Month: July 2016

By Mr Money Mustache
Of all the objections I get from people about why they can’t ride a bike to get around, perhaps the most frustrating is the claim that bicycling is too dangerous. According to this line of reasoning, we all need the protection of a two-tonne steel cage in order to survive the trip to the office or the grocery store.
I’ve always felt that this was complete bullshit, …

Bicycling: The SAFEST Form of Transportation

By ERIC JAFFE,City Lab
They may actually work against city goals to encourage more riding.
…
https://www.citylab.com/commute/2015/11/bike-cyclist-headphone-earplug-laws-safety-traffic/417753/

By MARK STRASSMANN, CBS News
Every hour, car crashes kill an average of four people on America’s roads.
That’s the human cost.
But, according to a triple-a study released Thursday, the financial cost of car crashes is just as stunning.
The study, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann, says crashes costs $300 billion a year — three times more expensive than traffic congestion.
“Traffic crashes really need to be moved to the forefront of the American discussion as the public safety (and) health threat that they are,” observes AAA spokesman Troy Green.
They pose a threat that’s both tragic — and expensive.
All-told, each traffic fatality costs an average of $6 million dollars — everything from medical and emergency services to lost earnings. A traffic injury averages $126,000, and almost 33,000 people die every year on the nation’s roads.
“If you took that and compared it to, say, aviation, it would take a small airliner falling out of the sky every day for 360 days for us to get close to that number,” points out CBS News transportation safety analyst Mark Rosenker. “That’s clearly unacceptable in aviation and it is clearly unacceptable on the highway.”
….
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/car-crashes-cost-us-300b-a-year-aaa/

By Albert McWilliams
If you keep driving like that, you’re going to kill a cyclist. When you do, it’s going to suck as much for you as it does for them. When you drive by my head at 50 mph I can’t have this conversation with you, so I’m going to do you a favor and talk you through all of your arguments as to why you’re driving wrong (you are) and then you won’t end up killing a human. So read on; you’re welcome.
It’s not if it’s when. You are going to kill or seriously injure someone. You are. Someone’s father, brother, mother, daughter – you are going to end their life, forever, like permanently dead. You’ll be a murderer
…
https://albertmcwilliams.com/post/54015994028/youre-going-to-kill-someone

Via Strong Towns [B’ Spokes: Just the headlines]
1. YOU DON’T HAVE A VALID OPINION IF YOU’RE NOT A LICENSED ENGINEER.
2. THERE ISN’T ENOUGH MONEY TO DO WHAT SHOULD BE DONE.
3. WE CAN’T ELIMINATE ALL RISKS.
4. IT IS THE POLITICIANS THAT ARE TO BLAME. ENGINEERS JUST FOLLOW ORDERS.
5. THIS REALLY IS A MATTER FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, NOT ENGINEERING.
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2015/10/5/the-five-ways-engineers-deflect-criticism

Via Streets Blog
…
JeffJacoby:
Bicycles don’t belong in busy urban traffic. If we stop promoting such risky behavior, fewer tragedies will occur.
…
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2016/06/24/boston-globe-columnist-tweets-out-historys-dumbest-anti-bike-rant/
[B’ Spokes: How many deaths by motor vehicle are there but somehow it’s the once in a blue moon bicycling tragedy that gets called out. :/ ]