'Eye to Eye' Project to Promote Bicycle Safety in Oregon
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 08.15.08
More Cyclists Means A Need For More Awareness
Now that more and more people are getting on their bikes due to high gas prices, summer weather and increased awareness of the environmental and social impacts of driving, there has also been a slight increase in traffic accidents between cyclists and motorists as inexperienced riders and angry, unaware motorists hit the roads. After improving infrastructure (by adding bike lanes, bike boxes, and other measures) the best approach to ensuring safety on the roads is an awareness campaign that also includes training rides for new riders.
Oregon, Already Bike-Friendly, Seeks to Do More
This is something that Santa Cruz, California, recently began doing, and now the Bicycle Transportation Alliance of Oregon has launched the Eye to Eye Project, a campaign specifically aimed at reducing the number of bicycle-car collisions. Making use of signage, safety rides and flyers, riders and drivers alike will be made more aware of the importance of sharing the road. What's more, several hundred free bike bells and lights will be given away "to cyclists riding without proper headlights and reflectors." This idea was prompted by "a recent rash of serious or even deadly accidents between bicycles and cars in Oregon." It's somewhat surprising that a state as bicycle friendly as Oregon is having these sorts of issues; one can only imagine how strong the need is for similar campaigns in cities across the country.
Via: ::Kval.com and ::OregonLive.com
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We are all so incredibly stupid that it takes people to be killed before any improvements are put into the system.
That said - I would guess that one of the fastest ways to die in this country is to ride a bike on any road in Houston, TX.
There aren't too many folks brave enough to do it, so there haven't been enough deaths to justify construction of bike paths and lanes. I wish Mayor Bill White would spend 0.01% of the amount of money he spends on I-10 towards "alternative" infrastructure.
Does anyone realize that I-10 is 16 lanes across!! Why???? Why do we need so many cars on the road sucking gasoline and polluting the air?
Isn't it time for the "Energy Capital of World" to go "Beyond Petroleum?"
Sharing the road...
And just yesterday I was crossing the road (on foot) at a crosswalk, when I had a "walk sign," and a driver making a right turn who reached the intersection while I was crossing stopped, beeped at me, rolled down the window and cursed me out.
Most bicyclists I encounter don't do things like that. The less experienced ones will break traffic laws by acting more like pedestrians than like drivers, but they tend to be calmer and more aware of those around them.