[B’ Spokes: The reason why I interject these comments is to get people thinking differently and quit blaming the victim. So before you dismiss this story as another scofflaw cyclists running a red light consider what you would do if a light refused to turn green. Next, tell me that you have never seen a cruiser speeding without its lights on. While these are speculations on this instance there is a general policy for highway engineers to go out of their way to make sure the detector will not easily detect a cyclist, sure they don’t phrase it that way but still state law requires the consideration of cyclists and the adjustment of detectors does not consider cyclists. More after the fold including how to optimize being detected at a red light.]
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By Shawn J. Soper, News Editor
OCEAN CITY – A 20-year-old female on a bicycle in the area of 45th Street and Coastal Highway was struck by an on-duty Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) cruiser on Wednesday morning and was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the collision.
Around 9 a.m. on Wednesday, the biker attempted to cross Coastal Highway at 45th Street from east to west against a traffic signal when she was struck by an OCPD police cruiser. According to police reports, the girl had crossed the northbound lanes of Coastal Highway against a traffic signal causing northbound motorists to avoid hitting her.
The cyclist attempted to continue to cross before abruptly changing directions and turning back into eastbound traffic at Coastal Highway and 45th Street, where she was struck by an on-duty OCPD officer in a marked departmental vehicle. The officer, who was traveling southbound, had the right-of-way, but was unable to stop to avoid hitting the girl on the bicycle.
The initial investigation revealed the bicyclist was in a crosswalk, but was crossing against a traffic signal. The victim was taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury where she was treated for minor injuries sustained in the collision. The investigation is ongoing and charges are pending, according to police reports.
Meanwhile, the OCPD is reminding all visitors and residents to be cautious on and around Coastal Highway. Pedestrians are urged to use sidewalks and designated marked crosswalks. Those riding bicycles and scooters are urged to ride in the bus lane and obey all traffic laws including all lane markings, traffic signals and stop signs.
Continue reading “OC Police Cruiser Collides With Cyclists”
Bike Commuting: Lights
I love this picture from EcoVelo as it really captures some of the serenity of riding at night. I really wish getting a good light was as easy as a visit to your local bike shop but my experience is that too many lights are underpowered (for riding where there are no street lights) or don’t hold up to Baltimore streets. The best bang for the buck light for me and a few friends have settled on is the Fenix L2D. This is a regular pen light with extreme brightness for its size. I’ll note that a handle bar mount is available for extra on the Fenix site but for the DIY helmet mounts and other options are available. A YouTube review after the fold.
Continue reading “Bike Commuting: Lights”
Baltimore eat your heart out
Map: L.A.’s 7+ Mile Car-Free Party will be on 10/10/10
Traffic. Get Used To It
Via Copenhagenize.com
Dead Man Walking – Look we are only the 4th worst
Twelve Anti-Transit Myths: A Conservative Critique
The Dirty Dozen: Twelve Anti-Transit Myths
Myth Number One: Light Rail has been a failure everywhere. The estimated costs always prove too low, and the ridership projections are always too high.
Myth Number Two: Transit is a declining industry.
Myth Number Three: Commuting by rail is slower than commuting by car or bus.
Myth Number Four: Transit does not relieve congestion.
Myth Number Five: Where transit is needed, buses are better than rail. Buses cost less and provide the same or better service.
Myth Number Six: Rail transit can only serve city centers, but most new jobs are in the suburbs.
Myth Number Seven: Rail Transit does not spur economic development.
Myth Number Eight: Transit brings crime into a community.
Myth Number Nine: Most Light Rail riders are former bus riders.
Myth Number Ten: Free market competition and privately operated transit is better.
Myth Number Eleven: On average, most of the seats on a bus or train are empty.
Myth Number Twelve: It would be cheaper to lease or buy a new car for every rider than to build a new light rail system.
A Few More Myths
1. Transit subsidies exceed automobile subsidies.
2. Increasing transit funding does not increase ridership.
3. Transit is not cost effective.
4. Most people do not want rail transit.
5. Monorail is better than Light Rail.
6. Light Rail is not safe.
7. Transit infrastructure is only constructed to get federal money.
8. Rail transit does not help revitalize downtowns.
9. Transit is an ‘inferior’ good; as incomes rise, demand declines.
10. Transit inefficiencies and failures are the result of politics.
11. Rail transit is a federal conspiracy.
12. Transit is not important because its market share is so small.
13. Transit systems are poor stewards of public funds.
14. Rail transit does not increase property values.
15. Before federal involvement, transit paid for itself.
16. Light Rail is promoted by overly low fares.
17. Cutting spending on transit would allow tax cuts.
18. Transit subsidies should be directed to users, not providers.
19. Light Rail is social engineering.
20. Transit costs more than it should.
21. Trains are noisy.
22. The overhead wires for Light Rail are ugly.
Continue reading “Twelve Anti-Transit Myths: A Conservative Critique”
Numbers!
If you see a weird diamond-shaped groove in the green bike lane on Fallsway, RIDE YOUR BIKE OVER IT!
As for why, finish reading Nate’s article:
Motorists, Can We Call a Truce?
from RW Daily by Mark Remy
Readers, if there’s one thing I dislike as a creator and consumer of media, it’s unoriginality.
And if there’s one thing I dislike as a runner, it’s hostile motorists.
So you can imagine my dismay when I saw the reader comments on a recent news story out of Augusta, Georgia, about two runners who were hit by a car early Monday morning.
The story itself is horrible, and still a bit sketchy: Two women, both age 39, were running (against traffic, I learned elsewhere) at 6:30 a.m. when a vehicle hit one, sending her to the I.C.U., and grazed the other. (Click here and here to read more, but not much more.)
