cyclist. It has happened to me way to many times now on certain roadways and I am sick of it. I am going to take the lane from here on out. What I mean by take the lane is ride in the right hand tire track of the travel lane. This will mean I am about 3′ to 4′ off of the curb instead of 1′ to 2′.
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Continue reading “Enough of this "As Far to the Right as Practicable " Crap!”

From Treasure Valley Cycling Alliance:
As was posted back in February, I was cited for riding in the road. Yesterday (April 30) I finally had my day in court.
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Then it was my turn to testify. I pointed out that the law does not require bicyclists to use the shoulder, and I presented two Idaho Supreme Court cases (Maier v Mindoka County Motor Company and Kelley v Bruch. Thanks to Philip Cook – a fellow LCI from Moscow) that explicitly stated that bicyclists are not obligated to stay in the shoulder. The judge took a few minutes to review these cases and agreed that the law was in my favour there. I testified that I am a League Cycling Instructor and that I teach bike safety and the bicycling related laws. I explained that in a narrow lane it actually isn’t safe for a bicyclist to be all the way over on the edge of the lane because it encourages motorists to try to squeeze by when it isn’t safe. I presented photos of the area to show how narrow the road is, and a diagram from the Florida Bicycle Association (thanks to Fred Ungewitter in Florida) showing "How to Get more Passing Clearance’ by riding further left in the lane. I pointed out in the Idaho Street Smarts manual (written by John Allen) the section that deals with narrow lanes. The Prosecutor had some concerns about where the manual came from.
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In all my trial took over an hour, while the previous cases where all less than 1/2 hour each. Both the judge and the prosecutor commented that it had been a learning experience for them, and while the judge acknowledged that Officer Lim was just trying to do his job, given that the law is less than clear about what is "as far right as practicable", the final verdict was Not Guilty.
Continue reading “Traffic Court Results”