By Yokota FritzWisconsin 3 foot law penalizes cyclists who ride in the door zone
In most U.S. states, drivers and occupants of cars and trucks are required to check behind them for traffic before opening their doors.
In Chicago, motorists can be fined up to $500 for dooring a cyclist. Chicago cyclists can travel just a few miles north into Wisconsin, though, to find the completely opposite situation: Doored cyclists can be cited for breaking Wisconsin law.
In Wisconsin, cyclists are required to ride at least three feet away from parked or standing vehicles. And amazingly, there's no law in Wisconsin against opening your door into traffic.
Cyclists should ride away from the door zone, but a law that specifically targets cyclists is discriminatory. State legislators recently introduced bills to change Wisconsin state law to fine motorists who open their doors into traffic, and rescind the existing 3-foot law. Read details in the Wisconsin State Journal.
Meanwhile in Colorado, Bicycle Colorado supports the Bicycle Safety Bill, which includes a three foot passing provision. They're asking Colorado cyclists to call their State senators in support of this bill.
Wisconsin college to give bikes to incoming freshmen - Additional parking "not an option."
Among the many choices Ripon College’s class of 2012 will face is whether or not to bring a car to campus this fall. Those who pledge not to do so will receive a big incentive: a brand-new mountain bike to keep. Dubbed the “Ripon Velorution Program” (RVP), it is the first of its kind in the nation.
Incoming students starting their first college semester at Ripon will have the option to sign an RVP pledge this spring saying that they will not bring a car to campus for the duration of the upcoming academic year. Those who participate will be given a brand-new Trek 820 mountain bike, a Trek Vapor helmet and a MasterLock U-Lock to keep.
Dealing with student vehicles is not just a big-campus problem; the 1,000-student liberal arts college 70 miles northwest of Milwaukee discovered last fall that demand for student parking was about to outstrip its capacity. Proposed solutions focused on where additional lots could go, but President David C. Joyce, an avid cyclist, was dead-set against it.
“We’re a residential college with a beautiful, historic campus in the middle of a small town,” Joyce said. “Paving it over was not an option I was willing to consider. I'm afraid that anyone hoping for news of a new parking lot or a multilevel garage being on campus will be waiting for a long time. For anyone waiting to reinvigorate themselves and our society by helping to build a bicycle culture in Ripon, however, the wait is over.”
When an opportunity came to purchase a quantity of Trek mountain bikes from a nearby bike shop, Joyce had his solution: Trade four wheels for two. Friends, trustees and alumni donated about $60,000 to buy 200 bicycles to give away to an incoming freshman class of an expected 300 students.
“Parking in this case is a distant third to the health and fitness of our students, and responsible energy practices. For students, it’s a lifestyle choice. For Ripon College, it’s choosing sustainability over ease and convenience,” he said.
The “Velorution,” in the program’s name is a deliberate anagram of “revolution” using “vélo” (French for bicycle) as its root. It refers to the mass acceptance of bicycles, thereby reducing societies’ dependence on automobiles. Cities such as Amsterdam, Portland and nearby Madison run successful community-bike programs, whereby bikes can be rented or borrowed at little or no cost. By actually giving students bikes, Ripon’s program takes the idea one bold step further. Initial funding will come from friends of the college, trustees and alumni, whose support of cycling became evident last fall when the college agreed to sponsor a mountain-biking team - one of only a handful in the entire state.
It remains to be seen how students will react to the program. For the roughly one-third who weren’t going to bring a car to campus in the first place, a free bike is a no-brainer. Another third or so won’t give up their cars no matter what, leaving a tantalizing group of undecided students to determine the program’s success. Determinations about winter storage, extra bike racks and maintenance cannot begin in earnest until administrators know how many students are willing to take the pledge. While Joyce is confident they’ll find a rider for every bike, he acknowledges that the car habit may be hard to break.
“We obviously live in a car culture,” he said. “That’s not about to change, but if a significant number of students learn that a car isn’t a necessity at this stage of their lives, that’s good enough for us.”
By Yokota Fritz
So says former mayor of Madison Wisconsin Paul Soglin on his blog:
The bicyclists who braved the week's second storm should be taken out and shot. Spare them and the poor driver, when they skid on treacherous streets and slide under the wheels of a truck delivering fresh vegetables.
A post like that in a very bikey town is sure to be link-bait, but here's the link anyway. Several commenters note that if the roads are so treacherous, what is he doing driving out there? Who's the one creating the danger to himself and others?
Meanwhile, we learn that cops in the St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves harass cyclists who legally ride on the city streets. According to St. Louis cyclist Jack Painter, police departments are leaving it up to the individual officer's discretion if they perceive cyclists are "impeding" traffic. Back in February, St. Louis County planners announced that key cycling routes may be closed to cyclists during the two years of Highway 64 reconstruction. Because of public outcry from local cyclists, local planners backed down from this plan, so now it appears that the police are sending the message instead to stop "impeding" traffic and get off the road and onto sidewalks.
Another type of three foot law
Isn't that just another case of banning stuff you shouldn't do anyway, like riding on the sidewalk?
Ripon College bike giveaway
...total props to president joyce for the willingness to implement such a program...
...it will be an interesting sociological experiment as well as a bold environmental statement...
'Cyclists should be shot'
...sheesh, fritz, now ya got me calling for the former mayor to apologize to the locals in madison...but hey, i was polite at least...
That's my response too... he should apologize. And what's that about fresh vegetables? Kind of odd. Is he trying to be ironic? Gene Biking Bis
I didn't write about the Webster Groves incident on my blog because 1) I thought discussion on the STLBiking.com was handling the issue well and 2) I saw it as a situation where the individual cop in question was ignorant of the law, not as a campaign against cyclists.
Unfortunately, some officers in the St. Louis region are ignorant of state and local traffic laws and how they pertain to cyclists.
I can't speak for the Missouri side of the river, but I'm hoping the League of Illinois Bicyclists' effort to educate the law enforcement community about traffic laws that apply to cyclists will make a difference.
...fritz, you mentioned that the post might likely be link-bait...the huge volume of responses was even commented on by his regulars...guess he struck a nerve...
...my contention is that the kind of attitude expressed by the statement, "should taken out and shot", while maybe said in jest in the mind of the ex-mayor, is irresponsible in that it allows a certain segment of the population, who already have little consideration for cyclists, to further be dismissive in their actions...
...along the lines of, "well, if the former mayor thinks they're idiots, why should i be concerned about 'em ?"...
...it will be interesting to see how soglin responds...
...fritz...if you're still following this, ex-mayor soglin did respond on 12/6/07 & again to a lesser degree on 12/7/07...he took snippets from various posts (including one of mine) & basically used them to defend his stance...
...what bothers me is that despite those of us who addressed soglins' irresponsible choice of words, that did not rate a response from the man whatsoever...
...so, bottom line, no apology, which doesn't surprise me but the lack of response to the most contentious point is disturbing...
Howdy all, I wrote a bit more about the Madison Teapot Tempest over on my blog.
I have no idea what's up with the fresh vegetables crack, because there haven't been any crashes involving a cyclist and a truck here in Madison since summer before last. Or maybe the summer before. Let's call that one a Straw Man.
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