Category: Bicycle Advocacy

Black Hawk, CO, isn't the only town that bans bicycle riding

News of the Weird: Black Hawk, Colorado, isn't the only town on Earth to ban bicycle riding. Half a world away, there's a village in India where people are forced to walk their bikes.

The ban was instituted about 40 years ago in the village of Vilvamarathupatti, located in Tamil Nadu near the southern tip of the Indian peninsula.

According to the ExpressBuzz.com story “Still no bicycle pedaling in this village”, some kids were racing on their bicycles and struck some boys playing in the street, causing some injuries. ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/01/06/black-hawk-co-isnt-the-only-town-that-bans-bicycle-riding/

Adventure Cycling opposes oil-gas megaloads on scenic bicycle routes

The prospect of huge truckloads of oil industry equipment using rural roads frequented by traveling bicyclists in Idaho and Montana has drawn the opposition of the Adventure Cycling Association.

Beginning this year, what has been termed megaloads of oil exploration and refining equipment may begin rolling out from Lewiston, Idaho, on Highway 12 in Idaho and Montana, and Highway 200 in Montana.

How big are these megaloads? They are at least 3 stories high, at least 200 feet long and more than 24 feet wide — that's wider than the roads they'll use. They'll be rolling down parts of three scenic and popular bicycle routes — the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, Lewis & Clark Bicycle Trail, and the Great Parks North Bicycle Route …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/01/05/adventure-cycling-opposes-oil-gas-megaloads-on-scenic-bicycle-routes/

Safe-distance passing bills to protect bicyclists submitted in Washington and Virginia

Legislators in at least two states — Washington and Virginia — have submitted bills for 2011 that would require motorists to give bicyclists at least 3 feet of space when they pass.

Previous attempts to win approval for such bills was unsuccessful in those states last year. A Washington state bill died in the Senate, and a Virginia bill failed to pass the House of Delegates.

Currently, 16 states require motorists to give bicyclists and pedestrians in the road at least 3 feet of space when passing. Three other states specify a “safe distance ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/01/04/safe-distance-passing-bills-to-protect-bicyclists-submitted-in-washington-and-virginia/

Tacoma launches safety campaign for bicyclists and pedestrians

A series of signs warning motorists to be more aware while driving is a nice holiday gift for bicyclists and pedestrians in Tacoma, Washington.

The safe-driving campaign — Drive Nice, Tacoma — is sponsored by the City of Tacoma and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. It was paid for by the Washington State Department of Health.

The city says that bumper stickers and postcards will soon be available, and ads will be visible on the LINK light rail, Pierce Transit buses and transit shelters.

In addition to the “Don't Disappoint…” poster at left …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/25/tacoma-launches-safety-campaign-for-bicyclists-and-pedestrians/

Santas skip sleighs for London's bike-share scheme

Here's a little bit of holiday cheer brought to us via YouTube by the London-based FreshNetworks social media company. It shows a group of Santas swooping in on London to ride the city's new bike-share system like so many Valkyries in a Wagner opera.

Launched just four months ago, the bike-share program is already a big part of many Londoners' lives. If they're not using one of the 5,000 bicycles for commuting or running an errand, they see them on the streets weaving through traffic.

The system has become known as “Boris Bikes” for Boris Johnson, London's current mayor. Ironically, it was his predecessor …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/22/santas-skip-sleighs-for-londons-bike-share-scheme/

Friends of fallen cyclist find hit-and-run driver

You can't say that the friends of a Hawaiian cyclist who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run motorist took the law into their own hands, but they did help police with their investigation.

Zachary Manago, a Hawaii Pacific University student, had joined a Friday night group ride with 30 or 40 other cyclists who were on their way to watch the sunrise at a beach on Oahu.

As they pedaled their bicycles along Kamehameha Highway shortly before midnight, someone driving an SUV struck the 18-year-old from behind and then sped away. Manago was later pronounced dead at the hospital. ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/21/friends-of-fallen-cyclist-find-hit-and-run-driver/

Bicycle battle brewing at UC-Berkeley

How would you feel if a simple parking violation resulted in a ticket that surpassed the cost of your car?

That's what bicyclists at the University of California at Berkeley are asking in the wake of a crackdown on bicycle violations by campus police.

So far this semester, police have issued 103 citations, a 41% increase over the same period last year. What's really frosting the students, however, is that the infractions cost $220 each, which is more than the cost of some of the beater bikes these college students ride….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/18/bicycle-battle-brewing-at-uc-berkeley/

Judge accepts plea deal in Colorado hit & run,
sentences man who hit cyclist

A Colorado judge accepted a controversial plea bargain on Thursday in the case of wealthy financial planner Martin Erzinger who hit a cyclist from behind back in July and didn't stop.

County District Judge Frederick Gannett sentenced Erzinger to a suspended jail term and one-year probation. The Denver man pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of careless driving resulting in injury and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury.

The July 3 hit-and-run case drew widespread attention, especially among bicyclists, after the district attorney's office dropped a felony charge against Erzinger as part of the plea deal….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/17/judge-accepts-plea-deal-in-colorado-hit-run-sentences-man-who-hit-cyclist/

“New car smell” defense used in Colorado hit & run case involving cyclist

A Denver-based financial planner is using a unique defense to explain why he hit a bicyclist from behind near Vail, Colorado, last summer and didn't stop:

The new car smell of his 2010 Mercedes sedan made it happen.

Attorneys for Martin Erzinger say in court documents that their client suffers from sleep apnea. They maintain that he had fallen asleep behind the wheel and drove onto the shoulder where he hit Stephen Milo, a liver transplant anesthesiologist from New York.

An accident reconstructionist, John Koziol of Koziol Forensic hired by the defense, claims that the month-old car was emitting new car fumes and that may have been a contributing factor. Quoted in the SummitDaily, Koziol wrote ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/15/new-car-smell-defense-used-in-colorado-hit-run-case-involving-cyclist/

Rails-to-Trails bicyclists deliver petition to AAA

Bicyclists representing the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy delivered a petition with more than 51,000 signatures to the American Automobile Association headquarters in Heathrow, Florida, Monday morning.

The petition asks that AAA stop its opposition to using the federal Highway Trust Fund to pay for trails and other bicycling programs. Those programs amount to about 1.5% of the surface transportation funding, according to the non-profit.

About 25 cyclists joined the procession from the OutSpoke'N Bike Shop in Lake Mary, Florida, to the AAA offices located on the Seminole-Wekiva Trail …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/13/rails-to-trails-bicyclists-deliver-petition-to-aaa/