I live in Germany, and I found an earlier article about this incident in a newspaper that was used as rembourrage in a parcel (contents was bike related too, of course: a 1984 SunTour front derailleur) from Northern California that reached me today – quite an oldshool manner of distributing information I guess, but it works nevertheless.
I think that the same idiots who yell at me to get off the road, are the same ones who bitch and moan when I use my bell while riding (legally) on the sidewalk. Separated bikeways? Sure! Why the Hell not?
The A45 by-pass around Coventry used to have a cycle path on both sides the full length of the road. It has disappeared now but while it existed, in the 1960s for example, it was great. A full Metre or more wide, a concrete strip on both sides and a footpath on the side away from the road. As traffic increased in size and volume, it was removed to make way for a wider road with no alternative ROW put in place for cyclists. Maybe it was thought that as Coventry was the UKs ‘motor city’ we should be encouraging car use and hence jobs?
Interesting. Where do you live K’Tesh? It’s a big no-no (illegal) to ride on the sidewalk where I live (Vancouver). Of course, this doesn’t stop many, many cyclists from seeking refuge there.
Oregon… Here’s the law concerning it (check out “(2)”).
814.410 Unsafe operation of bicycle on
sidewalk; penalty.
(1) A person commits the offense of unsafe operation of a
bicycle on a sidewalk if the person does any of the
following:
(a) Operates the bicycle so as to suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety
and move into the path of a vehicle that is so close as to constitute an
immediate hazard.
(b) Operates a bicycle upon a sidewalk and does not give an audible warning
before overtaking and passing a pedestrian and does not yield the right of
way to all pedestrians on the sidewalk.
(c) Operates a bicycle on a sidewalk in a careless manner that endangers or
would be likely to endanger any person or property.
(d) Operates the bicycle at a speed greater than an ordinary walk when
approaching or entering a crosswalk, approaching or crossing a driveway or
crossing a curb cut or pedestrian ramp and a motor vehicle is approaching
the crosswalk, driveway, curb cut or pedestrian ramp. This paragraph does
not require reduced speeds for bicycles at places on sidewalks or other
pedestrian ways other than places where the path for pedestrians or
bicycle traffic approaches or crosses that for motor vehicle traffic.
(e) Operates an electric assisted bicycle on a sidewalk.
(2) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, a bicyclist on a sidewalk or in
a crosswalk has the same rights and duties as a pedestrian on a sidewalk or in
a crosswalk.
(3) The offense described in this section, unsafe operation of a bicycle on a
sidewalk, is a Class D traffic violation.
So essentially the law says it pays to not even think about using the sidewalk. More restrictions and opportunities for violations/conflicts than ON ROAD. I mean, really, who slows to a walking speed when crossing a driveway?
Same thing here in RI if you are over the age of 12 you can’t ride on the sidewalk….of course its also how they ban kids from riding to school half the time there are no sidewalks around the school
http://www.cykelsuperstier.dk/concept … “A Cycle Super Highway is a cycle highway, where the commuters’ needs have been given the highest priority. … At an average speed of 20km/h, cyclists will be able to surf a wave of green lights through the city during rush hour, without putting a foot down. …”
When the highway is completed I’m gonna ride my bike down there (from Stockholm, Sweden) and give it a try. This could be a solution for some parts och Stockholm as well.
I ‘Like’ that comment as well as other(s) but can only post one comment saying ‘like’ before I get the error message ‘Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!’ The Software will not allow me to post ‘like’ twice so now I have to say ‘Like 1′, ‘Like 2′ or something like that. The new software is really discouraging comments for some reason. It has ruined the safe and tidy environment we used to enjoy…
Yes, I miss the “like” button too, as well as the ability to delete messages. This is yet another one that I’m posting ONLY to turn on email notifications for the rest of today, and I’d delete it if afterwards if I could.
I understand that some towns time their traffic lights so that motorists driving at the urban speed limit get green lights all the way – its a gentle encouragement to them to not break the speed limit. An enlightened traffic management could progressively re-time the lights to further reduce speeds; but I doubt whether it could be taken as low as 20kph without the average car driver getting impatient and driving faster.
I noticed that here in Vancouver, BC, that the timing of the lights going North on Hornby Street (Which has a separated bike lane) is meant for the cars. If you try to go fast enough to catch all the green lights, it’s way too fast to feel comfortable when cycling.
Maybe I should write to the city and ask about this.
@Troiker: The timing of Coventry lights should be calculated to reduce traffic delays and hence pollution but seems to be set to the opposite.
