Chicago Bicycle Program: Share the Road - Buses and Bicycles
The Chicago Department of Transportation sponsors a good series of online videos aimed at cyclists and other road users. Watch more here.
City of Miami Police Enforcing Speed Laws on Rickenbacker
by rydel high via Vimeo
Thursday afternoon 01/21/10
Brief clip of police stationed before the William Powell Bridge with a speed radar. I witnessed quite a few speeding drivers being pulled over & ticketed though did not capture it on video.
This is a direct response from the pressure being applied by vast groups of cyclists/pedestrians etc. that do not feel safe on the Rickenbacker Causeway.
The tragic death of Christophe Le Canne on the morning of Sunday January 17th has really struck a nerve with the community.
More info:
miamibikescene.blogspot.com/2010/01/key-biscayne-memorial-ride.html
video posted by Kery Caffrey via commuterorlando.com, on January 20, 2010
article reposted below:
Dude! Who do you think you’re honking at?
Today was a stellar day! The weather was perfect and my work for today consisted of shooting on-bike video for the Law Enforcement Toolkit. The objective was to shoot the best practices of bicycle driving with a uniformed officer. My subject was Bill Edgar of OPD (with appearances by Mighk). Bill runs the bicycle training program and trains bike patrol officers all over North America.
One important segment of the program deals with a cyclist’s use of a “sub-standard width” lane. For the purpose of the statute, that’s a lane less than 14 feet wide. A cyclist is allowed the full use of a sub-standard* lane — meaning you can ride anywhere in it you choose and motorists must change lanes to pass. The lane in the photo above (Princeton St) has 13 feet of usable pavement (from the gutter seam to the lane line). It looks pretty wide with a small car in it, but it’s too tight to share with SUVs or large commercial vehicles. A cyclist’s best position in the lane is one that makes it clear to motorists that they have to change lanes.
Unfortunately, some motorists resent having to change lanes, and they make a big fuss about it.
So, as I was riding directly behind Bill on Princeton, one such motorist came upon us. Unable to see any details of the cyclist in front of me, he laid on the horn to try and intimidate us out of his way. That’s when Bill moved left into view… and the horn went silent.
It’s unbelievable that the guy went on sassing Bill after we stopped. I guess that’s the personality of someone who would honk like that (frequently wrong but never in doubt). The video doesn’t show it, but he was shaking like a schoolboy. I’m guessing his bravado was a cover for having peed in his pants.
We actually did demonstrate 2-abreast riding in a sub-standard lane (including Princeton St) with Mighk. Oddly enough, there was no honking.
*Sub-standard is a misleading term, since >90% of the lanes in Central Florida are less than 14ft wide.
Inquest continues in London cycling death from February 2009 »
Lorry kills woman cyclist on road too narrow for it to pass
via London Evening Standard, posted January 22, 2010
A cyclist was crushed to death by a tipper lorry at an accident blackspot where the road was too narrow for the vehicle, an inquest heard today.
TV producer Eilidh Cairns, 30, died from multiple injuries after the rush-hour collision at a pedestrian crossing near Pembridge Road, Notting Hill. The road narrowed to two metres at that point and the truck, driven by Joao Lopes, was 2.5 metres wide, Westminster coroner’s court heard.
As Ms Cairns lay trapped under the wheels at 9am on 5 February last year, she pleaded with a woman to stay with her until the ambulance arrived. Eyewitnesses Melinda Ross told the inquest in a statement: “I heard a loud bang and a scream. I saw a woman trapped under the second wheel of the lorry.
“Her body from the waist down was under the tyre itself. She asked me to help her and not to leave. She found it hard to breathe and was in pain.
“She kept asking where the ambulance was and I stayed with her and tried to keep her calm.” Ms Cairns, of Kentish Town, died in hospital at 10.48.
Anna Morris, for Ms Cairns’s family, said: “The collision investigation report specifically makes observations on the narrowing of the carriageway at this key point.
“It notes that at one point it is two metres wide, while the vehicle in question is 2.5 metres wide.
“It is obvious now from the material obtained there have been other incidents at this crossing. There have been allegations of incidents resulting in serious injury that have been noted by the council.”
Deputy coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe rejected an appeal by the family to adjourn the inquest so Kensington and Chelsea council could see the report.
Ms Cairns’s sister Kate said: “Eilidh always strove to be fit and active and loved to cycle to work. Her daily commute alone was 20 miles a day.”
Mr Lopes faces criminal proceedings in connection with the death. He attended the inquest with a Portuguese interpreter.
The inquest continues.
There’s a ghost bike in Tallahassee on Hartsfied Rd. locked to a pole with a sign saying “Bicyclist Struck Here”
I wanna do something similiar for my friend Jen who was run over by a drunk driver a couple weeks ago in O-town.
— Flickr user tangent, in response to photo of a ghost bike being rolled through the NYC subway on its way to installation at the site of Donna Goodson’s death by truck
from Flickr user ohnobody
ghost bike
somewhere in Belltown, possibly 4th Avenue
Seattle, WA
these always make me sad, and utterly scared.”
