Bicycling In Your City

[ParadiseLost]

Originally Posted by Marcanadian

Toronto is debating about whether or not helmets should be mandatory. I think they should, but perhaps only on streets as opposed to trails and paths. In the city, 3/4 of cyclists who died hadn't been wearing helmets. Some of those deaths and other injuries could have been preventable.

Well here I bet that 5/5 of the cyclists who die aren't wearing helmets. That doesn't tell you jack though. What proportion of cyclists wear helmets?

But yeah in large car centric heavily trafficked cities, especially those with grid patterns which leads to more crossings, I think helmets are a better idea. No need for them in most of Europe though. Even Rome supposedly one of the European cities with the worst drivers and few cyclists you won't need a helmet at all. Cars are quite considerate even there.

[Suburbanist]

Originally Posted by ParadiseLost

No they shouldn't, this will lead to more people driving causing more accidents. Studies have also shown that cars tend to be more careless around cyclists using helmets, and cyclists with helmets themselves drive more careless as well.

Change of modes shouldn't be considered. Otherwise it would be like the argument that post 9/11 air security measures in US are pointless because they divert people from flying into driving where people are at much greater death risks than that of being blown up by Al-Quaeda on the skies...

Moreover, measured again on a fatality per 1000 pax/km basis, cycling is still 8 to 10 times more lethal than driving (again: on a person-distance basis, not on the misleading "per trip" basis) in Netherlands. The number of people INSIDE cars killed in accidents in NL is rather small. More than half of the fatalities in car accidents in NL involve someone else outside the relative safety of airbags, seat belts, surviving cells and shock dispersal zones.

Meaning: if all bike usage were to suddenly turn to road, apart from congestion, you'd see a dramatic drop on total transportation deaths.

If cyclists are required to wear helmets then car drivers should as well. Hey it's an extra safety feature right?

Airbags improve safety in ways similar to helmets. When they wouldn't, the sudden deceleration alone would create problems for the brains and helmets wouldn't help that.

=====================

How difficult it would be to store a helmet on a bike container, of which many Dutch helps are fitted with?

[ParadiseLost]

Originally Posted by Suburbanist

Change of modes shouldn't be considered. Otherwise it would be like the argument that post 9/11 air security measures in US are pointless because they divert people from flying into driving where people are at much greater death risks than that of being blown up by Al-Quaeda on the skies...

Uh why shouldn't it be considered? Those measures were taken not just to make flying more safe but cities more safe from terrorist attack. And they were not to make the subject more safe than it already was or historically has been but to reduce HYPOTHETICAL risks.

If we were to compare these issues in a vacuum then definitely the issue and all it's external effects should be considered. If safety issues for planes would make people drive New York - Los Angeles instead of flying then the extra deaths this would cause SHOULD be considered in implementing these safety measures on the other mode. HOWEVER it's the FUNDAMENTAL DESIGN RISK of airplanes that makes them more risky and useful for terrorism attack. This is a HYPOTHETICAL risk not reflected in the statistics or accident level deaths. It has NOTHING to do with comparing bicycles to cars neither of which have a great potential for terrorism, well cars have some potential with car bombs IED's and the like we have seen in the past. Bikes have zero potential. So you lose that argument if you want to bring terrorism in to this.
I HAVE NO CLUE, why you decided to shit this thread up bringing terrorism into it though but it's your pejorative and it doesn't help your argument.

You have made NO argument why change of modes shouldn't be considered instead you have given us an example where other factors outweigh the traditional change of mode argument (without explicitly stating so).

Originally Posted by Suburbanist

Moreover, measured again on a fatality per 1000 pax/km basis, cycling is still 8 to 10 times more lethal than driving (again: on a person-distance basis, not on the misleading "per trip" basis) in Netherlands. The number of people INSIDE cars killed in accidents in NL is rather small. More than half of the fatalities in car accidents in NL involve someone else outside the relative safety of airbags, seat belts, surviving cells and shock dispersal zones.

Yes that 'someone else' that's spread out over the windshield. I would submit that the car is the cause of many of these disparities in the statistics. Deaths caused by the mode should also be included in the statistics because we are not looking at these issues from the objective of the suburbanist car driver but the from the objective of EVERYONE. So all things should be considered.
Furthermore trip A is not trip B. You call per trips misleading while per passenger mile is the holy grail but this fails to take into account context. Planes are safer per passenger mile than cars are (and so is mass transit) but you can't expect the average Joe/Jane to pick up his/her groceries with Delta air lines. I'm not saying trips are a better measure (they may well be) I'm just saying your opinion doesn't take this into account.

Originally Posted by Suburbanist

Meaning: if all bike usage were to suddenly turn to road, apart from congestion, you'd see a dramatic drop on total transportation deaths.

Apart from congestion eh? That's like saying: if everyone started drinking battery acid, apart from the massive mortality, we would see a dramatic drop in overpopulation! Yes we would see a dramatic drop in transportation deaths with everyone sitting in their car going 0MPH. This is why your suggestion that cars are so much safer than bicycles is so misleading in the first place. Yes it's true if everyone on the planet (pedestrians and cyclists) were to switch modes to automobiles we would see less traffic deaths. It would also completely kill mobility due to total congestion in all the urban areas and prohibitive gasoline prices only few could afford (it would also kill a lot of people due to air pollution). Hence it is not a realistic suggestion, please join us in reality suburbanist.

