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Where Can (Should) You Ride?

Here’s what Missouri law states (307.190):

Every person operating a bicycle or motorized bicycle at less than the posted speed or slower than the flow of traffic upon a street or highway shall ride as near to the right side of the roadway as safe, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction, except when making a left turn, when avoiding hazardous conditions, when the lane is too narrow to share with another vehicle, or when on a one-way street. Bicyclists may ride abreast when not impeding other vehicles.

Most states have similar laws known as Far to the Right (FTR) laws. The wording is quite often different state to state. For example, some states require bicyclists to ride as far right as “practicable” — whateverthehell that means. Although the word “safe” in Missouri law isn’t much better. What’s safe? Who gets to decide?

I drive my bicycle with the understanding that I am the one who gets to define “safe” because I am the one responsible for my own safety. What I think is safe is taking the lane, i.e. generally defaulting to a center to center-right position well in command of the lane and within the sight-line of other vehicle drivers in most traffic situations. (Nuance and detail will have to wait for the comments section.)

Is this a good law? Does it encourage safe bicycling?

No and no. Bob Shanteau has published an excellent history of the concept of traffic lanes and the role of FTR laws at I Am Traffic. It is well worth your time to learn how bicyclists came to be pushed to the edge of the road and what the consequences are. For example, riding far to the right increases your chances of these types of crashes:

  • Right hooks
  • Left crosses
  • Driveway and intersection pull-outs
  • Sideswipes and rear ends during overtaking maneuvers
  • Door zone crashes
  • Road edge hazards

This pushing to the edge has become so normal in our culture that far too many bicycle advocates actually believe edge riding is safe and preferred.

I have the opportunity to talk with lots of bicyclists. And I hear all kinds of tales about how awful it is to ride a bicycle in Springfield and how nasty and stupid motorists are here.

Poppycock!

Whenever I hear these stories I ask about driving habits. And it is always the same: The people who have bad experiences on Springfield streets and with Springfield motorists are edge riders. I never hear the same stories from people who know how/when/where to take the lane. I rarely experience anything other than a safe and cooperative environment on the streets of Springfield.

As I have said a gazillion times: If riding a bicycle for basic transportation were dangerous or difficult, I wouldn’t be doing it.

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Posted 09 June 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle culture § bicycle safety § i am traffic § safety § traffic ‡ Comments (20) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

I Still Don’t Understand Bike Sharing

I believe I’ve mentioned this before: I don’t get bike-share programs.

I’m not against them. I have no problem with them in any cultural, political, or economic way (unlike, say, Dorothy Rabinowitz). I simply do not understand how they can possibly work, i.e. actually attract enough users to make the system pay. And by “pay” I do not mean profit. I don’t see how such systems can even pay to maintain the bicycles that surely take a beating.

But apparently they do work. The system I saw in Antwerp last summer was surprisingly robust (from the perspective of a 6-hour walk around the city). Cities keep building these systems. So something must be going right — right?

 

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Posted 07 June 2013 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (17) ° Tagged: ,

Carbon Trace Update

The big move downtown in just a little more than a week away. Although school is out for the summer, I’m going to be very busy getting stuff hauled over the the loft and taking care of other matters related to the move. So things could be a little quite here until the middle of next week. Then again, who knows what I might do. I’ve been asked to write about bicycle infrastructure I like (seeing as how I’ve been vocal about what I do not like). Perhaps I’ll get to that this week. Until then, here’s a picture of my wife checking out the new curtains my daughter is making for the loft.

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Posted 20 May 2013 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (17) ° Tagged:

Of Blog Posts That Begin with ‘Of’

OK, so I have been riding a bicycle as basic transportation (which means every day there is not ice or snow) in Springfield for nine years. And I swear the number of bicyclists just keeps growing. There is almost never a moment these days, while riding in the urban core, that I do not see two or three other bicyclists always in view.

Image1

So take a look at this picture. That’s the city rack near the Patton Alley Pub. I was there for happy hour yesterday. You don’t see my bicycle there, do you? I had to park a block away. A whole freaking block! Away! From the bar! I mean, geeeez! What the hell is going on? Who are all these people?

Note: Here’s proof from KSPR that I was indeed drinking beer yesterday. Although they failed to adequately explain the kind of “driving” I was doing ;-)

A-hem, well, OK, yeah, I am happy to see all these bicycles even if I have to park farther from the beer. And despite my protestations to the (nuanced) contrary, I am happy to see more people riding bicycles — I’m simply not willing to do anything (e.g. put novices in danger) to achieve this.

