Category: Bicycle Advocacy

This is a hit-and-run driver story with a happy ending; at least the bicyclist victim is alive to talk about it.

I wrote about this case back in February, shortly after a motorist hit the Fircrest, Washington, bicyclist, dragged her and her bicycle to the side of the road, then drove off and disappeared into the morning twilight.

Tacoma News Tribune reporters have tracked down and interviewed the victim, Sandy Johnston, 67, who sounds like she's keeping amazingly upbeat about her situation. They've also reported on statements in the court documents, which defy belief …

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Automatically parks & retrieves bikes

Here's a video report from Japan about an automated bicycle parking garage in Tokyo that can hold 9,400 bicycles.

The facility is located at the Kasai metro station and aims to solve the problem of finding a location to park a lot of bicycles in a small area.

The video isn't translated, but it appears that after you swipe a card, your bicycle is automatically whisked away and stored. When you return, swipe your card again, and the robot retrieves your bike and delivers it in 22 seconds …

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Ten novice bicycle commuters will earn up to $200 a month in reimbursements and incentives this summer simply by riding their bikes to work.

In addition, the 10 bike riders get $100 for a helmet, a lock and a tune-up at their local bike shop, and a free two-day League of American Bicyclist Road 1 training session.

In return, all the cyclists have to do is agree to ride their bikes from, through or to eastern or central Contra Costa County at least twice a week to get to their jobs from June through September.

This brilliant project to demonstrate the benefits of bicycle commuting is the work of 511 Contra Costa…

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A University of North Carolina – Greensboro professor and bicycle advocate faces at least six weeks off the bike after he was struck by a text-messaging motorist.

Mark Schulz is lucky. He could be dead. The motorist struck him at about 35 mph, knocking him to the ground. He suffered a concussion, shattered kneecap, crushed vertebrae, broken ribs and a broken sternum.

Police said Schulz was doing everything right when he was hit at 10 p.m. on March 26; he wore a reflective vest, helmet, and front and rear lights. That doesn't help if the driver isn't looking …

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And tips on stopping aggressive dogs

This is an amusing — and frightening — segment from the Judge Judy Show a couple of years ago in which she rules in favor of the cyclist, Kevin Gilmore, who was injured when a dog ran into his path.

It's amusing because the dog's owners are so clueless about who's responsible for the injury, and frightening because their argument — that the cyclist caused the accident by riding down the highway instead of using one of the state's hundreds of miles of bike paths — is probably a common perception among a lot of people…

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The League of American Bicyclists calls our attention to an op-ed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle that was published in reaction to media coverage of the tragic deaths of Matt Peterson and Kristy Gough in Cupertino earlier this month.

Leah Shahum, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, writes that there's a “looming prejudice” against those who ride bikes.

There have been media reports about which streets are “most dangerous” for bicycles, the frequency that bicycles are considered at fault by police and reports of cyclists not following the rules of the road.

“The Cupertino tragedy has been portrayed as a “bicycle safety” story, instead of what it really is, a story about the risks of dangerous driving. …

“Yet, the public dialogue has not focused on which streets are most dangerous for driving, bad behavior by drivers, or the fact that 40,000 people a year are killed in motor vehicle collisions in our nation. …

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The city of Tempe is launching an experiment to paint bike lanes red at intersections to caution motorists to look out for bicycles.

Portland has chosen the color green and will be repainting all of its blue bike lanes to the new color on the maintenance schedule. Seattle plans to paint bike lanes at four intersections green this spring as an experiment to see if that will prevent right hook collisions.

Meanwhile, Portland has begun installing green bike boxes at 14 intersections to intensify its efforts to prevent right hook collisions …

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The San Jose Mercury News published a map showing the location of bicycle fatalities in Santa Clara County over the past 10 years. It's a sobering document. There are more than 40 markers pinpointing the location of cyclists' deaths.

What I found interesting from a broader perspective was that not once did the reporter, Leslie Griffy, refer to “accidents” in the story. In each and every instance, she refered to “crashes.” Good job.

Using the word “accident” to refer to a car-bike collision or crash is so common in newspaper stories that it's glaring in its absence …

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The South Dakota Bicycle Coalition is the newest organization in the U.S. aimed at improving the lives of the bicycling public.

About 30 cyclists from across the state met earlier this month to create a group that will focus on making bicycling safer in South Dakota, improve road conditions for bicycle riders and help people overcome obstacles to cycling.

First order of business: sending a letter to encourage the South Dakota Department of Transportation Railroad Board to save a railroad bridge over the Cheyenne River for railbanking. Eventually it could be used in a rails-to-trails project. …

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Photo by SWoo

Some 1,000 bicycle riders joined the long procession on Saturday through Los Altos and Cupertino to the site where cyclists Matt Peterson and Kristy Gough were killed last Sunday.

Many are seen here at the memorial site on Stevens Canyon Road near where a Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputy swerved over the double-yellow line and struck Peterson and Gough head-on.

Although there's usually lots of joking and joshing when this many cyclists get together, news media reported a somber mood when the cyclists gathered at Foothill College for the 9-mile ride up to the memorial.

Photos of Gough and Peterson celebrating on podiums at recent bike races were placed at the memorial, and many cyclists left flowers, spare tubes and other mementos. Kristy's mother, Karen Sue Clarkson, rode one of her daughter's bicycles to the site …

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