Biking to school

We all know that getting around without a car in Baltimore can be a frustrating experience. It’s especially difficult for many students, who rely on an often-late bus system to get to school. This problem is exacerbated by the occasional actions of a few students, who have tainted the image of students riding public transit, and strained relations with the MTA.

Clearly this is a problem that needs to be addressed, and many people and organizations are working toward solutions.

This summer is the perfect time to encourage kids to try a new form of transportation, which they can use in the fall to get to and from school: Biking.

Biking to school would eliminate the frustrating experience of waiting for bus transfers, increase visibility of bikers in the city during commute times, and have the added benefit of providing healthy exercise for students in our community.

Along with advocating cycling to school, we must promote safe biking practices. Students should be required to wear helmets, and learn proper cycling techniques. Most importantly, we must pass statewide legislation promoting equal use of roadways and an enforced three-foot passing rule. We must also continue to ask the Baltimore Police Department to live up to their part of the bargain as outlined in the Baltimore Bicycle Master Plan.

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T, that's what the ghost bike means to me

[Baltimore Spokes: There is another issue covered here about removing a ghost bikes but some things have an eery resemblance to the crash that resulted in our first ghost bike.]
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Over a year after the crash, ... The police have still not released their report of the incident.
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Swanson's family and bicycle advocates have also been trying to get a copy of the police report. Thus far, the police have refused. WashCycle got an informal look at a redacted version, where the police seem to go out of their way to blame the cyclist for getting hit. The investigating officer concludes that the truck driver didn't violate any laws, but, according to WashCycle, implies that Swanson violated the law against moving faster than is "reasonable and prudent."

That's right, the MPD investigating officer thinks Alice Swanson — who was biking a half mile to work in flip flops and light clothing on a 10 speed Huffy Free Spirit that is no longer manufactured — died because she was biking too fast. Read that again, they think she died because she was biking too fast.

Meanwhile, the truck apparently did break the law, whether or not the police particularly care about said law. If you're turning right in a car, and there is a bicycle lane, you are supposed to move into the bicycle lane before making the turn. You should signal and look over your shoulder to move into the lane, just as if there were a regular car lane to the right. Turning from the car lane is the same as making a right turn from the left-hand lane when there are two regular lanes. It's illegal.

According to the report, the truck driver didn't see Swanson. There's no reason to disbelieve that. But that doesn't mean the driver bears no blame whatsoever. Too often, however, police assume that cyclists are the ones responsible for not getting themselves hit, and if a car or truck driver doesn't see a cyclist, that's just too bad for the cyclist. Yes, driving is tricky and mistakes happen, but that doesn't excuse drivers from being careful. But since more people drive than bike, especially police officers, many people imagine themselves in the position of being the driver who inadvertently kills a cyclist than the cyclist who gets killed because a driver was inattentive and didn't follow proper procedure.
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Taking the road

By Janene Holzberg Special to The Baltimore Sun

Al Yergey crosses six traffic-choked highways on his bicycle commute to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, where he works as a chemist.

The Clemens Crossing resident rides through the intersections of jammed thoroughfares like Georgia and Wisconsin avenues with the kind of confidence that comes with biking 2,500 miles a year.

"I get my daily exercise for the price of going to work," said Yergey, who joked that though he's "well past retirement age" at 68, for three years he's been using his job as a good excuse for riding his bike half the year.

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Red light runner, SUV/bicycle collision (caught on video)

MADISON (WKOW) -- Exclusive video WKOW-TV obtained from the City of Madison - Metro Transit, shows a vehicle driven by state lawmaker Fred Clark running a red light and colliding with a bicyclist on a downtown Madison street.

Rep. Fred Clark (D-Baraboo) is due in Madison municipal court September 22, his first court appearance, after being cited for running the red light.

The fifty nine seconds of video from August 18 comes from the on-board camera of a metro bus on N. Webster Street. Officials said the bus was out-of-service, with only the driver in the bus. The video begins as the bus driver approaches the intersection of N. Webster and N. Hamilton streets, stops at a red light and waits for the light to change.

On the video, the light changes to green, the bus' engine revvs, and a bicyclist passes the bus and enters the intersection. Nearly three seconds after the light change, Clark's SUV enters the intersection and slams into the bicyclist.

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Utah comes down hard on drivers who text

By Matt Richtel - NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

LOGAN, Utah — In most states, if somebody is texting behind the wheel and causes a crash that injures or kills someone, the penalty can be as light as a fine.

