Category: Bicycle Advocacy
Oregon will begin issuing “Share the Road” license plates beginning Jan. 2 for your other set of wheels. They're another reminder for other motorists that bicycles have a right to the road.
Proceeds from the sale of the special plates will be distributed to to cycling-related causes by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and the Cycle Oregon Fund. They cost an additional $10 at time of issuance and can be ordered through the DMV.
In other Oregon bicycling news, the Wall Street Journal wrote about US Rep. Earl Blumenauer in Saturday's edition. Here in the Northwest, we all know about Blumenauer and his many good efforts on behalf of bicyclists. It's good to see him get wider recognition in a national publication …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/12/31/oregons-share-the-road-license-plates-available-in-2008/
The man accused this week of killing a 13-year-old bicyclist in a hit-and-run collision in Massachusetts was typing a text message on his cellphone when he lost control of his SUV.
Prosecutors say the 31-year-old man thought he had struck a mailbox in the 12:30 a.m. collision. The boy, Earman Machado, was riding at the edge of the road while his friend walked on the soft shoulder.
The frequency of such accidents have prompted legislatures in New Jersey and Washington to prohibit text-messaginig while driving as of next year. It's amazing that people need laws to prohibit them from doing something so obviously distracting as text-messaging while behind the wheel. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/12/29/text-messaging-leads-to-another-bicyclists-death-new-laws-in-2008/
The government of New Ireland should be nominated for becoming the most “bicycle friendly community” on Earth.
The province on an island northeast of Papua New Guinea has set aside the equivalent of $67,800 to pay half the cost of bicycles purchased from local stores.
Finally, some elected officials have finally heard the twofold message that bicycle advocates have been preaching for years: Bicycling makes people healthier, and bike use reduces the costs of maintaining roads …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/12/29/new-ireland-will-pay-half-the-cost-of-your-new-bicycle/
Bicyclists are showing their love for Ed McLaughlin, a bicycling advocate and longtime cycling coordinator for the Chico Velo bicycle club in Chico, California.
McLaughlin was injured in a bicycling accident on Friday, Dec. 21, when he was riding with a group on a bike path and struck a small pole meant to restrict motor vehicles.
More than 200 supporters showed up Monday evening, Christmas Eve, for a “healing celebration” at the downtown plaza park. I think it's great that so many who benefited from his efforts came out to show their support …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/12/26/hundreds-support-injured-cycling-advocate-ed-mclaughlin/
That much ballyhooed “landmark energy bill” that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush last week didn't include a component that was in earlier versions — the bicycle commuter tax break.
Sorry bike commuters. A lump of coal in your stocking again this year.
The fringe benefit that would have enabled employers to give you a $20/month stipend for riding your bicycles to work was deflated by Senate Republicans. They threatened to filibuster at the last minute if the renewable energy and energy efficiency tax package made it into HR 6, the final energy bill.
That energy tax package included provisions that would have benefited bicycle commuters and wind and solar power producers. It also would have closed the so-called Hummer tax break loophole and reduced tax breaks for oil and gas companies. Small wonder it didn't make it …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/12/23/bicycle-commute-benefits-axed-from-landmark-energy-bill/
Stuck for a last-minute gift for a fellow bicycling enthusiast? Socks are always nice, but you can only have so many pairs of gloves, rear blinkers and water bottles.
My recommendation is that people give memberships to national bicycling associations or local bicycle clubs this year. These are the folks who do all the heavy lifting when it comes to creating bike routes, building trails or advocating on our part in the halls of Congress or down at City Hall.
And since most have a nonprofit status, a portion of those memberships are tax deductible; always a consideration at the end of the year.
Here are what I'd consider the four best memberships you could give …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/12/19/the-4-best-last-minute-gifts-for-bicyclists/
Police in Edmonton, Canada, aren't giving up on a bicycle fatality, even though the case is 22 years old.
The mother of the 16-year-old hit-and-run victim and police are making another plea for information in the death of Robert Phillips. At a police department press conference, the boy's mother, Donna Nelson, said:
“I'm hoping for a miracle. Maybe somebody's carrying some guilt around that would like to deal with that. That's the only thing that's going to motivate a reaction.” …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/12/19/canadian-police-reopen-1985-bike-fatality-case/
Thanks to everyone who took up my link challenge to raise money for the flood victims along the route of the 200-mile Seattle-to-Portland bike ride.
I pledged to donate $5 for every blog that linked to a story I did about the Cascade Bicycle Club's flood relief drive for residents of Chehalis, Centralia and surrounding Lewis County. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/12/13/great-response-to-biking-bis-link-challenge-for-flood-relief/
A downtown correspondent filed these pictures from the Taming the S.L.U.T. bicycle protest in Seattle earlier Wednesday evening.
An estimated 40 to 60 bicyclists showed up for the ride, with plenty of police on hand. The bicyclists say the city hasn't done enough, in fact has done very little, to ensure that the tracks for the new South Lake Union Trolley (SLUT) are safe for cyclists.
The tracks for the SLUT, which began operation earlier Wednesday, run along the curb lanes where bicyclists are supposed to ride under city regulation (as far right as possible). The gaps in the track catch bicycle tires, causing cyclists to fall to the ground or into traffic or parked cars. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/12/13/make-the-slut-safer-seattle-cyclists-protest/
The mother and best friend of bicyclist Bryce Lewis, killed in a collision with a dump truck in Seattle, are suing the driver and truck owner.
Lewis, 19, died instantly when a dump truck made a right turn in front of him and his friend, Caleb Hall, 20, as they headed north on Eastlake Avenue East in September. They were dragged for 25 feet before bystanders freed them.
While the fatality sparked condemnation of motorists who make right turns without checking for cyclists in bike lanes, it also highlighted the poor traffic design that enables traffic to turn right in front of bicycle lanes that are carrying through-traffic…
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/12/12/lawsuit-filed-in-right-hook-bicycle-fatality-in-seattle/
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