Don’t Block The Bike Lane .com

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

We are very excited to announce that iblockthebikelane.com is now dontblockthebikelane.com!

Join PageOur campaign was started back in 2011 with the goal of educating motorists about the dangers of blocking bike lanes. At the time, stickers reading i block the bike lane .com made sense. However, over the past two years, many of the visitors to our website have been bicyclists, and our focus has broadened to include all issues and advancements related to bike lanes. The rebranding allows us to avoid confusion about our first and primary mission – keeping our bike lanes open and accessible.

If you are a member of the Bike Lane Sticker Team, thank you so much for your continued support! Our campaign would not have legs (or more appropriately, wheels!) without you. Please don’t worry if you have older stickers, as iblockthebikelane.com will redirect to the new website.  If you have any questions or concerns, you may reach us at dontblockthebikelane@gmail.com.

In addition to our new name, we have renewed energy and ambition. We will be posting more regularly, and encourage you to subscribe to the blog, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.  Most importantly, please spread the word about our campaign to others. The new stickers are now available for purchase.

Happy biking, friends! Stay safe!

Posted in Bicycle Safety, Bike Lane, Stickers, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Chicago Bicyclist Killed After Swerving to Avoid Car Door

Posted on October 5, 2012 by

This morning, a 32-year-old man was killed while riding south on Wells Street, just north of Oak Street, in Chicago. According to police, he swerved when the driver of a parked Nissan Altima swung open the door, and he fell underneath the wheels of a passing semi that was hauling a flat-bed trailer.

The man who opened the door was cited for a traffic violation, according to News Affairs Officer Robert Perez.

Read the Chicago Tribune article here.

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More Bicyclists Means Fewer Accidents, Philadelphia finds

Posted on September 20, 2012 by

By Paul Nussbaum
The Philadelphia Inquirer
September 17, 2012

As the number of bicyclists on Philadelphia streets has risen, cyclists and city officials have seen a counterintuitive result: The number of bike crashes and deaths has declined.

This “safety in numbers” phenomenon has been documented elsewhere, and safety experts believe it is because motorists become more alert to cyclists when there are more of them.

Since 2002, the number of cyclists on many Center City streets has more than doubled, according to tallies at key intersections, and the percentage of bike commuters has also doubled. In 2002, there were six bicyclists killed in accidents with motor vehicles; last year, there were two such deaths.

Traffic crashes involving bikes in Philadelphia have fallen from a high of 1,040 in 1998 to 553 in 2010.

“Where cars expect to find bicyclists and pedestrians, drivers are more cognizant of cyclists and pedestrians,” said Alex Doty, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. He cited a study in Portland, Ore., that found a doubling of the number of bicycles reduced the crash risk by one-third.

Read more…

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Invisible Bike Helmet Keeps Riders Safe, Looking Cool

Posted on August 17, 2012 by

By Kate Freeman
Mashable
August 16, 2012

How often have you, or someone you know, eschewed a bicycle helmet to look cool at the expense of safety?

Well, gamble with a traumatic brain injury no more. Two Swedish inventors created an invisible helmet called Hövding, and it doesn’t involving using any Harry Potter invisibility cloak magic, or even plastic. The helmet is actually a thick collar — like one you might see on a heavy winter jacket — with an airbag hood underneath that deploys should you get in an accident.

It uses rechargeable battery-powered accelerometers and gyroscopes to detect movement that resembles being in a bike crash and launches airbags around the wearer’s head.

Weighing 1.5 lbs. without the shell, the airbags are powered by a cold helium inflator located in a holder in the collar. Though similar to motorcycle helmets with inflators, this helmet is only for bicycles — not skateboards, mopeds, or skates, either.

If you’re concerned with matching your helmet-collar to your outfit, you can buy coordinating shells that house the airbag.

Read more…

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Great American Cities for Cycling

Posted on August 15, 2012 by

By ShermansTravel.com
August 14, 2012

Courtesy City of Chicago/GRC — America’s third largest metropolis has 117 miles of on-street bike lanes, more than 30 miles of marked shared lanes and dozens of miles of off-street paths.

Pedaling through a major U.S. city is not just the province of daredevil bike messengers. With warmer weather and rising gas prices, there’s never been a better time to hop on a bicycle, especially while you’re on vacation. “It’s also a way to really be local,” suggests Nicole Freedman, director of bicycling programs for the City of Boston, “because when you bike you can stop wherever you want, you can talk to people.”

Urban areas across America are establishing dedicated bike lanes and trails at an unprecedented pace, and though U.S. cities may still be playing catch-up when it comes to bike-share programs (the Vélib’ system in Paris, launched in 2005, already includes 20,000 bikes at 1,800 stations), it may surprise you how many of the handy hop-on-hop-off systems are already functioning on this side of the pond: Boston, Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. all have successful bike shares in place, while New York City, San Francisco and St. Petersburg are launching high-profile programs this year. Jeremy Rothschild, director of marketing for B-cycle, a bike-sharing outfit in Chicago, sums up the two-wheel appeal: “It’s magic…a bike that’s there when you need it and gone when you don’t.”

Along with established or in-the-works bike shares, our Top 10 Cities for Cycling, all with populations over 100,000, feature an abundance of great rental shops, municipal bike racks, exciting trails, and dedicated bike lanes.