So I guess what I’m saying is: I was kinda happy to ride another block then walk another block because so many people had parked at this rack.

In case you’re wondering what the headline is all about — read my last two headlines :-)

 

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Posted 15 May 2013 † Andy Cline § bicycle culture § bicycle destination § ecology ‡ Comments (18) ° Tagged: , ,

Of Advocacy and Stasis

To follow up on yesterday’s post, I want to address the whole discussion thing. I concluded my post with a short list suggesting that there are certain types of bicyclists that I’m willing to discuss advocacy with and certain types that, well, not so much. Now’s a good time to discuss stasis theory.

Before one can discuss anything intelligently with another person (with whom one disagrees) the two interlocutors must reach stasis — a situation in which they understand and accept the source(s) of their disagreement. Situations that are out of stasis are not truly discussable. The best example of that in our culture is the abortion issue. Pro-life? Pro-choice? Not only are those positions out of stasis, the parties do not want to achieve stasis because there’s a danger in it: once you agree about that with which you disagree, a chance is opened that you might be — horrors! — persuaded.

So what I was hinting at is this: Much of bicycle advocacy is out of stasis and is, therefore, not discussable.

What could we agree upon to reach stasis? Allow me to suggest a short list (certainly not exhaustive; and I certainly expect my readers to add to it):

  1. The rules of safe movement ought not be violated.

OK, so, yeah, that’s a really short list. And I am not suggesting — as I noted in the qualification above — that this list is exhaustive.

I want to begin the discussion here with the general agreement that the rules of safe movement ought not be violated — by planners, by engineers, by motorists, by bicyclists, by anyone.

If you believe that it is OK to violate the rules of safe movement, then we have nothing to discuss. The reason: Rules create the system of traffic. Without rules there is no system. So disagreement with the rules of safe movement is absurd.

Now that may sound like I’m simply trying to slam-dunk the discussion before it ever begins :-) And, in a sense, that is true. But I’m not playing a rhetorical trick here. I am simply pointing out that in order to advocate for certain types of bicycle infrastructure, one must be willing to violate the rules of safe movement. If so, I’m going to point it out and ask: why?

There are many answers to why (e.g. increase participation). I have yet to hear one that’s persuasive. Or, one might not have thought it through far enough to see that what one is asking for is a death zone.

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Posted 15 May 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle culture § bicycle infrastructure § bicycle safety § ecology § safety ‡ Comments (49) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Of Perception, Reality, and Desire

Here are two things you should go read right now:

If you want to stop having this debate…

Cyclists Aren’t ‘Special,’ And They Shouldn’t Play By their Own Rules

I’m not going to comment directly on these except to say that each is important in its own way. Instead, I want to use these as a starting point to begin dealing with perception, reality, and desire — especially my own.

trafficJust the other day I was riding through downtown in the early evening. The weather was pleasantly cool. Traffic was cooperative. I felt myself drawn into the energetic hum of life on the urban street — all the more so because I was heading “home” from having taken a load of stuff to my new loft, my new home. These streets will no longer be a place I visit, a bicycle destination. This will be home very soon — my neighborhood, my streets.

And the thought just smacked me like a helmet striking pavement: Why the hell do I bother being a so-called “bicycle advocate” seeing as how much grief and pain and frustration it has caused me (or I have caused myself)? Wow. Yes. Those have been the rewards of late. There. I admit it.

(If you’re wondering about grief and pain and frustration, then perhaps you did not read those two essays. Read them now.)

One thing is for sure: My having started Carbon Trace has led me to whole new worlds of understanding and new circles of friends. I would change none of that. But a part of me longs to just ride my bicycle and have it mean nothing more than I’m going from point A to point B in a way that’s… oooops. Did you catch it? “In a way that’s” indicates a value-statement is on the way — a cultural evaluation, a political assessment, a social pronouncement, an economic analysis, a persuasive assertion. Go on. Just keep listing all the academic disciplines that examine all the ways that we value the world and express those evaluations.

I’m not arguing that I can’t turn off the academic part of me. I’m saying that none of us do anything just to do it (as in my discipline of rhetoric I claim that none of us say anything just to say it). This is not a rational choice assertion (that school of thinking was DOA). We are certainly purpose-driven creatures, but our purposes are as varied as the snowflakes and not always rational.

