Carbon Trace » bicycle safety

Use Lights In Low Light

Andy Cline — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:23:07 +0000

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

Shunted to the Shoulders

Andy Cline — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:26:32 +0000

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 teach novices the wrong lessons about traffic and put them in danger — especially in danger of right-hook crashes.

Technorati Tags: bicycle advocacy, bicycle infrastructure, bicycle safety, cycling, traffic design

Riding Into The New Year

Andy Cline — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:17:51 +0000

My wife bought me the GoPro Hero for my birthday (available in Springfield at A&B Cycle) . I used it to make the following (interminably long) video yesterday of some bicycle lanes in suburban Wilmington, Delaware. I’m here visiting family. I grew up riding the streets you’ll see in the video.

So what you have here is simply a fog line with lane marking — sharrows, basically — indicating that bicyclists belong on the shoulder. Since they are not really lanes, what you’ll see are plenty of traffic conflicts and areas of confusion. Those shoulders, by the way, are exactly the same as when I rode these streets in the 60s and 70s.

Technorati Tags: bicycle advocacy, bicycle infrastructure, bicycle safety, cycling

Bieker Forum Discusses Bicycling

Andy Cline — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:28:20 +0000

City Councilman Tom Beiker held a public forum at The Hub yesterday — first in a series of planned public discussions. The main topic was bicycling and helping make Springfield a bicycle-friendly community.

I was unable to attend the meeting. The News-Leader published an article today.

It’s difficult to tell how much talk there was of painting bicycle lanes. I’ve written plenty recently about lanes.

My position going forward: It appears the bicycle lane tide is rising fast, so there’s almost nothing to be gained by my continued opposition to all lane painting. Instead, I plan to save my energy for fighting lanes that put novice bicyclists into immediate danger — unnecessary conflicts with motorists, e.g. door-zone lanes.

Technorati Tags: bicycle advocacy, bicycle infrastructure, bicycle politics, bicycle safety, cycling, Transportation Planning, Urban Planning

Let’s Be Careful Out There

Andy Cline — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:38:17 +0000

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 rain. Hmmmmm… Shouldn’t let apps do my thinking for me.

Technorati Tags: bicycle safety, cycling, weather