Cyclelicious

Auto traffic and autism association found

June 19, 2013 – 11:30 am

Does proximity to high volumes of car traffic lead to autism?

Maybe, maybe not, but research by the University of Southern California and published in JAMA Psychiatry shows an association between the numbers of autistic children with levels of nitrogen dioxide and micro-fine particulate pollutants when the children are in the womb and shortly after birth. The USC researchers say further epidemiological and toxicological examinations of likely biological pathways will help determine whether these associations are causal.

This study is not a smoking gun for autism, but we already know fine particulate matter causes brain damage. This is in addition to other direct damage caused by driving cars such as various respiratory diseases (from emissions), stress-induced illnesses (from road noise), and various cancers (from VOC, NOx, and maybe PM).

Abstract is here; full journal article available to subscribers.

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Hump Day Report: Friendly cyclists, Bay Area bike safety, and a not so friendly Yahoo.

June 19, 2013 – 10:21 am

Happy Hump Day and greetings to Eloy, who I met this morning on the Guadalupe River Trail. This Dutch cyclist wears the royal color for his bike commute.

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THIS is bike advocacy

June 18, 2013 – 1:22 pm

Thank you to Grist for this wonderful “How to ride your bike in traffic” video from Seattle.

H/T to Shayne.

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Another cyclist killed in San Jose

June 18, 2013 – 10:47 am

A hit and run driver killed a cyclist Monday afternoon on the Taylor Street overpass over Highway 87. This is the third cyclist fatality in the Bay Area’s largest city in a week.

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I’ll promote a comment left earlier this morning by San Jose resident Mark Saurwald. Saurwald has previously brought up the lack of east-west bike connectivity to city and county transportation planners.

This highlights the lack of East-West bike routes in San Jose from the area north of downtown (from SJSU to the Airport) to Santa Clara. The only options are Hedding which has a narrow bridge overpass over the Caltrain tracks, or Taylor where the bike lanes that exist on either side of highway 87 disappear to accommodate crossing traffic from all directions getting on/off highway 87. The cyclist was taking one of the only roads available to cross 87/Caltrain tracks, which has terrible bike accommodation, but is the best available.

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Defensive cycling?

June 17, 2013 – 2:33 pm

You all know I’m a big believer in making conditions safer for cyclists through a variety of measures that include safer facilities, education, law enforcement and prosecution to ensure safer driving by motorists.

The fact remains, however, that the only behavior you can control is your own. Defensive driving, which is driving to anticipate the actions of others, applies as much to cycling as it does to driving. Opening a door in traffic is illegal in 40 states and the District of Columbia, for example, but it happens so commonly that we have a name for it when a cyclist is hit by a suddenly open door. Ditto for other common collision scenarios such as The Right Hook and The Left Cross. We can watch for all of these and react accordingly when somebody does the inevitable as a fallible human being.

Very occasionally, you can do everything right and still fall afoul of bad driving. 23 year old Shayla Cypriano was walking her bicycle across the street in San Jose last Thursday when a collision claimed her life. A southbound dump truck on Lincoln was in the light-controlled intersection at Auzerais when a delivery truck on Auzerais struck it and knock it over, directly onto Ms Cypriano. The speed limit on both streets is 25 MPH.

Ms Cypriano leaves behind a toddler. You can read more about her here. She was San Jose’s 17th pedestrian fatality for 2013. Number 16 was a cyclist who ran the railroad crossing gate and was struck by a VTA light rail train near Sunol Street.

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