My purpose (as I expressed it at the very first STAR Team meeting I attended): Ensure my ability to use a bicycle as basic transportation as an expected and respected part of traffic. You may recognize that last clause from I Am Traffic. While those words did not come out of my mouth, it is what I meant. Notice: I did not say I wanted to ensure anyone else’s ability to do so. That would rather naturally flow from protecting my own interests. And, as I have always made clear, it would flow from people driving their bicycles as I do — as a vehicle driver properly integrated into the system of traffic and following all the rules that create the system.

I am not special. I do not require special treatment or special facilities. I require only three things: 1) a culture of respect, 2) street engineering that allows me to follow the rules of safe movement, and 3) proper enforcement of the rules.

If you are also such a bicyclist, then I want to know you. I want to help you. I want to learn from you. I want to have a beer with you ;-)

If you want to be such a bicyclist, then I want to know you. I want to help you. I want to learn from you. I want to have a beer with you ;-)

If you are a bicyclist who needs special facilities of a kind that interrupt the rules of safe movement (thereby making my life more difficult), then I’d prefer you just keep driving a car. We can still have a beer, but we’ll speak of other matters.

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Posted 14 May 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle culture § bicycle infrastructure § bicycle safety § ecology § i am traffic § policy § safety § traffic ‡ Comments (22) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

Perhaps Helmets Would Help

It seems pedestrians — especially older people and racial minorities — get regularly plowed by motor vehicles. Pedestrian trips make of 10 percent of total U.S. mode share, yet pedestrians suffer 13 percent of traffic deaths.

The reasons for all of this are complex and complicated. But one thing I’ve experienced in my daily crossings of National Ave. at Grand is the shocking disregard by motorists for the well-being of pedestrians.

Again, tip for the Springfield Police Department: Fill your traffic ticket quotas at National and Grand! Easy! Fast! Multiple violations occur every few minutes, including: Speeding! Running red lights! Failure to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk!

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Posted 13 May 2013 † Andy Cline § policy § safety § walking ‡ Comments (8) ° Tagged: , ,

I Like To Watch And Listen

Every now and then I like to go to YouTube and watch traffic crash videos. You’ll find plenty of them because many people in Russia (and a few other countries out that way) run dash cams — I assume for insurance reasons. The following video is typical:

You can also find many videos showing pedestrians getting plowed by motor vehicles. Here’s an example:

I find it curious, however, that you can’t find many videos showing bicycle collisions with motor vehicles. There are the occasional single-accident videos, but I have yet to find a traffic bicycling compilation. Bicycle racing makes up the vast majority of bicycle crash compilations. I wonder why.

Be that as it may, I like to watch these kinds of things every once in a while to remind myself what can happen when things go wrong. But I also like seeing how crashes set up, i.e. what choices drivers make and how those choices affect the eventual collision.

These videos constantly reinforce for me the idea that danger is ahead — mostly at intersections — and not so much behind. So, yeah, I stop when traffic controls indicate that I must do so. I watch. I listen. I take responsibility for my own safety.

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Posted 08 May 2013 † Andy Cline § bicycle safety § safety § traffic ‡ Comments (42) ° Tagged: , , ,

Bike To Everywhere Decade

Next week is Bike to Work Week in Springfield.

Or, just another week.

You see, I’m participating in, and about to complete, Bike to Everywhere Decade.

I seriously do not mean to criticize Bike to Work Week or brag about what I do. It’s a good program. But I do have a minor gripe that’s really about what I see as a subtle and unintended message of such events: Riding a bicycle to work requires a special week to promote it because ______. You may fill in the blank with whatever reasons you may have for not using a bicycle as basic transportation.

Given a reasonable set of circumstances,* bicycling for basic transportation is neither difficult nor dangerous. If it were either one of those things, I wouldn’t be doing it.

I have nothing to brag about because bicycling for basic transportation is neither difficult nor dangerous.

A week-long special event is fine. But what happens at the end of the week? I contend it takes a little more than that to figure out that bicycling for basic transportation is actually rather easy in Springfield. I make that claim based on my own experience. I made it a goal to ride a bicycle as much as possible when I moved here from Kansas City almost a decade ago. I assumed there would be many days that I would choose to drive a motor vehicle instead. But the more I rode a bicycle the more I realized how often I actually do not need a car.

The goal of Bike to Work Week should be making it to the following Monday. Why not push for a second week? Then a third? Pretty soon you may be participating in Bike to Everywhere Decade.

