In the comments for the post How do we get from here to there? I asked readers to estimate how many miles they’ve biked in what they considered to be a “vehicular cycling” manner, and how many motorist-related crashes they’d experienced in those miles. Here are the results (which are of course not...
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How’d they do this without huge infrastructure improvements? Read on and find out . . . 29.04.2009 The number of pupils cycling to class every day rose from 4 per cent to 8 per cent (out of 19,000 pupils surveyed) in ‘Bike It’ schools during 2008. Sustrans calls on Government to recognise this success and increase...
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Have you ever had one of those “epiphany moments” when something that was always obvious –yet subtly hidden– then explodes into your consciousness and you experience the  light-bulb “AHA!! Yes!! Of Course!!!” moment? It happened to me at the most recent Florida Bicycle Association quarterly meeting in West Palm Beach, where I had been invited as a...
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Introduction Building a cyclist friendly community requires a combination of social and physical structures. Like a  pyramid, these structures must be built upon a solid foundation, or they will collapse. When the foundation is strong and the layers of the pyramid reinforce each other, they will support a healthy, thriving bicycle culture. 1) Foundation: Cultural Respect Bicycles are...
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I have written in other forums questioning the wisdom of mandatory helmet laws.  I’ll state right up front so nobody gets me wrong — I think bicycle helmets are good.  I wear one.  I encourage others to wear one.  But when the state thinks about saying “You have to wear one” it should really...
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I’ve mentioned before how London and Portland have pretty much the same laws and pretty much the same problems with those laws, but now Bob Mionske has taken note and has written an article about it. It should give you a think or two about how people from different places approach the same problem.
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In the illustration on the right, there are 2 cyclists approaching the back of a queue of traffic. The red cyclist intends to pass the queue on the right. The green cyclist intends to wait behind the queue and go through the intersection in the line of traffic. Both cyclists need to watch for potential...
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Trucks have huge blind spots. Truck drivers cannot see little things in their huge blind spots. Large vehicles off-track when turning, so they will appear to be going straight and often swing wide before making a right turn. Cyclists hit by turning trucks is a repeating news story which highlights the most serious deficiency in...
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How many vehicles do you see on this road? As the equinox approaches and daylight closes down on our commutes, I’ve been contemplating a post about the hazards of the rising and setting sun. Tonight I stopped on my way home to take a photo. I kid you not, I had no idea...
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Bicycle Facilities advocates love to invoke the name of Northern European cycling. Whole websites are dedicated to notion that we should recreate Amsterdam in America. The City of Portland has explicitly claimed that its goal is to become more like Amsterdam. But they’re, like, so ten years ago! Just as the separatist ideologues try...
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