[flotsam]

Originally Posted by desertpunk

Bicycling In Your City

How is it to bicycle in your city? Does your city accomodate bicycles? Funny anecdotes? Terrible anecdotes? Post 'em here!

Here's a taste of New York:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bzE-IMaegzQ&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bzE-IMaegzQ&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>">YouTube Link</a>

I have been nearly hit a number of times by crazed cyclists ignoring red lights and other cyclists. It is beyond me how they can get away with it. London city living?

[desertpunk]

So much for the UN!

image hosted on flickr

No Bicycles at the General Assembly by Ignatzybanjo, on Flickr

[CNB30]

The World Road Cycling championships are coming here in 2015. So excited

[castermaild55]

Don't Forget Japan
http://www.copenhagenize.com/2011/12...get-japan.html

Biking in Tokyo amid smoking businessmen, mamas with child
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/as...ing/index.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan...se-cities.html




/

[the glimpser]

Net find..

This $9 Cardboard Bike Can Support Riders Up To 485lbs


Photo By BAZ RATNER/REUTERS Mon, Oct 15, 2012.

Izhar Gafni has designed award winning industrial machines for peeling pomegranates and sewing shoes. He’s also a bike enthusiast who’s designed a lot of carbon fiber rigs. But one day, he’d heard about someone who’d built a cardboard canoe. The idea drilled its way into his consciousness, and ultimately, led him to create a cardboard bike called the Alfa.

The Alfa weighs 20lbs, yet supports riders up to 24 times its weight. It’s mostly cardboard and 100% recycled materials, yet uses a belt-driven pedal system that makes it maintenance free. And, maybe best of all, it’s project designed to be manufactured at about $9 to $12 per unit (and just $5 for a kids version), making it not only one of the most sustainable bikes you could imagine, but amongst the cheapest, depending on the markup.

At the moment, Gafni is working with a company to raise the funds to finalize manufacturing processes for his adult and child bikes and then actually put them into production. And if they’re able to pull this off, and the Alfa is everything it’s promised to be, it could be an absolutely paradigm-shifting idea in the transportation industry.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670753/...s-up-to-485lbs

[castermaild55]

A police officer is trying to catch a cyclist who is dangerously speeding and weaving through traffic:
The driver tries to block the cyclist, but fails. The crazy cyclist speeds around a corner, with the cop in close pursuit. Was the cyclist caught?




The video is an example of new police efforts to stop dangerous cycling in Japan:


http://www.japanprobe.com/2012/10/18...hase-in-japan/

[wc eend]

That being said, Japan is actually a great country for cycling. Even in the big cities.

[erka]

Originally Posted by castermaild55

A police officer is trying to catch a cyclist who is dangerously speeding and weaving through traffic:

If that is considered dangerous, in the Netherlands tens of thousands of cyclists would be caught every day.
Actually I think he is quite experienced and is paying attention to the other traffic.

[Jess55icag]

can be like utrecht - everyone on bikes!

[wc eend]

Yep, Utrecht might be one of the few cities with bicycle traffic jams.

[Mr_Dru]

DEVENTER-Netherlands may get heated bike paths, allowing more cyclists will have no charge of slippery by snowfall and icing. As a result, many thousands injured annually will bicycle paths safer and less.

Soon a test taken with pieces heated bike paths in the municipality of Zutphen and in the province of Utrecht. Safe Traffic Netherlands (VVN) and cyclists association are excited and hope that it ultimately results in hundreds of kilometers of ice-free bike paths.

The cost of such a system for the society be lower than the current way of working with salt. "Accidents bring lots of extra costs. Statistics show that 5 to 10 percent of bicycle accidents is due to slippery. The construction of such a path is estimate at about 30.000 to 40.000 euro per kilometre, the same amount that resurfacing also about cost. "

Translate: google
Source: http://www.telegraaf.nl/reiskrant/fi...erwarmd__.html

[Boscorelli]

Stockholm

[Civilization01]

Its November now in Minnesota, soon ice will fly then actual snow. By December 1st the cyclists who will cycle through the winter will have their winter gear ready and will start getting back into the winter cycling routine.

Idiot cyclists are done for the year. Motorists are aware of the seasonal differences and start to actually share the road.

I will retire this MTB beast at the end of winter. Hopefully by then one of my two vintage frames will be ready for the road.

Nothing beats a sunny January day, freshly plowed bike trail and watching winter wildlife. A full moon at night on a bike trail with some descent snow accumulation comes in a competitive second.

Oh Lord I love winter.

[the glimpser]

Sharing some of my photos from my favorite biking spot in Singapore:

[Denjiro]

The Netherlands is the Kingdom of Bicycles.

[Audiomuse]

Bicycling in the USA. The movement is growing and I am apart of it. I bike all over Austin and carry it on the bus for longer distances. I am seeing more and more people using bicycles to get around.



Portland, OR





image hosted on flickr


Washington D.C.




San Francisco




New York




Chicago