*I live in Springfield’s urban core. I live close to work, shopping, and entertainment. I chose to live in the urban core precisely because it would make using a bicycle for basic transportation easier. Your choice of where to live does affect your choice of transportation. Those two things — housing and transportation — ought to be thought of together. If your living circumstances make bicycle commuting difficult, you may wish to try the 1-Mile Solution instead.

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Posted 07 May 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle culture § ecology § news ‡ Comments (8) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Traffic 101 Class Offered This June

League Cycling Instructor David Hutchison is offering the Traffic 101 course on 22 June in Springfield. Hutchison is a traffic engineer with the City of Springfield and a long-time bicycle commuter.

I have taken both the League course with Hutchison and the CyclingSavvy course with Karen Karabell in St. Louis (I am also a CyclingSavvy Instructor). I had many years experience driving a bicycle in traffic before taking these classes, yet I learned a lot each time. In other words, despite my experience, I had more to learn.

I still have more to learn.

We all have more to learn.

Just do it.

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Posted 06 May 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle education § cyclingsavvy ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: , , ,

Enjoy The Death Zone

Bicycle infrastructure that violates the rules of safe movement is unsafe by definition. It doesn’t matter how much pretty green paint or fancy yellow reflectors you use. Take a look this from Boston University:

Typical Intersection or Driveway Treatment

Never mind for a moment that what we see here is a door-zone bicycle lane. Take a look at that green paint. Let’s call it the death zone.

That green lane puts bicycles directly into danger from right-turning and left-turning traffic (assuming this treatment on a 2-way street). Right-turning motorists are expected to look in an unnatural direction for traffic that should not be on the right in the first place. A right-turning motorist’s attention should be focused on the turn and what is in the direct line of the vehicle – not what is behind them to the right.

Bicyclists are also in danger from left-turning traffic (if the graphic showed this treatment on a 2-way street) because they may become blocked from view by through traffic on their left.

In short, that green lane is exactly where bicyclists should not be.

And yet this is offered as a way to keep bicyclists safe.

The problem as I see it: There are a lot of people out there — planners, engineers, bicycle advocates — who frankly haven’t the first clue what they are doing. They are functionally stupid.

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Posted 26 April 2013 † Andy Cline § bicycle infrastructure § bicycle safety § safety § traffic ‡ Comments (27) ° Tagged: , ,

Wait. What? Normal People On Bicycles?

OK, take a look at this picture:

That’s Cody, Ginger, and their son. I just got an e-mail from Cody telling me he and his family have moved to Springfield. They have a bicycle blog called Cycle Like a Stringer.

Good stuff! Check it out.

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Posted 23 April 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § announcement § bicycle culture ‡ Comments (13) ° Tagged: , , ,

Who’s Wetter? Not Me

Wow. Big-time rain this morning. So I donned my rain suit and rode downtown for a coffee and bagel as usual because, well, rain isn’t stopping anyone else from moving around this morning.

Look miserable?

I guarantee you I arrived dryer than many people today who drove cars, parked in parking lots, and dashed through puddles into offices huddled under tiny umbrellas :-)

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Posted 23 April 2013 † Andy Cline § weather ‡ Comments (9) ° Tagged: ,

Breaking: Walking Is Good For You

Walking is an “amazing treatment” that can fight a number of maladies — including heart disease and obesity — according to a news release by Citiwire.net.

OK, so I’m being a bit cheeky.

But the reason that Citiwire is playing up this obvious “news” is that there is a crisis in American walking – at least according to Tom Vanderbilt. He writes that walking has become an “act dwelling in the margins, an almost hidden narrative running beneath the main vehicular text.”

Simply put, Americans don’t like to walk and do like to drive. The urban and suburban environment is built to accommodate automobiles and people who drive them. Further, far too many of us have chosen places to live where walking is made more difficult because there are few destinations within (our ever-shrinking) walking distance.

I walked to work today. This semester I have gotten into the habit of walking on my teaching days largely because I usually only travel between campus and home. And if I do have to go elsewhere, well, I’m totally cool with walking. Downtown is only 20 minutes from my office. I ride my bicycle on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I start my day downtown at the Mudhouse.

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Posted 22 April 2013 † Andy Cline § ecology § walking ‡ Comments (10) ° Tagged:

Mark Your Calendar For Bicycles & Brews

Bicycles & Brews and the Bicycle Film Festival will celebrate one of mankind’s greatest inventions in May. OK, make that three of mankind’s greatest inventions :-)

ScreenHunter_212 Apr. 16 11.03

So mark your calendar for 11 May!

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Posted 16 April 2013 † Andy Cline § announcement § bicycle culture § news ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: , , ,