Category: news

“Legally passing” driver sideswipes, kills woman on bike

Richard MasonerSeptember 12, 201611 Comments on “Legally passing” driver sideswipes, kills woman on bike

A pair of cyclists participating in a charity ride to benefit law enforcement chaplaincy were apparently sideswiped by the driver of a 2004 Chevrolet dualie pickup truck who was passing a grape truck from the opposite direction. The second cyclist, 55-year-old Amy Suyama of Sebastopol, California, perished from her injuries in the crash. According to the Sonoma Press Democrat, the CHP Public Information Officer, Sgt. Jason Bahlman, said the driver of the truck “was legally passing in the sense that he was allowed to do so.” One can only hope this statement is grossly out of context.

eastside road, sonoma county, ca

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I-280 corridor study public meetings

Richard MasonerAugust 30, 2016Leave a Comment

I-280 corridor Santa Clara County California

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) announced two public meetings as the agency develops a strategic plan for the I-280 corridor across Santa Clara County in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The purpose of the study is to develop a strategic plan for the 22-mile portion of I-280 corridor located in Santa Clara County. The study limits extend from the US 101/I-280/ I-680 interchange in San Jose to the San Mateo County line near Palo Alto. The study will focus on highway “improvements” (e.g. interchange spacing, congestion relief, express lanes, etc.); bicycle and pedestrian improvements (e.g. access, cross connectivity, safety; transit service improvements (e.g. VTA light rail and bus services; Local roadway improvements (e.g. cross connectivity, etc.); and noise abatement (e.g. sound walls).

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Caltrans studies bicycle crash risk

Richard MasonerAugust 3, 20162 Comments on Caltrans studies bicycle crash risk

Alert: Wonky stuff ahead.

Although the absolute numbers of bicycle crashes in California have long been available through the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), evaluating crash risk has been difficult because of poor exposure data — we don’t track the number of miles people ride on a daily basis like we do for automotive traffic. Although statewide data is still limited, researchers from UCLA and UC Berkeley used newly available bicycle count data to better evaluate crash risk. They used this exposure data to better determine what factors (socioeconomic and infrastructure) correlate to higher crash risk.

Bicycle crashes January 2016 - July 2016
Red dots on this map show bicycle crashes as logged through the California Highway Patrol dispatch system, January 1 2016 through August 2 2016. This map is updated every 15 minutes. Click map for the updated zoomable view.

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Hazy skies, lazy rides

Richard MasonerJuly 26, 2016Leave a Comment

About a decade and a half ago when I lived in Colorado, I continued my Boulder County lunch rides in spite of smoke blowing towards Kansas from several Front Range wildfires. I think I did permanent damage to my lungs because of that stupidity, so I’m very reluctant to exert myself now with smoke wafting into the Bay Area from the Soberanes Fire in Monterey County.

Soberanes Fire Satellite image - NASA July 24 2016

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