Category: Bicycle Advocacy
“It is incomprehensible that (Gail) Alef's life … should be worth only 15 to 20 months in the eyes of our state.”
That's not me talking. That's the outraged judge quoted in the Seattle Times after sentencing a man to the maximum in a vehicular homicide case.
The 59-year-old man admitted he had consumed alcohol, taken anti-depressants, and smoked marijuana the night before he swerved across a Redmond, Washington, road in 2005 and hit bicyclist Gail Alef (above), who later died.
The man, Steven Edward Reidel, took off running. When police arrested him …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/12/09/another-criminally-light-sentence-in-cyclist-death/
This case sends shivers up my spine.
Roger Kramer's Favorite Cycling Tours passes along the news article about a 19-year-old Illinois woman who pleaded guilty last week to the “petty offense” of hitting a bicyclist with her car while she was distracted by downloading ringtones to her cell phone.
The driver had veered so far off the road that she struck 25-year-old Matthew Wilhelm from behind the driver's side of the car, reported the Champaign (Illinois) News-Gazette. Wilhelm died a few days later. The charge against the driver, Jennifer Stark: improper lane usage. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/12/03/playing-on-the-cell-phone-another-light-sentence-in-bicycling-death/
Wanted: Warehouse and repair space for bicycle giveaway programs.
It seems that once a person or a group decides to repair and give away used bicycles, the biggest challenge is to find some free or low-cost real estate to house the operations.
Bikes for the World, a Washington, D.C. group that collects unwanted bicycles and ships them to developing countries, is seeking about 2,000 square feet of warehouse space.
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/11/11/bike-giveaway-programs-1-seeking-space-another-finds-home/
Members of the House and Senate bike caucuses fared very well in this week's mid-term elections, and members are slated for top committee appointments.
The changes could bode well for bicycling-related legislation, such as the Bicycle Commuter Act. The act would enable employers to qualify for a tax deduction by paying employees to bicycle to work.
The League of American Bicyclists reports that of the 157 House bike caucus members, 138 were reelected …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/11/10/election-results-fewer-uphill-battles-on-capitol-hill-for-bicyclists/
While it might seem funny that there are adults who don't know how to ride a bike, apparently there are people who are afraid to ride because of some childhood trauma. They're afraid, but they still want to try it.
The Bicycle Riding School in Somerville, Massachusetts, is the only place I've heard of that teaches adults how to get over their fear of falling off their bikes. Nearly 2,000 people have learned to ride bikes there in the past 20 years.
There are many bicycling clinics that teach adults how to safely ride in traffic or improve their skills in road racing or mountain biking. What the Bicycle Riding School does is teach adults how to get over their phobia. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/11/10/fear-of-falling-the-adult-bicycling-school/
Motorists who cause bodily injury when they violate the right-of-way will pay a mandatory extra fine in California beginning next year.
While the new law has the good intention of helping to protect cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists, it carries only a $70 fine for violations causing bodily injury and $95 for violations causing great bodily injury.
Let's compare: California motorists who litter face a mandatory fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 for the first conviction.
ABATE of California, a motorcyclist lobbying association …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/10/28/new-california-law-fine-for-injuring-cyclist-less-costly-than-littering/
Individuals who fix up used bicycles and give them away are getting some well-deserved recognition in Wisconsin and North Carolina.
The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin bestowed its annual advocate/educator award to Larry Frostman and Jim Traenkenschuh. The pair have restored and given away more than 500 bicycles …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/10/27/bicycle-giveaway-programs-recognized/
Alan Snel is pedaling his butt off as a bike messenger of sorts. His message is a huge placard fastened to his bicycle that promotes Sunday's Bicycle Bash in Tampa.
Alan explains on his blog, Bike Stories, that's he's the marketing director for Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium and Oliver's Cycle Sports bike stores in Tampa. He must be the director of a staff of one, or maybe he just saves all the plum assignments for himself.
For at least a month, he's been pedaling out to bicycling and other events where people congregate around the Tampa-St. Pete area to display the “Bash Board.” That's Alan above, getting coverage from the local Fox affiliate. The sign promotes the Bicycle Bash, 1-5 p.m. Sunday in the plaza at the St. Pete Forum. The bike stores are sponsoring the event.
Alan says he bicycles anywhere from 15 to 85 miles a day …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/10/26/promoting-this-sundays-bicycle-bash-in-tampa/
The Periscope section in this week's Newsweek (Oct. 30) carries the story of Patrick Sims and warns about the hazards of text messaging while driving.
Sims is the Colorado teen who checked a text message on his phone, drifted into a bike lane and struck and killed 63-year-old cyclist Jim Price. He told the Denver Post:
“That day, that text message seemed important to me. Now I couldn't even tell you what it said. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/10/25/teen-who-killed-bicyclist-shares-lesson-about-text-messaging/
It looks like a local newspaper, right along with some area governments, is raising its conciousness level regarding the bicycle-riding public.
Two Seattle Times section fronts in the past week feature bicycling: “Autumn cycling in the Methow Valley” in Northwest Weekend by outdoors writer Michael McQuaide and “Wheeler Dealers” by Paula Bock in the Pacific Northwest Sunday magazine.
McQuaide writes about the miles of scenic, little trafficked roads available rural north central Washington, on the dry side of the Cascades. I remember cycling through there with the Cascade Bicycle Club's Ride Around Washington (RAW) a few years ago and learning that some areas get as little rainfall as Arizona.
On the flip side, Bock reports on cyclists surviving in heavily trafficked Seattle, and the fledgling efforts being made by the city to serve its bicycle-riding population.
Cyclists in Seattle, she writes, have Portland Envy. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/10/22/seattles-portland-bike-envy/
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