Katie Adamson of Visit Denver says that the 300,000 rides logged during the two-year (and counting) lifespan of Denver’s bike-share program have translated into 13.5 million burned calories, a $990,000 savings on gas and parking, and 1.1 million pounds of greenhouse gases avoided. Yep, biking is good for our health, our pocketbooks and our planet. And as you’ll see, it actually looks like fun.

Read more…

Posted in Bike Lane, Bike Path, Bike Sharing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Penalty for Rule-Breaking Bicyclists: A Remedial Class

Posted on July 24, 2012 by

By J. David Goodman
The New York Times
July 23, 2012

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times: Richard Conroy of Bike New York, center, recently led a class for bicyclists who were ordered to attend after receiving tickets.

The eight wrongdoers sat inside a windowless basement classroom, serving a court-ordered penance for their transgressions. For the next 90 minutes, they would learn about the proper rules of the road, how to use hand signals and when to change lanes safely — even if most did not believe they had done anything wrong.

“He said I wasn’t in the bike lane,” said Kenny McKissick, a 32-year-old messenger. “But I was on the line.”

This spring, the Midtown Community Court began sentencing cyclists who had been issued tickets for certain offenses in and around Midtown Manhattan to a class to learn about bicycles and traffic.

Think remedial driver’s education — for bike riders.

“You couldn’t possibly ticket all of the stuff you see irresponsible cyclists do,” said Judge Felicia Mennin, who worked with the nonprofit organization Bike New York to develop the new sentencing option.

But, she acknowledged, some riders may be honestly confused about what is allowed. “There are a lot of laws and not always clarity about abiding by the law,” she said.

The class, held below a sports store on the Upper West Side, is the first dedicated to cyclists but is a close cousin to other education programs at the court, which seeks to address quality of life offenses like prostitution and graffiti with alternatives to jail or fines.

It comes amid broad agreement among bike advocates and the Transportation Department that compelling riders to obey traffic signals, go with traffic and stay off the sidewalk is critical to improving the image of cycling and ensuring the long-term health of New York City’s expanding bicycle network. That mission will become even more important once the city’s bike-share program rolls out in the next month or so.

Read more…

Posted in Bicycle Laws, Bicycle Safety, Bike Sharing | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Motorists To Urban Planners: Stay In Your Lane

Posted on July 18, 2012 by

By Franklyn Cater
NPR
July 18, 2012

Becky Lettenberger/NPR – A cyclist rides in the the bike lane on Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.

Cities and cars share a conflicted relationship these days. Environmental concerns, growing traffic congestion and an urban design philosophy that favors foot traffic are driving many cities to try to reduce the number of cars on the road. In cities such as Seattle, Chicago, Toronto and Boston, some people go so far as to claim there is a “war on cars.”

That’s a phrase that has popped up around the country as cities spend more transportation dollars on transit; add streetcars, bus and bike lanes; raise parking rates; install “traffic calming” measures; and increase traffic enforcement with cameras. Advocates of these changes say they give people more options and make cities safer. But some motorists feel like they’re under attack.

Read more…

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Washington Ranks as Most Bike Friendly State in the Nation

Posted on May 24, 2012 by

By Emanuella Grinberg
CNN
May 24, 2012

A man rides his bike in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The state ranked as third most bicycle-friendly in the nation.

For the fifth year straight, Washington ranked as the country’s most bicycle-friendly state, thanks to policies designed to create alternatives to driving, according to the League of American Bicyclists.

The advocacy group’s Bicycle Friendly State Program ranks the states each year under a series of criteria, from laws and regulations that govern bicycling to policies for accommodating cyclists and infrastructure funding.

In each of the top five states — Washington, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Colorado and Oregon — the focus of the respective Departments of Transportation is not only on highways but on accommodating pedestrians, cyclists and transportation on ferries and trains, said Matt Wempe, the league’s state and local advocacy coordinator.

Arkansas, considered one of the least safe places for cyclists based on fatalities, was at the bottom of the list. The league’s top recommendation was to adopt a statewide bicycle plan and to establish an advisory committee to oversee its implementation.

Read more…

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Drivers, Cyclists Square Off on Sharing the Road

Posted on May 18, 2012 by

By Emanuella Grinberg
CNN
May 18, 2012

Shanna Kurth’s 25-mile bike commute to work takes two hours, requiring extensive planning on her part several times a month.

Shanna Kurth began biking to work three years ago to improve her health. Several times a month, she loaded her bike onto her car, drove most of the way and biked the last three miles to her office.

Bit by bit, she shortened her time in the car and extended the bike ride. Now, the 50-year-old Illinois woman says she bikes all the way to work several times a month from her home in Metamora to Peoria: 25 miles each way, amounting to about two hours of travel time.

It’s no easy feat, and not something most Americans are willing or able to do, especially in suburban and rural communities, where bike paths are scant and cars are the only way to get around. The rate of workers commuting by bicycle doubled between 2001 and 2009, according to National Household Travel Survey data. But that still amounted to less than 1% of Americans reporting in 2009 that they used bicycles as their primary mode of transportation to work, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

In honor of National Bike Month and Bike to Work Week, CNN asked its Facebook fans what it would take to get them to bike to work more often. A shorter commute and more bike lanes were by far the most common responses.

Read more…

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California Hit-and-Run Caught on Bike Camera | Video – ABC News

Posted on May 4, 2012 by

ABC News
April 30, 2012

Police say a driver in Berkeley hit two bicyclists and fled the scene.

California Hit-and-Run Caught on Bike Camera | Video – ABC News.

Posted in Hit-and-run | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment