Please. Mr. Motorist. Watch. Out. For. Me. ?
(Source: v-e-l-o-l-o-v-e)
The town of Plainville, Connecticut is hoping to be designated as Bicycle-Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists according to an article in the Bristol Press.
This story caught my eye because not only do I live fairly close to Plainville, but I used to ride through Plainville almost daily on my bicycle commute when I worked at ESPN, which is located just over the Plainville border in Bristol, Connecticut.
It has been a couple of years now since I changed jobs, but at the time it would have been nice to have better bike routes through the town. Many of the streets have wide lanes which are nice for bicycling, but striped bicycle lanes would have been great in some areas.
At one point a major road (Route 177) was being “improved” to add a traffic light, repaved, and restriped for more auto lanes. The problem is it took away the nice existing shoulder for riding without any consideration for bike lanes, and that was one of the few routes I felt safe riding my bike.
There are some abandoned railroad lines in the town that I hope are converted to a bike path as an extension of Farmington Canal Trail. When I was commuting by bike it would have been nice to use the trail to avoid some of the roads that have heavier auto traffic.
Jim Cassidy, chairman of the Bicycle Friendly committee said he would like to give people a chance to ride alongside an abandoned stretch of railway in the northern section of town. If the town purchased the railway and made it part of the bike trail, it could encourage Farmington to complete the part of their route that connects to Plainville, bringing bicyclists down a safe and quiet path to the center of town.
To be considered a Bicycle Friendly Community, I think you have to do more that think of cycling just for recreation, but think of building routes that encourage people to ride as transportation to work, schools, or other popular destinations.
Encouraging cycling for recreation is also important, because that can boost the local economy by bringing people to town to ride the trails or participate in cycling events. One example is the Plainville Spring Series, a local early season race series and a business park in Plainville.
Cyclists Ride In The Plainville Spring Series (BikeRide.com Photo)
At this point, no town in Connecticut is designated as Bicycle Friendly by the League of American Cyclists, but I would say there are certainly areas in Connecticut that are great for riding. The cycling culture here just seems to be more about cycling for recreation than transportation. There is hope though. In 2009, the Connecticut Department of Transportation passed a Statewide Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan.
If you are interested in Bicycle Advocacy in Connecticut the Central Connecticut Bicycle Alliance is a good resource.
A Utah bill that would allow cyclists to ride through red lights after stopping and checking for traffic was voted down by the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday.
HB91, sponsored by Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Salt Lake City, also calls for cyclists to only slow down when approaching stop signs, then cautiously proceed after checking for traffic.
South Dakota is the latest state to consider a 3-foot passing law that requires motorists to leave a safe distance when passing a bicyclist.
The Greater Greater Washington Blog has a post titled “12 ways our region could reform bicycling laws.” in which it gives suggestions on ways changes to laws could contribute to the encouragement of more people to ride bicycles. Most of these ideas could be applied to many cities besides Washington D.C. A summary of their list is as follows.
1. Replace contributory negligence with comparative negligence.
2. Close the negligent driving loophole.
3. Ban distracted driving.
4. Treat cycling as transportation.
5. 3 Foot passing distance.
6. Fix equipment requirements (such as requiring bells).
7. Improve the return of recovered and impounded bikes.
8. Let cyclists decide where to ride (when it is necessary to take the whole lane).
9. Let cyclists ride more that 2 abreast
10. Improve access and parking.
11. Decriminalize safe cycling (for example allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs)
12. Allow more sidewalk cycling.
See the Greater Greater Washington Blog for the entire summary of each item.
I’ll say that I would disagree with number #9. It is one thing to be more that 2 abreast while passing other cyclists, but to continually ride more that 2 abreast really isn’t necessary, and will only cause more problems between drivers and cyclists.
The book Bicycling & the Law: Your Rights as a Cyclist
Many bicycle specific laws vary by state or city, so it is best to get familiar with the laws where you live.
