More Bike Commuters on the Road, But Are They Being Safe?
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 08.28.08
Photo credit: Getty Images
More bikes take to the streets
Skyrocketing gas prices have resulted in a sudden glut of bicycle commuters on the road, reports the Christian Science Monitor, not just in metropolitan areas, but also in places like Louisville, Ky., and Charlotte, N.C.
The sudden surge of two-wheelers is also causing rising tensions among drivers who are unaccustomed to sharing their streets—and herding cyclists to traffic safety classes.
"I'm getting hammered by mayors asking, 'What are you doing about all these new bikers on the street and nobody knows the rules of the road?' " Robert Raburn, executive director of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition in Oakland, tells the newspaper.
The Christian Science Monitor did some number crunching to reveal the growing trend toward bike commuting this year:
• Bike count tallies showed an increase of 30 percent over last year on San Francisco's Market Street, 44 percent over 2006 levels at the intersection of Broad and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, and 378 percent from five years ago on Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago.• New bikers are maxing out the capacity of transit systems across the country. Bikers boarding buses in Houston rose from 1,510 in April to 3,624 in June, according to the League of American Bicyclists, which also reports that Charlotte's bike-on-bus boardings have reached an all-time record, surging 30 percent this June from a year ago. On San Francisco's regional CalTrain, a quarter of rush hour trains surveyed in September "bumped" bikers because onboard racks had reached capacity.
• In Denver, this year's 'Bike to Work Day' drew 35,000 bikers, up 43 percent over last year.
More bikes = improved bike infrastructure
With the rise of bike commuters, some cities are making significant investments in bike infrastructure. The Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), for instance, recently approved $1 billion in funding for a regional bike network.
Meanwhile, Louisville is constructing a 100-mile hiking and biking trail it's calling the Louisville Loop. Congress is also considering a bike commuter act that would allow tax deductions like those for people who take mass transit.
Another scheme some cities are adopting: The painting of "sharrows," a symbol on road surfaces meant to remind drivers that cyclists share the roads, too. More controversial, however, is the "Idaho stop" rule—which allows cyclists to treat red lights like stop signs—that the MTC is thinking of implementing. ::Christian Science Monitor
More on bikes
D.C. Bike-Sharing Program Launches Today, First in the USA
"Watch for Bikes" Sign Not So Helpful
Higher Fuel Prices Increase Bicycle Sales (And Bike Sharing?)
Montreal Canada Launches Public Bike System
Boulder, Colorado To Get 40-Acre Bike Park
Monkey-wrenching Bike Plans in San Fran
The $350 Electric Commuter Bike
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Depends. Are they safe to the car drivers, or are they safe to the bicyclists?
The main problem this country has in switching towards alternative energy vehicles and bicycles is in the imposed speed limits. If a national maximum speed limit of 35mph (or even 40mph) were imposed on every road in America except interstates, electric vehicles and bicycles would start popping up everywhere. It's quite easy to create a adult sized electric tricycle that goes 35mph (even a solar powered one), it's another issue to insure that tricycle's rider safety on the same roads where 2,000lb automobiles are traveling at 55mph and driving badly. The faster moving 2,000lb auto will always win in a collision and probably not suffer any major damages in the process.
Give me a 35-40mph speed limit, strictly imposed. I'll build my own safe green vehicle.
I'm a biker, but I won't commute based on the roads I would have to take (lots of cars, lots of drivers who don't drive safely). However, I have noticed an increase in bike commuters in Providence. Unfortunately, they violate traffic laws left and right and have no regard for safety. They ride on the wrong side of the street, run stop signs and lights, cut between cars in traffic, etc. It's quite dangerous and if they get hit, it'd be the driver's fault even if the biker was the cause of the accident.
Bike commuters need to remember that traffic laws apply to them as well as cars.
It is quite exciting to see the number of fellow bicycle commuters rising. In addition to drivers not knowing the rules of the road - so many of the new cyclists do not know the rules and many see not to care. The bummer part is an atmosphere is created where drivers are becoming more hostile because of interactions with cyclist that do not follow or understand the rules.
My mom's biggest worry is that some car will hit me if I ride my bike to school.
I'm going to try to sign up for a biking class so I can be safer but hopefully in the coming days when I start to ride my bike, all will go well.
It's not a long route and it's not terribly busy.
::crosses fingers::
I think it's more that drivers need to be educated rather than the cyclists.
Courtesy, common sense, and respect.
I brake for everyone ... I don't feel like going to or sending anyone to the hospital .... it's just a commute for heaven's sakes.
Great picture, nice ride.
Good Luck!!
vsk
Bikes are pretty safe. It is cars that are danger and kill and injure hundreds of thousands of drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrian each year. Any other product that caused so much carnage would be severely restricted or even banned. Look at what is happening to cigarettes these days. In Canada, cigarette packing has large images of diseased lungs on the covering most of the package. Perhaps such large warning covering most of the outside of a car are in order.
People need to be protected from "Second Hand Driving".
"rising tensions among drivers who are unaccustomed to sharing their streets—and herding cyclists to traffic safety classes."
Drivers don't understand the law, so cyclists need to take safety classes? Whats next - mandatory styrofoam hat laws to protect cyclists in a head on collision with 2-ton vehicles?
Bike commuting is dependant on having a safe drivable route to work. Workers who live too far from work might want to see about working remotely as an alternative.
Remote Office Centers lease individual offices, internet and phone systems to workers from different companies in shared centers located around the city and suburbs.
Many office workers spend their entire day either on the phone or on a computer system attached to the internet. There is no real reason that they need to work from a centralized office. The price of gas has gotten to the point where working remotely makes more sense than driving back and forth through heavy commuter traffic every day.
Remote Office Centers are fairly new, but can be found in most large cities by doing a web search on "Remote Office Centers" in quotes.
'I'm a biker, but I won't commute based on the roads I would have to take (lots of cars, lots of drivers who don't drive safely)."
so you live in the US then like most of us? LOL
it's not going to get better without people sacking up and taking their share of the streets.
before anyone asks: yes. i commute in nasty traffic, on nasty roads with a$$hole drivers all over. but i follow all laws and just tough it out. my comrades grow daily, and i'm -- frankly -- proud to at least be a small part of a positive example to others.