The reader comments, it may not surprise you to learn, are where things get unoriginal. And hostile. In a hurry.
I don’t know what possesses them, but a certain percentage of readers see a story like this one and invariably seize it as an opportunity to lambaste runners and/or cyclists. Sometimes they couch their comment in concern for the victim first, before laying in. I call this the “tragic but” model. For instance:
This is tragic and I sincerely hope that Ms. Johnson recovers fully. But why do runners and bicyclers think that they own the road …?
That’s from the first comment left on this article, by the way.
Other times, they dispense with the sympathy altogether, and get right to the bashing. Comment number two begins:
This is why there are County built parks , paths and tracks for the public to access …
Aaaaand… it goes on from there. And on. And on.
I’ve seen this movie before, and it always plays out the same way, give or take: hostile comment; hostile comment backing up previous comment; push-back from a runner/cyclist; hostile/belittling comment directed against runner/cyclist; centrist appeal for sympathy and cool heads; hostile comment; etc.
After a while, it’s just exhausting.
So I’m here to propose an end to this nonsense. I’m here to call for a truce.
In fact, I’ve put it in writing.
Admittedly, I’m not the ideal person to draft such a document. After all, I’ve been cycling and/or running on public streets and roads for about 25 years now. Naturally, I have some biases.
But, dammit, I don’t see anyone else stepping up. So I’ll take a crack. Here’s my first draft.
Motorists & Runners: a Pact for Peaceful Coexistence
WHEREAS the public roads are public, and whereas there is room for everyone — drivers, runners, cyclists, etc. — and whereas rage and hostility are counterproductive and only serve to endanger and agitate everyone, drivers included, and whereas absurdities and hyperbole are never conducive to progress, we, the undersigned do hereby embrace and agree to the following.
AS A RUNNER, I AGREE TO:
1. Obey all laws, just as I expect motorists to do.
2. Conduct myself with courtesy, and treat motorists with respect, knowing that they are human beings just as I am.
3. Run with the understanding that, even if I am “right” or have the law on my side in a certain situation, motor vehicles are large, fast, and extremely heavy, and can kill or maim me if I’m not careful. (Or even if I am.)
4. Engage, whenever possible, with motorists in a cordial manner — e.g., offering a small wave and smile whenever a driver makes an extra effort to give me wide berth while passing.
5. Respond to anger or taunts with Zen-like calm, rather than with anger of my own.
6. Remember that when I am running in public, I am — like it or not — a representative of all runners, and to behave accordingly.
AS A MOTORIST, I AGREE TO:
1. Obey all laws, just as I expect runners to do.
2. Conduct myself with courtesy, and treat runners with respect, knowing that they are human beings just as I am.
3. Drive with the understanding that, even if I am “right” or have the law on my side in a certain situation, motor vehicles are large, fast, and extremely heavy, and can kill or maim others if I’m not careful. (Or even if I am.)
4. Engage, whenever possible, with runners in a cordial manner — e.g., making an extra effort to give them a wide berth while passing.
5. Pay attention to my surroundings while behind the wheel, and not to a cell phone conversation or a text message.
6. Acknowledge that there are millions of runners in the U.S. — in cities, suburbs, and rural areas of all 50 states — and that it is therefore unrealistic to expect all of them to run “on the sidewalk” or on a “trail”; that runners pay taxes, too; that very few, if any, of them actually run “in the middle of the road“; and that there’s no reason we can’t all share the road peacefully.
Sound good? Did I miss anything? If so, speak up in the Comments, below, and let me know.
If you think I got it right — or mostly right — do me a favor and “sign” the truce, below. And forward to some friends, with instructions to do the same.
Silly? Yeah, probably. But it can’t hurt.
Meantime, to those runners struck in Georgia, especially the one in the I.C.U.: Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.
Bike, pedestrian plan wins national award
[B’ Spokes: I can’t even begin to imagine having bike/ped friendly major roads. But not to worry Maryland has great plans so you can bike or walk somewhere else, may not take you where you want to go but at least they are thinking about us. And lets not forget that only Maryland forbids Federal TE money for bike lanes. :s ]
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A plan that would vastly expand the availability of bicycle lanes and sidewalks in Middle Tennessee has won a national award from the Planning Council of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.
It’s the first time that a group has won the “Best Project” award without addressing motorized vehicles, according to a news release from the Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.
The plan calls for 1,100 miles of on-road bicycle lanes, as well as sidewalks to be added on all major roads. It’s designed to address both traffic congestion and obesity. Tennessee has the second highest obesity rate in the country.
Read more: Bike, pedestrian plan wins national award – Baltimore Business Journal
Continue reading “Bike, pedestrian plan wins national award”
If having fun while engaged in legitimate transportation is wrong, check this out
Super Slide Opens in Singapore Airport
By ALLISON BUSACCA
Singapore Airport Who cares about delayed flights when you can pass the time riding a 40-foot-tall, jumbo twister slide?
Singapore’s Changi Airport recently unveiled the Slide@T3, the tallest slide in Singapore and, for the record, in any airport around the world. The attraction is the latest addition to a long list I like to call, “ridiculously amazing things to have in an airport,” including a movie theater, a rooftop swimming pool, and the Butterfly Garden (which is also home to a collection of 200 carnivorous or insectivorous plants).
For every $22 spent in the airport, adrenaline junkies (or really brave little kids) get tokens for two rides on the slide. Visitors who don’t want to travel at the speed of 19 feet a second, can take a ride down the shorter, one-and-a-half-story tall slide located at Terminal 3 Basement 2, which is free.
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Continue reading “If having fun while engaged in legitimate transportation is wrong, check this out”