Illinois is the latest state to join those that require passing motorists give a three-foot margin to bicyclists.
Three-foot laws are on the books in nearly a dozen states, while a few others are pursuing it.
The measure, signed into law Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was included in Senate Bill 80. The bill also allows cyclists to signal a right turn using the right hand, instead of using their left to signal left, right and stop….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/08/21/bicyclists-get-3-feet-of-passing-clearance-in-illinois/
With the nation's cities choked by more and more cars, it's interesting to hear from US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters that she considers bike paths just so much pork barrel.
Peters says that earmarked funds going to pay for — among other things — bike paths and trails should go instead to support the infrastructure.
What Peters must not realize is that more commuters are turning to bicycles all the time to beat traffic, reduce pollution and make themselves more fit (just check out this crowded bike parking lot in Seattle). They use bike paths. Doesn't that make paths and trails for bicycles and pedestrians part of the infrastructure? …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/08/17/bike-paths-are-just-pork-us-transportation-secretary-thinks-so/
One thing we should all try to remember is that all these bike lanes and bicycle paths and the rules that give cyclists the right to use the roads didn't just happen.
They're the result of tireless work by bicycle advocates who hammer away at City Hall, appear before the county board of supervisors or lobby the legislators in the State Capitol.
One of those advocates — Berkeley's Alex Zuckermann — died recently at age 86. He founded the now-1,400-member East Bay Bike Coalition and fought for a bike path around Oakland's Lake Merritt and the right for cyclists to take their bicycles on BART…
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/08/11/sf-bay-area-bike-advocate-dies/
I'm sure bicycles will come into play in coming days as workers in Minneapolis consider bicycling to solve a congested commute situation caused by the loss of the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi.
According to the city's website, Minneapolis already has the second high rate of bicycle commuters — 2.4% — behind Portland's 3.5%.
If you're thinking of bike commuting, I've put together some links that might be helpful. There are links for bike maps of the Twin Cities, some “bikeable” bridges and buses and trains that carry bike racks…
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/08/02/bicycle-commuting-resources-in-minneapolis-st-paul/
Installing sharrows to alert motorists that bicyclists will be using the traffic lanes can be a popular improvement.
But that's not the case on a Seattle street where bikes lanes were promised until local merchants stepped in to block them.
The Seattle Likes Bikes advocacy group is organizing a bike ride along Stone Way on Wednesday to enable cyclists to demonstrate their opposition to the use of sharrows instead of bike lanes on a 6-block stretch between the Burke Gilman Trail and neighborhoods to the north.
I rode down to the Fremont neighborhood Tuesday morning to check out the situation and was surprised to see that contractors hired by the city were installing sharrows on the pavement at that moment, one-day before the protest ride …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/31/replacing-bike-lanes-with-sharrows-sparks-protest-in-seattle/
Lake Forest Park, a town just north of Seattle, has been informed that it can't block needed improvements to the popular Burke-Gilman bike trail.
The Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board, siding with the Cascade Bicycle Club, ruled this week that the bike trail is “an essential regional public facility” and Lake Forest Park can't pass a law that would block improvements on it.
This is great news for the more than 1,000 cyclists who use the trail that runs from the Ballard Locks on Puget Sound to the Sammamish Trail in Redmond, some 27 miles away. The county plans to widen the trail to 18 feet, from its present 10 feet, to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/26/cyclists-win-round-in-lake-forest-park-bike-trail-controversy/
Just as the Tour de France wheels out of town, the London city government is considering the installation of cameras to catch motorists driving in bike lanes.
Somewhat similar to cameras in the US that catch motorists driving through red lights, London officials are hoping their use will make people feel safer using bicycles, instead of cars, to commute to work. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/25/big-brother-is-watching-you-motor-in-the-bike-lane/
It looks like a pretty good first week for the Paris bicycle rental program, although there have been a couple of bumps along the way.
Parisians are renting an average 45,000 bicycles a day in the city's plan to reduce automobile use and clean up the air. The so-called Vélib' program (named for a combination of velo and liberte) has 10,000 bicycles placed around the city in 750 self-service stations.
A major problem? All the bikes end up at the bottom of the hills because no one wants to ride up. ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/22/first-week-report-card-on-paris-bike-rental-service/
Maine is the latest state to require that motorists give bicyclists 3 feet of clearance when passing.
The provision is included in the comprehensive bicycle safety bill passed by the Maine legislature. As many as 10 other states have similar laws on the books.
The bill also clarified when cyclists don't have to ride to the right, reduced liabilities that prevented cyclists from using drive-through windows, and increased fines for youths not wearing helmets. ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/20/bicyclists-to-get-3-foot-margin-in-maine/
No place is safe when drunken drivers are on the road.
A motorist plowed into three bicyclists riding in the bike lane on a newly reconstructed bridge in Neenah, Wisconsin, on Sunday, killing one and injuring the other two.
A 46-year-old Menasha woman was charged with one count of causing death by drunken driving and two counts of causing injury by drunken driving, according to published reports. A preliminary breath test showed her blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/03/1-bicyclist-killed-2-injured-on-wisconsin-bridge-bike-lane/
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