Month: July 2009

By Sean Patrick Farrell – New York Times
July is a month of cycling bliss. The weather is perfect for long rides and, for much of the month, the world’s best riders battle for the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.
July is also a big month for beer; good beer, to be exact. This month, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg officially proclaimed July to be Good Beer Month in New York City. Approved good beer bars will get a Good Beer Seal.
As a part of the month of good beer cheer, bar owners are encouraging patrons to Bike to the Bars, where they can enjoy artisanal beers, in moderation, of course.
“We’re not saying go to 10 bars and get drunk,” said Jimmy Carbone, owner of the bar Jimmy’s 43, in the East Village, and one of the masterminds behind the Good Beer Seal and the Bike to the Bars ideas.
Jimmy’s 43, and many of the other Brooklyn- and Manhattan-based Good Beer Sealed bars — seriously, no good beer in Queens, the Bronx or Staten Island? — serve local craft beers and harder-to-find European specialty brews, which are meant to be savored.
“Europeans get it,” Mr. Carbone said. “After a good bike ride or a run, people have a beer somewhere.”
Continue reading “Of Bikes, Bars and Beers”

In 2003, researchers at a federal agency proposed a long-term study of 10,000 drivers to assess the safety risk posed by cellphone use behind the wheel.
They sought the study based on evidence that such multitasking was a serious and growing threat on America’s roadways.
But such an ambitious study never happened. And the researchers’ agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, decided not to make public hundreds of pages of research and warnings about the use of phones by drivers — in part, officials say, because of concerns about angering Congress.
On Tuesday, the full body of research is being made public for the first time by two consumer advocacy groups, which filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for the documents. The Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen provided a copy to The New York Times, which is publishing the documents on its Web site.
Continue reading “U.S. Withheld Data on Risks of Distracted Driving”

[Baltimore Spokes: Many (most) Maryland schools have similar policies.]
SARATOGA SPRINGS — While hundreds of area workers pedaled their way to work last Friday as participants in the national Bike to Work Day, one woman and her son were scolded for breaking the rules.
Janette Kaddo Marino and her son, Adam, 12, wanted to participate in the commuting event, so the two set off to Maple Avenue Middle School on bicycles May 15. The two pedaled the 7 miles from their east side home, riding along a path that extends north from North Broadway straight onto school property.
After they arrived, mother and son were approached first by school security and then school administrators, who informed Marino that students are not permitted to ride their bikes to school.
“Unbeknownst to us there is a policy,” she said, “but it wasn’t in any of the brochures given to us.”
School officials took her son’s bike and stored it in the boiler room. They told her she would have to return with a car to retrieve the bike later in the day.
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Continue reading “Student’s bike ride earns punishment”

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Extensive research shows the dangers of distracted driving. Studies say that drivers using phones are four times as likely to cause a crash as other drivers, and the likelihood that they will crash is equal to that of someone with a .08 percent blood alcohol level, the point at which drivers are generally considered intoxicated. Research also shows that hands-free devices do not eliminate the risks, and may worsen them by suggesting that the behavior is safe.
A 2003 Harvard study estimated that cellphone distractions caused 2,600 traffic deaths every year, and 330,000 accidents that result in moderate or severe injuries.
Yet Americans have largely ignored that research. Instead, they increasingly use phones, navigation devices and even laptops to turn their cars into mobile offices, chat rooms and entertainment centers, making roads more dangerous.
A disconnect between perception and reality worsens the problem. New studies show that drivers overestimate their own ability to safely multitask, even as they worry about the dangers of others doing it.
Device makers and auto companies acknowledge the risks of multitasking behind the wheel, but they aggressively develop and market gadgets that cause distractions.
Police in almost half of all states make no attempt to gather data on the problem. They are not required to ask drivers who cause accidents whether they were distracted by a phone or other device. Even when officers do ask, some drivers are not forthcoming.
The federal government warns against talking on a cellphone while driving, but no state legislature has banned it. This year, state legislators introduced about 170 bills to address distracted driving, but passed fewer than 10.
Continue reading “Drivers and Legislators Dismiss Cellphone Risks”