The League of American Bicyclists has released their 2012 Bicycle Friendly State rankings, with Washington taking the top spot for the fifth year in a row. States are judged on a number of categories including legislation and enforcement, policies and programs, infrastructure and funding, education and encouragement, and evaluation and planning.
The top five: Washington, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Colorado, Oregon
See the complete list at www.bikeleague.org
A bike corral takes the place of a typical streetside car parking space, allowing 6 to 12 bikes to be secured. Yesterday Pittsburgh got its first one, and it couldn’t be in a more appropriate place—right in front of OTB Bicycle Café. A dedication, presided over by the mayor, will be held on May 15th at noon (click here for more info).
A second corral is schedule to be installed across town, as well.
Photo courtesy of BikePGH.
Nebraska is the latest state to pass a minimum passing distance for cyclists. While the 3 foot law won’t necessarily make motorists give more space and the fine is minimal in cases of enforcement, it at least sets a precedent for a law being broken when a cyclists is sideswiped or otherwise hit. Read more at KETV, and like any mainstream news site it is likely in your best interest to ignore the ignorant and sometimes bigoted comment section.
As of April 2nd Pennsylvania joins a list of 19 states that now have a legally defined distance that must be given to cyclists when passing. While the 4-foot passing law likely will have very little if any effect on driver behavior, if the DA cares to use it when accidents or vehicular assaults do occur it is another tool to force some accountability on auto drivers.
Before now, “Pennsylvania lacked any sort of law or tool by which drivers or law enforcement officials could actually figure out how they’re supposed to operate,” said Scott Bricker, executive director of Bike Pittsburgh, a nonprofit organization that promotes cycling. The law “gives drivers a little bit more literal explanation of what they should be doing. It’s codifying what good drivers already do: slow down and wait for a time when you can pass with care.”
Read more at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Business Insider just published a brief article citing the numbers showing that if one-third of US citizens replaced one mile of car travel per day with riding a bike it would collectively save the nation $17 billion dollars.
From Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists: “When all these factors are added together the net social gain is DKK 1.22 per cycled kilometer. For purposes of comparison there is a net social loss of DKK 0.69 per kilometer driven by car.” 1.22 Danish crowns is about 25 cents and a kilometer is 6/10 of a mile, so we are talking about a net economic gain to society of 42 cents for every bicycle mile traveled.”
Read more at Business Insider.
The idea of these ingenious contraptions emerged from the desire to help the farming families of the San Andrés community. The issue that gave rise to Maya Pedal was the expense and shortage of electricity and fuel in the village.
Check out www.mayapedal.org.
“This is going to have tremendous impact on the visitation to this region by bike tourists from all around the country, and all around the globe,” said Allegheny Trail Alliance President Linda McKenna Boxx.
Read more at www.essentialpublicradio.org.
12PM Februrary 10th, UC Santa Cruz (At the beginning of the Great Meadow pathway, near recital hall). Adrian Burgueño’s bicycle advocacy and legacy will continue to live through us and we will be his voice to raise awareness on bicycle safety. Heading home from school after his evening class about one year from today, taking all the safety measures a cyclist can take, riding on an extremely dangerous bike path on campus, his beautiful young life was cut short. He would be 22.
There will be a peaceful rally to commemorate Adrian’s passing this week. Let’s all gather to raise awareness and speak upon the dangers of this bicycle path. As an activist he was, he would be among the first to organize and participate for such event.
This will take place on the UCSC campus At the beginning of the Great Meadow pathway, near the recital hall, this Friday, February 10th at noon. If you or someone you know in the Santa Cruz area has experienced the dangers of this path, message this page directly. Pass the word, share this event’s info and please join us for this rally.
From America Bikes:
On Thursday, February 2, the House Transportation Committee will vote on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, a bill that eliminates crucial funds for biking and walking.
This long-awaited multi year transportation bill eliminates the two largest programs that fund biking and walking infrastructure—Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Without these programs, communities all over the country will lose resources to build the sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that make biking and walking safe and accessible in communities across the country.
From the Los Angeles Times:
The latest bicycle lane in Los Angeles has an interesting twist: It’s bright green.
The color is aimed at reducing collisions and to help cyclists feel safer on their north-south commute on Spring Street through bustling downtown, where two-wheeled travel is on the rise.
At 1.5 miles long — from Cesar Chavez Avenue to 9th Street — the lane is the first in downtown and the first full-color lane in the city.
From the Guardian UK:
A cycling sight-seeing tour with a difference took place on Saturday, taking in London’s 10 most dangerous junctions for cyclists. The ride – originally conceived by Cyclists in the City blog as a fact-finding mission with a few friends – struck a resonant chord with readers and campaigners. Word spread quickly, and ultimately several hundred London cyclists participated in the “Tour du danger”.
The Alliance for Biking and Walking is holding a photo contest open until October 31 looking for images useful to biking and waking advocacy efforts, with prizes from various places including an all expense paid biking tour of Tuscany.
Bicycle law blog BikeLaw.com is reporting that the driver responsible for killing cyclist Matthew Burke pled guilty to felony manslaughter just yesterday.
On October 1, 2010, on a straight road in broad daylight in Beech Island, South Carolina, driver Daniel Johnson slammed into Matt and four other cyclists. After 128 days in a coma under life support, Matt was pronounced dead on February 6, 2011.
After months of investigation and legal wrangling, Johnson admitted to his crime this afternoon and pled guilty to felony manslaughter. Johnson was taken immediately into custody and will be sentenced tomorrow, Tuesday, October 18th.
The Burke family is represented by Bike Law’s Peter Wilborn: “Matt Burke’s legacy is that drivers can and should be treated as criminals for killing cyclists. Throughout the country, cycling deaths are regularly dismissed by law enforcement as mere traffic ‘accidents.’ But often they are not accidental, the needless fatalities are tragic consequences of reckless driving and lawless drivers. The driver’s felony conviction here proves to police, policymakers, and drivers to take cycling safety seriously. This case from South Carolina is an example of how to do it right.”
While such a conviction shouldn’t really be newsworthy, it unfortunately is within the cycling community where many of us are familiar with cases of cyclists being run-down gone completely unpunished under circumstances that beg the question of if it had been anyone but a cyclist if the District Attorney’s views would have been different. Read more at www.bikelaw.com
From Bicycle Retailer:
Despite hundreds of letters from cyclists, advocates and industry suppliers and retailers in support of a bill that would require motorists to give riders three feet of room when passing, California Gov. Edmund Brown vetoed the pending legislation Friday.
His opposition stemmed from a provision in the bill (SB 910) that said that if a motorist couldn’t give a cyclist 3 feet when passing, then the driver would need to slow down to 15 mph. The current law requires that drivers pass cyclists at a safe distance but doesn’t specify what that distance should be.
You’ve no doubt heard about police stopping cyclists for riding at night without a light. And obviously nothing good immediately comes of it. BikePGH came up with the brilliant idea to conduct a bike light raid of their own, targeting cyclists on the University of Pittsburgh campus, and instead of tasering the offending cyclists, they gave out 100 Planet Bike lights to more than 50 cyclists in two hours.
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