Take the ‘Ricoh island’ next to the Stadium that was the venue for some Olympic events recently… As one set goes green it is impossible to reach the green lights you will meet next in about 100yds or so without them changing to red first. I have tried! Many of our lights are set up in the same way and this increases the stationary congestion immensely. I tried talking to one of the council workers pointing out that their attempt to pass themselves off as a ‘green’ council was fruitless when thousands of vehicles are kept at idle with no reason. They did try to change the cadence once and the resulting lack of traffic jams was incredible, but then they resorted to the same old system once more.
The only thing I can think of is to try to reduce the traffic light grand prix races that can happen?
In Saskatoon, a driver type friend figured it out that the traffic lights were timed so that if you drove the speed limit, you hit all the red lights. This of course encouraged people to speed.
coz
they get fed by drive-in staff and dont even have to move to kill the prey ?
they parked in a narrow space so the doors wont open now they pace up and down along the window ?
they eat up lots of resources and think they are often looked at and also envied ?
Duh…. it’s called a sidewalk for walkers to walk on the side of the street.
If we are supposed to use road cycles on them, wouldn’t it be called a sidecycle?.
Plus, those curbs at the corners will definitely taco my rim…
Why is fact of life held up above quality of life? What use to live a life not enjoyed? What are you living for if it’s always discomforting, dangerous, awkward, and expensive? It’s not like it’s a rare thing to be alive or something. Tragedies happen, and we are always looking to reduce it, but when we put that desire first we take away too much of what makes life worthwhile.
I hope they don’t hit that pedestrian walking across the crosswalk.
Pedestrians should be required by Law to don helmets when crossing roads. Then cyclists wouldn’t have to worry about hitting them.
Yeah, maybe the pedestrians should be required to wear helmets, when cyclists are supposed to ride on the sidewalk: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120913/ARTICLES/120919781?p=1&tc=pg .
I live in Germany, and I found an earlier article about this incident in a newspaper that was used as rembourrage in a parcel (contents was bike related too, of course: a 1984 SunTour front derailleur) from Northern California that reached me today – quite an oldshool manner of distributing information I guess, but it works nevertheless.
That is actually an example of a cycle helmet causing a brain injury. Youcouldntmakeitup.
Faster cyclists need a Super-duper highway.
What’s a Super-duper highway? Is that what the motor vehicles drive on at 70+MPH with 10 lanes?
I think that the same idiots who yell at me to get off the road, are the same ones who bitch and moan when I use my bell while riding (legally) on the sidewalk. Separated bikeways? Sure! Why the Hell not?
I agree K’Tesh.
The A45 by-pass around Coventry used to have a cycle path on both sides the full length of the road. It has disappeared now but while it existed, in the 1960s for example, it was great. A full Metre or more wide, a concrete strip on both sides and a footpath on the side away from the road. As traffic increased in size and volume, it was removed to make way for a wider road with no alternative ROW put in place for cyclists. Maybe it was thought that as Coventry was the UKs ‘motor city’ we should be encouraging car use and hence jobs?
Interesting. Where do you live K’Tesh? It’s a big no-no (illegal) to ride on the sidewalk where I live (Vancouver). Of course, this doesn’t stop many, many cyclists from seeking refuge there.
Oregon… Here’s the law concerning it (check out “(2)”).
814.410 Unsafe operation of bicycle on
sidewalk; penalty.
(1) A person commits the offense of unsafe operation of a
bicycle on a sidewalk if the person does any of the
following:
(a) Operates the bicycle so as to suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety
and move into the path of a vehicle that is so close as to constitute an
immediate hazard.
(b) Operates a bicycle upon a sidewalk and does not give an audible warning
before overtaking and passing a pedestrian and does not yield the right of
way to all pedestrians on the sidewalk.
(c) Operates a bicycle on a sidewalk in a careless manner that endangers or
would be likely to endanger any person or property.
(d) Operates the bicycle at a speed greater than an ordinary walk when
approaching or entering a crosswalk, approaching or crossing a driveway or
crossing a curb cut or pedestrian ramp and a motor vehicle is approaching
the crosswalk, driveway, curb cut or pedestrian ramp. This paragraph does
not require reduced speeds for bicycles at places on sidewalks or other
pedestrian ways other than places where the path for pedestrians or
bicycle traffic approaches or crosses that for motor vehicle traffic.
(e) Operates an electric assisted bicycle on a sidewalk.
(2) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, a bicyclist on a sidewalk or in
a crosswalk has the same rights and duties as a pedestrian on a sidewalk or in
a crosswalk.
(3) The offense described in this section, unsafe operation of a bicycle on a
sidewalk, is a Class D traffic violation.