— Flickr user Range of Light in respose to photo of Dan Valle’s ghost bikes in Brooklyn, NY
"Ghost Bike" Ride Remembers Cyclists Killed in 2009 »
Yesterday, our production team followed along with the NYC Street Memorial folks and other dedicated cyclists on the 5th Annual Memorial Ride and Walk from Harlem through Queens and into Brooklyn. Along the way they stopped at the 2009 ghost bikes and pedestrian plaques to remember and honor those who have lost their lives on NYC streets.
We spent today reviewing our footage and will be posting some to our Kickstarter blog later tonight, as a sneak preview for our backers. If you’re not a backer yet, you should consider pledging ($1 is all it takes!) because there are some neat thank you gifts, including a limited special edition backers only first release DVD! The only way to get that version is to preorder the DVD by pledging $25 on Kickstarter… everyone else will have to settle for the regular DVD, with less art and cool stuff.
Thanks to some generous backers, we are off to a decent start on reaching our fundraising goal.. but Kickstarter funding is all or nothing, so if we don’t make our goal by February 1st then we don’t get a single cent.. So please spread the word around. Blog it, tweet it, facebook it, spam your friends’ email boxes!
from Flickr user Mikey B_
ghost bike
St John Street
London, UK
I slept in that morning and it was just coincidence that he was hit the only day he went alone because normally we would ride together. I want (the memorial) to be a reminder for the person who hit my husband. I’m sure they pass through here every day, and I want them to see it and hopefully admit to what they did.”
—
Margot Duerkop, whose husband was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle a few blocks from his home in the 11200 block of Thunder Cloud Drive in El Paso (article here)
The death was listed as the Crime Stoppers crime of the week in August. Police are asking anyone who has any information about the crime to call Crime Stoppers of El Paso at 566-TIPS (8477) or submit the tip online. Anyone providing information will remain anonymous and, if the tip leads to an arrest, there is a cash reward of up to $1,000.
from Flickr user Mikey B_
ghost bike
Lucinda Ferrier
Manor Road and Stamford Hill
London, UK
from Flickr user J A I M E
ghost bike
Rodolfo Rojo
Biscayne Blvd at 114th St
Miami, FL
London paramedic's account of response to bike vs truck »
Account from an ambulance paramedic in London who attended the scene where a bike was crushed to death by a truck. Warning: the account is somewhat graphic.
Interesting discussion in the comments section about helmets, as well as an account from another paramedic from Connecticut, US, involving a biker and a dump truck.
‘Bike to Work Week’ gets grim start, CYCLIST DIES: Co-workers place tribute at site of accident
(originally published by the Chicago Sun Times on June 11, 2008; article is apparently no longer available in the online archives of the Sun Times, but is available on ghostbikes.org)
by Kara Spak Staff Reporter kspak@suntimes.com
One bicyclist was dead and another injured two days into a week promoting safe bicycle commuting in the Chicago area.
A white bicycle on the 900 block of North La Salle stood in tribute Tuesday to Clinton Miceli, the fifth bicyclist killed in a collision with a vehicle in Chicago this year.
Miceli, 22, was cycling in the bike lane on La Salle around 6:45 p.m. Monday when he slammed into an open SUV door, was thrown from his bike, then struck by a second car. The driver of the Nissan Xterra who opened the door into Miceli’s path was cited for opening a car door in traffic, police said.
A second rider collided with a CTA bus around 8:50 a.m. Tuesday at Broadway and Patterson in Lake View. That cyclist was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in serious condition, a Fire Department spokesman said. The CTA driver was cited for failure to yield and suspended without pay, authorities said.
Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, said he believes the rate of cycling injuries and fatalities on Chicago’s roads is down, but the sheer number of cyclists on the road is up. Though urban bicycling is a “relatively safe” activity, he said the five fatalities were preventable.
“People are showing an incredible lack of courtesy and care while operating vehicles,” he said. “People need to be looking out for others whether they are a vulnerable user like a cyclist or [driver of ] a car.”
Sadowsky said more than 350 companies — a 30 percent increase over last year — are participating in the federation’s “Bike to Work Week,” which runs through Friday.
Miceli was cycling home from his job at Plan B advertising agency, where he worked as an art director.
Miceli’s boss, avid cyclist Ric van Sickle, said about 80 percent of Plan B employees commute by bike. Miceli started working there as an intern about nine months ago and was promoted to a full-time staff position because of his work ethic and the high quality of his work, van Sickle said.
Miceli “was a good bike handler, always wore his helmet and knew what he was doing,” van Sickle said. “He was conscientious.”
Van Sickle said he understands why people want to “point the finger at someone” but said it was “just one of those unavoidable freak accidents.”
He learned of Miceli’s death at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday when Miceli’s mother called him.
On Tuesday, Miceli’s co-workers painted a white “ghost bike” and placed it at the accident scene, then gathered for lunch before van Sickle sent them home for the day.
“I think everyone is keeping a stiff upper lip,” he said.