Utah is much tougher.

After a crash that killed two scientists — and prompted a dogged investigation by a police officer and local victims' advocate — Utah passed the nation's toughest law to crack down on texting behind the wheel. Offenders now face up to 15 years in prison.

The law, which took effect in May, penalizes a texting driver who causes a fatality as harshly as a drunken driver who kills someone. In effect, a crash caused by such a multitasking motorist is no longer considered an “accident” like one caused by a driver who, say, runs into another car because he nodded off at the wheel. Instead, such a crash would now be considered inherently reckless.

“It's a willful act,” said Lyle Hillyard, a Republican state senator and a supporter of the new measure. “If you choose to drink and drive or if you choose to text and drive, you're assuming the same risk.”

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Who is at fault in cycling collisions? And who decides?

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The problem isn’t that police hate cyclists, despite common perceptions in the cycling community. It’s that most officers receive little or no training in bike law — and none in the mechanics of cycling or investigation of bike accidents.

That’s not just my opinion. Consider this recent quote from a retired police officer:

In virtually every state, bicycles have most of the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicle operators. Many officers don’t seem to know, or care, that they do. Training in bicycle traffic law is virtually nonexistent in police academies and crash investigation courses.

Unfortunately, many serious road cyclists know and understand traffic laws regulating bicycles far better than most street cops. Officers who have received quality bike patrol training, such as the IPMBA Police Cyclist™ Course, have been trained in the legal status of bicycles in traffic, proper and legal lane use, and other pertinent provisions.

When investigating a bicycle-vehicle crash, it may be a good idea to involve a trained bike patrol officer to help get a comprehensive perspective as to the bicycle-related factors and conditions involved. Criminal charges may be warranted. An officer knowledgeable in bike law could be a victim cyclist’s best advocate, or a legal opponent, providing the details for fair prosecution.

The simple fact is that the operation and mechanics of bicycles are different from that of motor vehicles. And unless the investigating officer understands that, he or she won’t be able to accurately determine how the collision occurred and who is actually at fault.

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Combined Charity Campaign Cycle/Walk Fundraiser

Calling All Baltimore City Cycle or Walk Enthusiasts! Join us at the Baltimore City 2009 CCC Cycle/Walk Fundraiser Friday, September 4, 2009 7:30 am - 9:30 am. Routes are from City Hall Plaza and back. Registration $20 Proceeds benefit the 2009 Baltimore City Combined Charity Campaign. .Register at cccregistration [at] baltimorecity.gov. First 100 people to register by August 28,2009 will get an event t-shirt while supply lasts. On-site registration on September 4, 2009 begins at 6:30 am. Bike rentals are available for an additional $10.
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Obama on a bicycle ride in Martha's Vineyard

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Here we have a wonderful picture of a father spending time with his kids and the press gets its knickers all in a knot about the President not wearing a helmet. Gee if it's that big of a deal maybe we should start bombing those helmet-less Danes, seriously we should not let them get away with have a lower bicycle fatality rate then us without helmets, safe cycling just can't be done without a helmet and we need to let the world know that. If bike riding without a helmet is such a high risk activity maybe we should crack down on other activities that have higher risks like walking, far more people get killed walking then they do by bike riding, we should definitely make pedestrians wear helmets. And then how about sheer numbers of lives we can save if we require motorists to wear helmets out of 40,000 motor vehicle deaths a year you would think that we could save a few thousand lives if we made motorists wear helmets, if they are going to run around like race car drivers they might as well dress the part.

Or maybe we should just say, aww what nice dad spending time with his kids, too bad more parents don't do this with their kids... maybe because they are afraid to leave the house without a helmet.

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Driver gets 3 years in prison in Vermont accident

BURLINGTON— A driver has been sentenced to at least three years in prison for a hit-and-run accident that left a Vermont college student critically injured.

Twenty-three-year-old Adam Desjardin of Vergennes pleaded guilty to pulling in front of a bicyclist in Burlington last fall, and taking off. Twenty-one-year-old Rose Long of Sutton, a member of the University of Vermont cycling team, suffered massive facial injuries that required $500,000 in reconstructive surgery so far.

On Friday, she told Desjardin in court that his action changed her life forever.

WCAX reports Desjardin asked to serve a reduced term in the state work camp, but that was rejected by Judge Patricia Zimmerman.

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