Category: Bicycle Advocacy
Oregon has the highest rate of bicycle commuting in the 50 states, but South Dakota is the safest state for cycling.
Those are just a couple of findings in the extensive Benchmarking Report for 2012 issued this week by the appropriately named Alliance for Biking and Walking.
The report ranks the state and big cities on levels of bicycling and walking, the comparative risks of those pursuits, and funding for non-motor vehicle transportation.
In most categories, Seattle and Washington state ranks in the top 10 or 15, and the region's Cascade Bicycle Club is singled out for its efforts to encourage bicycling….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/01/24/comparing-states-and-big-cities-for-bicycle-commuting-and-safety/
I doubt if any of this blog's readers use these Little Tricky helmets, but their children might.
The US Consumer Protection Safety Commission recommends that kids stop using them immediately because product testing demonstrated that they do not meet CPSC standards for impact resistance.
No injuries have been reported, but Triple Eight Distribution is recalling the 30,400 youth helmets because …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/01/07/noncompliance-with-safety-standards-sparks-helmet-recall/
When learning to ride a bicycle, my pappy told me to get right back on the bike after I'd fallen off.
In a way, that's what the California Bicycle Coalition is doing to keep alive the fight for the 3-foot passing law. But instead of falling off the bike, supporters of the bicycle safety measure keep getting pushed off.
After lawmakers rejected the proposal for several years, they finally passed the law — Senate Bill 910 — last fall, only to have Gov. Jerry Brown veto it.
Now, the bike coalition is going back.
In a recent newsletter, the CalBike said they'll reintroduce the measure …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/01/05/another-attempt-at-3-foot-passing-law-in-california/
Three bicyclists who were ticketed for riding their bicycles in Black Hawk, Colorado, are fighting those tickets all the way to the Supreme Court.
The highest court in Colorado has agreed to hear the case that dates back to the summer of 2010 when the small gambling town in Colorado started enforcing its bicycle ban.
The justices will hear arguments and rule on three issues:
“Whether municipalities may ban bicycling on local streets …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/23/bicycle-ban-issue-going-to-colorado-supreme-court/
Related update — The suspect in death of bicyclist Brad Nakatani on Thursday was charged on Monday afternoon with vehicular homicide and reckless driving. If convicted, the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office told the Seattle Times that the standard sentencing range is 3 to 4 years in prison.
Two sets of police and court documents — one a series of arrest records and the other an investigative report — made public by two websites shed light on two bicycle fatalities in Kirkland (WA) this year.
In the latest, the blogger at Nerds in Seattle searched the arrest records of Nathan Godwin, the Kirkland man booked on suspicion of vehicular homicide in Thursday's death of bicyclist Brad Nakatani. He found that Godwin received at least one traffic ticket a year — some quite serious — since 2004.
Meanwhile, the Cascade Bicycle Club made available on its website the complete investigative report from the bicycle fatality on Juanita Drive in July. The driver in that case was fined $42 for improper lane change. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/13/police-and-court-records-speak-volumes-on-two-kirkland-bicycle-fatalities-suspect-charged-in-thursdays-fatality/
Bicycle fatalities dropped for the third year in a row in 2010, marking the fewest number of bicyclists killed in traffic accidents since the statistics were first published in 1975.
The deaths of 618 bicyclists is still too many, but the downward trend seems to be a good sign as the number of bicyclists on the road appears to be rising. The number of bicyclists injured remained constant, at 51,000, when compared to the previous year.
The numbers were included in a federal report that noted that all traffic deaths fell to 32,885 in 2010, a 2.9% drop that reflected the lowest number since 1949. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/08/bicyclist-fatalities-in-2010-were-fewest-in-35-years/
The National Park Service wants to manage the Blue Ridge Parkway “as a traditional, self-contained, scenic recreational driving experience.”
That might be fine for some, but unfortunately it doesn't consider the growing number of bicyclists who ride parts if not all of the 469-mile road along the crest of the eastern mountain chain in Virginia and North Carolina.
Under a new draft management plan proposed by the National Park Service, the managers wouldn't have to accommodate these human-powered users of the parkway …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/08/bicyclists-wont-take-backseat-on-blue-ridge-parkway-proposal/
Roadside rumble strips might be helpful to vehicle traffic on the open road, but they can be annoying and dangerous to people riding bicycles.
That's why three bicycling advocacy groups are publicly thanking the Federal Highway Administration for issuing guidelines this month to advise crews to consider bicyclists when installing the strips.
The statement was issued by Adventure Cycling Association, Alliance for Biking and Walking and the League of American Bicyclists.
The three had been seeking changes to road design rules that resulted in rumble strips that had created hazardous conditions for cyclists.
The photo above shows a length of Biking Across Kansas this year where bicyclists …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/11/29/accommodate-bicyclists-when-installing-rumble-strips-say-feds/
Here's a visual representation of traffic-related deaths on our highways from 2001 to 2009.
It was created by ITO World, a UK-based transport information company. There's a larger version on the jump page.
From a distance, the map shows a broad swath of highway carnage over a 9-year period in which 369,629 people died. Of those, 6,359 were bicyclists.
Zooming in, the story gets personal.
As you scroll in you'll notice the color ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/11/23/highway-carnage-becomes-personal-on-interactive-map/
Here we are in the second decade of the 21st century, and bicyclists are forced to petition their Senators to retain their legal rights to the road.
The draft Senate transportation authorization bill, perhaps misnamed “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act,” includes a provision that bans bicycle riders from park roads if there is a trail nearby.
What is it with the US Senate and bicycles?
Earlier this fall, two Senators on separate occasions offered amendments that would have removed federal funds for bicycle and pedestrian projects. Those measures …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/11/14/bicyclists-push-back-against-proposed-national-parks-and-forests-rule/
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