August 13, 20101 Comment on Heather Morris rides a bicycle
Heather Morris, in her Brittany character cheerleader outfit, enjoys a quick bike ride around the set of the show “Glee” in Los Angeles.
August 12, 20101 Comment on Public bike share proposed in 1895
On a visit to Portland, Oregon in 1895, Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) suggested the city should invest in a publicly owned bike share operation, which he envisions as a money making operation for the city.
August 12, 20105 Comments on Bus drivers bike to work
Here’s a photo of the King County Metro employee parking area in Washington state.
August 11, 20106 Comments on Traffic signal reference wheel
Most “traffic actuated” traffic signals in California are triggered through electromagnetic detectors embedded in the road surface. They’re simply large metal detectors that detect the presence of a vehicle by inducing a magnetic field in them.
They work well when there’s a large, horizontal metal surface over them, like you have in cars and trucks. In bicycles and motorcycles, these detectors induce a current in the wheel, which is vertical and small, and which leads to problems for many motorcyclists and bicyclists.
California AB 1581 became law in January 2008. This law mandates that any new traffic-actuated signal must detect bicycles and motorcycles after Caltrans publishes standards and procedures on bicycle and motorcycle detection. The Caltrans committee that created these standards determined that small wheels, such as those used on BMX bikes and folding bikes, are the most difficult to detect.
August 11, 2010Leave a Comment
Compare and contrast – the Law vs Tuscon police understanding.
ARS Title 28 – 905 says:
A person shall not open a door on a motor vehicle unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic. A person shall not leave a door open on a side of a motor vehicle exposed to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload a passenger.
Erik Ryberg, aka the Tuscon Bike Lawyer reviewed a police report of a cyclist who was doored and badly injured:
The officer noted that the cyclist’s inattention was the cause of the collision. The driver, by contrast, was recorded as having “taken no inappropriate action.”
August 10, 20103 Comments on Ed McLaughlin writes a letter to the editor
For those of you who were around in 2007, you might remember cyclist Ed McLaughlin. This “Bike King” from Chico, California was car free from 1982 to 2007. He found the Chico Velo cycling club. Largely through his efforts, his town was listed at the #1 bicycling community by Bicycling magazine in 1997.
Ed now rides around in a van. The reason? He hit one of those insanely dangerous bollards at a path entrance and crashed in December 2007. In spite of his helmet use, he’s now paralyzed for life, but he remains active in local cycling advocacy.