Category: Bicycle Advocacy
Would you expect to be ticketed for rolling through a stop sign on a charity bicycle ride?
Eight bicyclists participating in the 700-strong Bike MS: Beyond the Beltway fund-raiser in Virginia earlier this month were ticketed by sheriff's deputies for failure to come to full stops at signs along the route.
No warnings; just a ticket that carries a fine, fees, and 4 points on their driving record.
The cyclists, whose accounts of the tickets are detailed in the Washington Post, the Loudoun Times-Mirror and a lawyer's blog, say they slowed at the intersections and rolled through only when they saw that the coast was clear ….
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/07/09/ms-8-bicyclists-go-separate-ways-in-response-to-no-stop-tickets/
Louisiana has joined the list of states where motorists are required to give bicyclists a 3-foot margin when passing.
The legislature passed the bill earlier this month and a reader informed me yesterday that Gov. Bobby Jindal signed the bill into law on Thursday.
That's not all. The bill (HB 725) contains language that specifically makes harassing bicyclists a crime:
“It shall be unlawful to harass, taunt, or maliciously throw objects at or in the direction of anyone riding a bicycle.” ….
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/06/29/louisiana-governor-signs-3-foot-rule-for-bicyclists-outlaws-harassment/
Research from England shows that bicycling is on the decline in that country as kids spend more time in front of the TV and computer games.
A report by Kellogg's finds that one home in three doesn't have a bicycle, and half the parents responding to a survey says riding a bicycle isn't important for kids today as when they were growing up.
In fact, one of every five parents in London won't bother to teach their kids how to ride a bicycle. And half the parents said they simply don't ride a bicycle anymore themselves.
While the Guardian newspaper was alarmed at this decline in bicycling, I wondered if there are similar trends in the US …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/06/15/bicycling-interest-declining-in-uk-but-still-ahead-of-us/
The other day I stumbled across a 1980 story in Time magazine about the dismal state of bicycling in New York City. A Reuters article filed today about New York cycling chic shows how things have changed.
The Time article, entitled “The Great Bicycle Wars,” starts with an anecdote about then-Mayor Edward Koch. He caught the bicycle-transportation religion during a visit to China and returned to install bike lanes along two avenues in Manhattan.
Three months later he orders those bike lanes torn out because they weren't being used, in spite of official reports to the contrary. He was probably getting hammered by complaints from the motoring public. The episode leaves New York City without bike lanes. …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/06/03/30-years-of-bicycling-progress-in-new-york-city/
The Sheriff's deputy who killed two bicyclists in California when he fell asleep at the wheel in March 2008 will be sentenced to four months of “house arrest.”
The deaths of competitive cyclists Matt Peterson and Kristy Gough on a winding stretch of Santa Clara County highway on March 9, 2008, brought out more than 1,000 bicycle riders on a memorial ride to the site of the collision a week later.
(Peterson was a member of Team Roaring Mouse; the video at left ends with a memorial for the cyclist. Gough rode for the Third Pillar Racing Team.)
On-duty Deputy James Council drifted over the double yellow line and ran into the pair head-on while they were on a training ride with others. …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/05/14/4-months-house-arrest-for-sleepy-deputy-who-killed-2-cyclists/
Washington tops off the list of Bicycle Friendly States published by the League of American Bicyclists for the second year in a row.
Wisconsin remained at No. 2 for the second year, but Maine climbed three places to be ranked No. 3 for 2009. Oregon and Minnesota round out the top 5.
The biggest success story from the list has to be Mississippi, which climbed 23 places to be ranked at No. 24. The biggest disappointment is Florida, which dropped 12 places to No. 32.
The bottom five states are New Mexico, 46; Alaska, 47; Oklahoma, 48; Montana, 49; and Alabama, 50. (Click 'more' for full list) ….
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/05/13/2009-bicycle-friendly-states-washington-is-no-1/
When your company does something that you're proud of, you want the world to know.
That's the impression I got from Ryan Burns, an employee at the Logos Bible Software company up in Bellingham.
With Bike-to-Work Day coming up on May 15, he wanted to brag a little about the in-house bicycle shop that Logos has funded.
You wouldn't be surprised to hear something like this about Microsoft, which has a bike repair shop for its hundreds of employees at the sprawling campus in Redmond. But Logos has just 170 employees, many of whom are serious bicyclists who work on their own bicycles.
By the way, Bellingham has been named a silver level Bicycle Friendly Community.
Here's a story that Ryan wrote up about the bike repair shop …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/05/10/bellingham-wa-software-firms-bicycle-shop/
A jury took less than two hours to reduce the charges against a woman who struck and killed a bicyclist in last year's Tour of the Scioto River Valley (TOSRV).
The motorist was originally charged with the third-degree felony of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. The Pike County, Ohio, jury on Wednesday reduced the charge to a misdemeanor crime of leaving the scene of an accident.
The jury reasoned (and I'm using the term loosely) that because the bicyclist suffered head injuries that killed him instantly, the motorist's failure to stop did not in and of itself result in the bicyclist's death.
The third-degree felony carries a 1- to 5-year prison sentence; the maximum punishment for a misdemeanor conviction is a 6-month sentence and $1,000 fine
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/05/07/jury-reduces-charges-then-convicts-motorist-in-tosrv-bicycle-fatality/
Are you lucky enough live in a Bicycle Friendly Community?
The League of American Bicyclists named 13 more cities to its esteemed list, bringing the number nationwide to 108.
And as an added bonus, the League named four states — Washington and Wisconson (silver) and Arizona and Minnesota (bronze) — to its newly launched Bicycle Friendly State program.
Here are the 13 new states on the Bicycle Friendly Community list …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/05/04/13-new-bicycle-friendly-communities-named/
Happy National Bike Month everyone.
May is the month when alternative transportation advocates try to steer more people into bicycle commuting. It's not a bad idea, considering that it cost on average 54 cents a mile to drive a car last year.
The highlights of the month are National Bike-to-Work Week from May 11-15 and Bike-to-Work Day, either May 14 or 15, depending on where you live. After that, the idea is that people have seen the light and will continue bicycling through the summer and into the fall.
It will be worth your time to check out the Bike-to-Work events in your area. The League of American Bicyclists has a list of Bike Month Specials in cities across the nation. If you don't find your city listed, check out LAB's searchable database to find the website of your local bicycle club.
Here in the Seattle area ….
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/05/01/where-to-find-bike-to-work-day-information/
Recent Comments