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Category Archives: bicycle safety

LAB and the Future of Bicycling

Mighk Wilson, of Bicycling Is Better, has decided not to renew his membership to the League of American Bicyclists. He’s a guy with a lot of serious bicycling cred. So when he says the following, I’m inclined to listen:
I don’t want this to be seen as a League-bashing exercise.  I’ve been wondering if I should [...]

Posted 15 February 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Risk and Rewards

Charles Pelkey’s bicycle safety article in the VeloNews makes this claim:
Getting a precise breakdown of the actual risks per mile is a bit more difficult, but a rough analysis of 2005 fatalities would suggest that riders are between three and 10 times more likely to die per mile traveled than are drivers.
Sounds scary.
I prefer my [...]

Posted 28 January 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

A Lesson in Lane Positioning

Take that you horn honker!

Who are you honking at? from Keri Caffrey on Vimeo.
Such smooth video! This weekend I’ll finally get around to showing you some of Keri Caffrey’s video of our two rides in Orlando earlier this month. My excuse for not posting it sooner: The first two weeks of a new semester are [...]

Posted 21 January 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (6) ° Tagged: , , ,

This I Believe

From Keri Caffrey at Commute Orlando:
The roads are a public space where we all interact every day. What happens there affects our state of mind, the way we feel about our fellow citizens and the place we live. When the roads are a place of stress, anger and hostility, we carry it into our workplaces, [...]

Posted 01 January 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: , ,

New Year’s Resolutions

If you’re looking for some bicycle-related resolutions, check out the list on the Adventure Cycling Association weblog. Number 2 mentions the 1-mile Solution. (Hat tip to Randy at Kansas Cyclist for the heads-up.)
I’m happy about that because the 1MS really is an easy and achievable self-improvement.
Looking for help? Check out our Drive Less, Live More [...]

Posted 31 December 2009 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Child Dead in Collision With Pick-up

From the Springfield News-Leader this morning:
A 14-year-old boy on a bicycle was struck and killed by a pickup truck Tuesday night at the intersection of Clifton Avenue and High Street in northwest Springfield.
Springfield Police Lt. Kevin Grizzell said the accident occurred about 7:30 p.m.
According to Grizzell, a Toyota Tundra pickup was eastbound on High Street [...]

Posted 30 December 2009 † Andy Cline § news ‡ Comments (10) ° Tagged: ,

Bad Driving

An interesting report from the UK has this to say about the cause of bicycle crashes with cars resulting in injury and death:
With adult cyclists, police found the driver solely responsible in about 60%-75% of all cases, and riders solely at fault 17%-25% of the time.
The cyclists’ lobby group CTC said the report showed that [...]

Posted 15 December 2009 † Andy Cline § ecology § news § policy ‡ Comments (5) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Hugh Responds to Concerns About HB1250

Members of the STAR Team of Ozark Greenways received the following e-mail yesterday (published here with permission) from Brent Hugh, executive director of the Missouri Bicycle Federation, regarding the HB 1250. Hugh had originally alerted us to the bill. His message is in response to our inquiries and comments.
I wasn’t very precise in my wording.
The [...]

Posted 08 December 2009 † Andy Cline § advocacy § news § policy ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Cell Phones and Driver Distraction

The New York Times today published a major article on the socio-political history of the marketing of cell phones for use by car drivers. I found this part particularly interesting:
Long before cellphones became common, industry pioneers were aware of the risks of multitasking behind the wheel. Their hunches have been validated by many scientific studies [...]

Posted 07 December 2009 † Andy Cline § ecology § news ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , , ,

How Drivers Think

Don’t you just love a headline that promises more than it can deliver?
But what I’m about to do is something of a thought experiment in second-person voice. I’m imagining the following scenario based on my own experiences as a driver (for more on how drivers think, I suggest reading the How We Drive [...]

Posted 06 December 2009 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § policy ‡ Comments (5) ° Tagged: , , , ,

What Is a Safe Passing Distance?

I don’t know — in any absolute terms.
I do know that I like the choices 23 Springfield drivers made today while I ran errands in the urban core.
What follows is anecdotal and should not be considered the basis for any decision regarding House Bill 1250 to create a “3-foot law” in Missouri. I urge Carbon [...]

Posted 05 December 2009 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § policy ‡ Comments (16) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Why It’s Safe To Ride In Traffic

Check out this recent article from the Dallas Observer about the tensions between vehicular cycling and bicycle advocacy that focuses on infrastructure (a dichotomy, BTW, that I do not believe is as clear as the polemics).
As I have tried to make clear on Carbon Trace: I follow VC practices using what I’ll call the Hurst [...]

Posted 03 December 2009 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (6) ° Tagged: , , ,

NYC Bicycle Rules

Click here to check out the Biking Rules handbook for New York City published by Transportation Alternatives. Its “mission is to reclaim New York City’s streets from the automobile and to advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit as the best transportation alternatives.” The book is remarkably comprehensive. You don’t have to live in NYC [...]

Posted 28 November 2009 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

My Helmet-Wearing Criteria

Disclaimer: While I definitely have opinions about bicycle riding, everything I write on Carbon Trace should be read as my telling you about what I do and not my telling you what you should do. Further, this site is about utility bicycling (including short-distance commuting), not sport bicycling. I am most concerned with promoting the [...]

Posted 14 November 2009 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle equipment § ecology ‡ Comments (14) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Missouri Scores OK in PDI Rankings

The recently-released Dangerous By Design report by Transportation For America shows that Missouri has plenty of room to improve pedestrian safety. But there are bright spots.
From the TFA website, here’s an explanation of the city rankings:
The Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) is a measure of the relative risk of walking, adjusted for exposure. It is calculated [...]

Posted 12 November 2009 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § news ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , , ,