Making a Rueben Sandwich with a garbage truck and a bicyclist.

Recipe for a Disastrous Reuben Sandwich

Ingredients:
1 intersection with bike lane
1 right turning truck (or any vehicle)
1 straight-through bicyclist

Bicyclist Dies After Garbage Truck Collision

Kellene Stockwell

Channel 2 News 

 

Reno (Nevada) police are investigating a deadly accident involving a garbage truck hitting a woman on a bicycle.

It happened at the intersection of Mill Street and Kietzke Lane just after 9:30am.

Police say an unidentified woman riding on her bicycle in the bike lane and a Waste Management truck were stopped at the light on Kietzke Lane.

When the light turned green, police say the truck driver turned without seeing the woman and ran over her.

She died at the scene.

Police say it's important for drivers to watch out for more bicyclists as we head into summer.

"The more than people get out on foot and the more that bicyclists hop on their bikes and get out we need everybody to work together, bicyclists have to obey the same laws as the motorists but the motorists have to keep an eye out for the bicyclists," says Reno Police Sgt. Jim Stegmaier.

Alcohol and speed do not appear to be factors.

Waste Management released the following statement: "Waste Management extends our extreme sympathy and sorrow to both family and friends of the bicyclist. We are working closely with local law enforcement on the investigation."

A different location, same Rueben Sandwich problem.

Amsterdamnation D.C.

American Cycletrack - 15th & K from Keri Caffrey on Vimeo.

Some fun... and mandatory.

New Orleans Bike Lanes

A couple of weeks ago, a YouTube video made the rounds, discussing all the hazards present in New York City bike lanes, and the actual penalties dished out to cyclists who did NOT ride in the bike lane when one was available. Dallas now seems to be filled with people who believe that a city is not Progressive without "Complete Streets", "Build a Better Block", and "Cycling Infrastructure". Nevermind the cost, the penalties to local businesses, the lack of long-term planning, etc. One would hope that, after seeing that video, we might think more critically about just what bike lanes do, what they don't do, who's going to use them, who's going to enforce the new rules around them, and just how much space is available for everyone to make a city work.

Here's the link: http://youtu.be/bzE-IMaegzQ

About the same time that the video was spreading out to the world, a friend who is a cyclist, a motorcyclist, and a critical thinker, as well as being a Certified Instructor, shot these photos of Bike Lanes in New Orleans.

So, if you watched the video, and the law is the law, and then you look at these photos, well, what's a cyclists to do? Our local politicians want cyclists to feel 'comfortable' on bikes through the

use of bike lanes. Would you feel comfortable dealing with this?

How much do you want to bet that this happens more often than you think, and is a general discouragement to successful cycling?

Bottom line is - let's skip the infrastructure, teach people how to ride better, smarter, and then enforce the law on an equal basis. Cyclists are not handicapped. They don't need "ADA" style sidewalk ramps. They need education, practice, and respect. My bet is, that if we try it, it'll work a lot better than ANY of this paint, or these silhouettes or markers.

Thoughts?

One thousand words.

A Dallasite and Bicycle Advisory Committee Member Shows us ALL how to do it right!

Check out this video from Dallasite Waco Moore. What he shows you in 2-3 minutes could change your life. He does it right, he explains it well, and the image is crystal clear.

Click Here to watch the video and then comment.

Thank you Waco, and Thank You, Keri for continuing to promote Savvy Cycling and Savvy Cyclists!!!

New uses for cardboard.

Information : AnirudhaRao

You don't need a bike lane to ride your bike...

You just need a bike... and some knowledge.

I was recently interviewed about my opinion on the new Dallas Bike Plan. Here's the video.

NBCDFW "Dallas Bike Plan is Unnecessary"

The bike plan devotes one sentence to bike education, and yet dedicates pages and paragraphs to all the potential lane striping and segregated pathways that they encourage. The plan was written despite the objections of several well-educated members of the Bicycle Advisory Committee. Dallas is now committing itself to an increased infrastructure load, increased risk to cyclists, increased antagonism towards cyclists, decreased freedom to travel on public roads, and a general growth in ignorance and responsibility. I find it shameful that the City Council voted on this without first consulting true local citizens who have spent their lives learning how to ride safely and properly in an urban setting.

That said, I'll let you decide for yourselves. Do you want cyclists and laws that govern local roads to be held to a level of responsibility, or do you want to instead view road rules as suggestions, and signs governing safety to be nothing more than decoration. With bike lanes, cyclists will be given a limited option, increased stress, and decreased mobility. DO NOT let this happen here.

For the real cost of one mile of bike lane, 13,000 cyclists could be educated to make it redundant.

Here be truth.

Create your own bike lanes... anywhere you want.

Of course, they're going to be about 11 feet wide. Is that a problem?

http://cyclingsavvy.org/2011/06/cyclingsavvy-dfw-june-classes/

Need less paint.

Hat tip to billyptx!

Need more paint.

3-Way Street from ronconcocacola on Vimeo.