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Category Archives: bicycle safety

Use Lights In Low Light

The headline is good advice (it’s also the law). Anyway, here’s a video of my trip downtown yesterday morning for coffee and a bagel: Technorati Tags: bicycle advocacy, bicycle equipment, bicycle safety, cycling

Posted 02 February 2012 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle equipment ‡ Comments (5) ° Tagged: , , ,

Shunted to the Shoulders

Here’s a follow-up to my previous video of bicycle infrastructure in suburban Wilmington, Delaware. What you will see is painted shoulders with bicycle lane markings. But simply putting lane markings on a shoulder does not create a proper bicycle lane. These lanes demonstrate a complete lack of understanding about how to handle intersections.  These lanes [...]

Posted 08 January 2012 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle infrastructure § policy § safety ‡ Comments (10) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Let’s Be Careful Out There

Pretty… …but dangerous. These suckers are slippery when wet and piled up on the road. Let’s be careful out there today. The Weather Channel iPhone app let me down. It said no rain. I wore my raincoat anyway, but I left my rain pants at home. Halfway downtown this morning the light mist turned into [...]

Posted 22 November 2011 † Andy Cline § ecology § weather ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: , ,

Moving Forward With Bicycle Facilities

Last year I reported here, based on a conversation at a STAR Team meeting, that the city was uninterested in painting more bicycle lanes. With the creation of new lanes on Division and Benton and  the discussion at night’s STAR Team meeting, it has became clear to me that painting more bicycle lanes is in [...]

Posted 17 November 2011 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle education § bicycle infrastructure § ecology § news § policy § safety ‡ Comments (6) ° Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How To Snaggle Up An Intersection

Disclaimer: Nothing I have written in this post should be interpreted as walking back the idea that bicyclists should follow the rules of the road. This seems to me to be a fact: Unpredictable behavior by bicyclists seems to be what the average motorist expects, i.e. bicyclist behavior is predictable in its unpredictableness. Predictable behavior, [...]

Posted 17 November 2011 † Andy Cline § advocacy § safety ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: ,

Excellent Bicycling Video Updated

Keri Caffrey, of Commute Orlando and CyclingSavvy, has updated her excellent video Bicycling in Traffic is a Dance You Must Lead. Something to note: You are NOT watching “hardened” cyclists or “road warriors” or “adrenaline junkies” who brave the dangers of traffic. Bicycling in traffic is safe (compared to a lot of other dangerous things [...]

Posted 26 October 2011 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle education § cyclingsavvy § ecology ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

The Ethics of Courtesy

What ought to be the order of courtesy in traffic between car drivers and bicycle drivers? I think the best way to approach this question is to check what the law and common understandings of the traffic system call for. First among these is the order of right-of-way (304.351. 1. Right of Way). In general, the [...]

Posted 14 October 2011 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle education § ecology ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Please Be Careful

Please be careful what you ask for, that is. There’s a movement afoot at the Bicycle Friendly Springfield group on Facebook to have Springfield bicyclists send postcards to the mayor requesting more bicycle friendliness in Springfield. The post cards are available at local bicycle shops. Fill it out. Send it in. Be heard. Good idea! [...]

Posted 13 October 2011 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle infrastructure § ecology § news § policy ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

Transportation in the News

Wow. Newsy day transportation-wise in Springfield. Check it out. Grand St. at MSU Eyed for Improvement: Never was their a better stretch of road needing some attention to make the lives of pedestrians and non-motorized traffic better. A preliminary design shows the project would cost around $2 million to pay for upgrades of traffic lights at both [...]

Posted 11 October 2011 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle infrastructure § ecology § news ‡ Comments (5) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

First CyclingSavvy Class Debriefing

The first CyclingSavvy class in Springfield was a success. I define success this way: We had students! We had five! Two were members of my family. One other was known to me. And two signed up after having seen the announcement on Facebook. It’s tough to fill bicycling classes for a number of reasons. So I’m good [...]

Posted 04 October 2011 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle education § cyclingsavvy ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , , ,

A Springfield First

Tom Vanderbilt — author of a book everyone should read — wrote about the diverging diamond intersection in his column for Slate. The first one in the U.S. was built right here in Springfield. I’ll be taking my CyclingSavvy class through that intersection tomorrow Technorati Tags: bicycle education, cycling, cyclingsavvy, traffic design

Posted 30 September 2011 † Andy Cline § bicycle education § cyclingsavvy ‡ Comments (11) ° Tagged: , , ,

What Can Happen in the Door Zone

Not long ago I published photos, video, and explanatory graphics of the new bicycle lane on Benton between Drury University and Commercial Street. Please see: New Bicycle Lane on Benton Ave. Observations on Benton Ave. Graphics Explain Benton Situation Now it’s time to see what a door-zone crash looks like. What you are about to see is not an [...]

Posted 23 September 2011 † Andy Cline § ‡ Comments (8) ° Tagged: , ,

I Can’t Look

My thanks to the News-Leader for highlighting alternative transportation in its editorial today. I question the assumption that riding on the streets of Springfield is not safe or that bicycle lanes are safe. But, all in all, the need for transportation options is a conversation Springfield needs to have, and I’m happy to see the News-Leader taking [...]

Posted 08 September 2011 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § news ‡ Comments (13) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Other People’s Lives

Screw ‘em! I mean, really … other people? They’re just objects in the road. Something to get around. And if they piss you off, then scare them or put them in danger. Here’s what a road bully pulled on me this morning. He didn’t realize, however, that wasn’t scared of him. (Click for larger image) [...]

Posted 06 September 2011 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology ‡ Comments (10) ° Tagged: , , ,

New Division St. Bicycle Facilities

The new bicycle facilities on Division St. between Broadway and Benton are not quite complete, but I decided to make a video today because the weather was just soooooo nice You will see the 5-lane section east of Campbell that Traffic Engineer David Hutchison said (in an e-mail message) will have “shared lanes.” I assume [...]

Posted 05 September 2011 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle infrastructure § ecology ‡ Comments (6) ° Tagged: , , , ,