So essentially the law says it pays to not even think about using the sidewalk. More restrictions and opportunities for violations/conflicts than ON ROAD. I mean, really, who slows to a walking speed when crossing a driveway?
Same thing here in RI if you are over the age of 12 you can’t ride on the sidewalk….of course its also how they ban kids from riding to school half the time there are no sidewalks around the school
The frog is also around after millions of years.
Is Yehuda wearing a turtle? It is a bit nippier today here, too.
i’d wear a helmet if it was made from turtle!
He he. Clever visual thing. This comic works on many levels.
http://www.cykelsuperstier.dk/concept … “A Cycle Super Highway is a cycle highway, where the commuters’ needs have been given the highest priority. … At an average speed of 20km/h, cyclists will be able to surf a wave of green lights through the city during rush hour, without putting a foot down. …”
at an average speed of 20kmh my legs detach themselfes from the torso and try to find a faster one.
20kph is 12mph; that’d do nicely for Yehuda on the Van Sweringen but it’d drive Joe nuts.
Like
Joe needs a Cycle Super-duper Highway.
joe would have to ride @ 40 kmh
surfing green waves works with fractions but not with multiples of the optimum speed
Wow!
When the highway is completed I’m gonna ride my bike down there (from Stockholm, Sweden) and give it a try. This could be a solution for some parts och Stockholm as well.
I ‘Like’ that comment as well as other(s) but can only post one comment saying ‘like’ before I get the error message ‘Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!’ The Software will not allow me to post ‘like’ twice so now I have to say ‘Like 1′, ‘Like 2′ or something like that. The new software is really discouraging comments for some reason. It has ruined the safe and tidy environment we used to enjoy…
This was a response to Schmitti above…
Yes, I miss the “like” button too, as well as the ability to delete messages. This is yet another one that I’m posting ONLY to turn on email notifications for the rest of today, and I’d delete it if afterwards if I could.
I understand that some towns time their traffic lights so that motorists driving at the urban speed limit get green lights all the way – its a gentle encouragement to them to not break the speed limit. An enlightened traffic management could progressively re-time the lights to further reduce speeds; but I doubt whether it could be taken as low as 20kph without the average car driver getting impatient and driving faster.
I noticed that here in Vancouver, BC, that the timing of the lights going North on Hornby Street (Which has a separated bike lane) is meant for the cars. If you try to go fast enough to catch all the green lights, it’s way too fast to feel comfortable when cycling.
Maybe I should write to the city and ask about this.
@Troiker: The timing of Coventry lights should be calculated to reduce traffic delays and hence pollution but seems to be set to the opposite.
Take the ‘Ricoh island’ next to the Stadium that was the venue for some Olympic events recently… As one set goes green it is impossible to reach the green lights you will meet next in about 100yds or so without them changing to red first. I have tried! Many of our lights are set up in the same way and this increases the stationary congestion immensely. I tried talking to one of the council workers pointing out that their attempt to pass themselves off as a ‘green’ council was fruitless when thousands of vehicles are kept at idle with no reason. They did try to change the cadence once and the resulting lack of traffic jams was incredible, but then they resorted to the same old system once more.
The only thing I can think of is to try to reduce the traffic light grand prix races that can happen?
In Saskatoon, a driver type friend figured it out that the traffic lights were timed so that if you drove the speed limit, you hit all the red lights. This of course encouraged people to speed.
My last comment went in the wrong place.
Thought for the day: Motorists are like caged animals.
coz
they get fed by drive-in staff and dont even have to move to kill the prey ?
they parked in a narrow space so the doors wont open now they pace up and down along the window ?
they eat up lots of resources and think they are often looked at and also envied ?
Duh…. it’s called a sidewalk for walkers to walk on the side of the street.
If we are supposed to use road cycles on them, wouldn’t it be called a sidecycle?.
Plus, those curbs at the corners will definitely taco my rim…
Then what’s a sidecar?! This? LOL
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2138/2261635102_10da548f53.jpg
Siderides.
Siderides=cycle tracks (or perhaps frontage/service roads)
Well said Pops
Why is fact of life held up above quality of life? What use to live a life not enjoyed? What are you living for if it’s always discomforting, dangerous, awkward, and expensive? It’s not like it’s a rare thing to be alive or something. Tragedies happen, and we are always looking to reduce it, but when we put that desire first we take away too much of what makes life worthwhile.
Amen! “Safety first” is one of my all-time least-favorite slogans.
Because people are domesticated animals that live in a zoo.
what about this.
http://road.cc/content/news/65718-plans-boriss-elevated-cycle-paths-start-take-shape
In Australia we call them ‘footpaths’