The New Majority is Pedaling Toward Equity

[Kennah]

http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog/category/equity/

The “New Majority” that elected a president is also electing to hop on bicycles as a transportation alternative and tool for health and community development.

Biking boomed in communities across the country, doubling from 1.7 billion trips in 2001 to more than four billion trips in 2009. That growth is being pedaled forward by youth, women, and people of color — who are playing a key role in shifting transportation demand towards safe, accessible, and equitable bicycling infrastructure.

A first of its kind report, “The New Majority: Pedaling Towards Equity,” released today by the League and the Sierra Club, features data on demographic ridership, the effect of safe cycling infrastructure on ridership, new immigrant perceptions of bicycling, as well as the economic impact of transportation and health inequity.

According to the report, the fastest growth in bicycling over the last decade is among the Hispanic, African American and Asian American populations, which grew from 16% of all bike trips in 2001 to 23% in 2009.

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This was very cool to read, but as I read the report, something downright shocking in the report hit me.

http://www.bikeleague.org/news/equity_report.pdf

... according to 2001 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared to white bicyclists, the fatality rate was 23% higher for Hispanic and 30% higher for African-American riders.

WTF!?

[onehandle]

1. I love urban biking!

We're Here! We're Pedaling! Get Used To It Motorized Vehicular Traffic!

[Kennah]

2. Black T-shirt of the girl in the center made me laugh

[JimDandy]

3. Now that is a good looking bunch of people.

The colors really pop and the composition is intetesting.

[JDPriestly]

4. We were driving down a mountain road about 35 miles per hour in

45 mile per hour zone. There were several bicyclists on the road to the right of us. We drove very carefully. As we drove along, we discovered a bicyclist racing down the mountain at what appeared to be his top speed, as fast as we were. He started out to our right. We wanted to pass him safely but couldn't because every few feet he would veer into our main, not all that wide, lane in front of us. It was frightening. We had the feeling he was trying to tease us, to intimidate us, to dare us. Had we been going faster, he could have easily caused us to crash into a car coming up the mountain toward us.

We figured he was a young fool and kept our speed slow so that he could go ahead of us most of the way down. As we approached a turn-out, he suddenly slowed down and nearly RAN INTO US. Can you imagine how terrified we were? You would expect a car to run into a bike. But a bike hitting a car? It was as if he had purposely tried to pull in front of us so closely that we would have to ram him. Fortunately, we stopped just in time and let him go ahead of us. It was inches close. At the first turn-out, the first opporunity, we pulled over to the right and let three cars that were behind us pass.

My husband saw the driver of the first car that passed us give this extremely careless fool of a bike-rider a vulgar insult with his hands. We kept slow -- 33 and 35 maximum miles per hour.

I guess the bike rider met his match somewhere along the way because, as we approached the end of the road, he pulled over to the right and let us pass him. We didn't speed up. We drive an old car. And we don't want to get into accidents. Life is too precious for such foolishness. He just waited for us to pass.

But really! If you ride a bike, ride carefully. Be considerate of motorists. And if you are not riding at the maximum speed allowed, keep to the right. It is the law in our state. Don't try to claim the road. That can be deadly. Slow vehicles keep right. You may think you are going very fast, but think again.

The speed limit, I will remind everyone was 45 miles per hour. That bike never hit the speed limit. We know because we were virtually pacing it, staying as much as we could a safe distance behind it and, measured by our speedometer and a roadside sign that stated our speed, we never exceeded 33 and 35 miles per hour.

Fools who do not value their own lives should stay off bikes. Use public transportation instead. Bikes are dangerous. Please. Value your life. Don't compete with cars. Be courteous.

That bike rider should be very grateful because he had us behind him keeping faster cars from hitting him. I'm sure he doesn't see the situation that way.

[Kennah]

5. Yes, there are fools on bikes out there, but affect heuristic is a potent thing.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/09/cyclists_are_annoying_why_you_think_they_re_a_menace_on_two_wheels_.html

[JDPriestly]

6. The article is interesting, but not entirely insightful

in dismissing the "emotional" and too often accurate assessment by car drivers of bike riders.

At least in Los Angeles.

One of the problems about bicycles on major city streets is that most bike riders cannot keep up with traffic. A bicycle going 35 mph is going really fast. And, because of the narrow tires and all too frequently also due to cheap bikes with cheap brakes, bicycles cannot stop nearly as easily or safely as cars.

Admittedly, cars sometimes run stop signs and lights, but the number of times that car riders see bike riders "forget" to stop is truly astronomical. That is not just an emotional reaction. I have talked to many drivers about bikes on major streets. Almost all answer with stories about bike riders who could not or did not stop at stop signs or lights. It is like a disease among bike riders.

Some of the stop-sign or stoplight running in Los Angeles may be due to the steep hills in many areas. But I think that a lot of is due to the narrow tires.

In fact, someone explained to me that cars' wide tires and chassis help stop the momentum, help stop cars at high speeds. And then think about truck wheels -- very wide. Bike riders' are handicapped by the bike tires.

Riding bikes is fine, but it is dangerous to do it on city streets. One of my good friends died in a bike accident, and I have come across the scene of a bike accident after the event. It isn't a pretty sight. Bikes should stay off major streets. Bike riders should be particularly cautious at night, wear their helmets, give cars the right-of-way, not pass from the right, not cross in front of cars (as you describe), give cars a chance to see them and to stop or slow down for them and always wear light clothing and lights or reflecting vests at night.

Very few bikes have rear-view mirrors. Unless you do, when you ride directly in front of a car in the car's lane the car driver can see and is probably studying everything you do but you can't focus on the road ahead and watch the car behind you. That is a serious problem. Cars are required to have rear view mirrors (and wide tires plus reliable brakes and brake lights). A car that doesn't have these things will probably be stopped by the police. I have only heard of one instance in which a reckless bike rider was stopped by the police and that happened many years ago. I have had this experience a number times. The bike rider seems to act as though he owns the road although he is riding way below the speed limit. The car behind him is trying to remain slow, keep a distance.

Recently, a bike rider on a street in my neighborhood rode in the middle of the one car lane going south right in front of us and then started zig-zagging across the lane. Finally and suddenly he noticed us and sped to the side as if he was embarrassed. And he certainly should have been. City streets with massive cars behind you is no place to "play around" on your bike. If the driver of a car did that, he would be stopped for drunk driving.

If you get into an accident in a car, there is a good chance that the air bag will deploy and save you and that the wide tires and chassis of the car will help you stop and you will survive. Get in a similarly bad accident on a bike and ----. So bike carefully.

You can blame the fear of car drivers on their emotions, but the fact is that many of us remember the weekend "death tolls on the highways" and know that the streets can be dangerous. Were it not for seat belts and air bags and a lot of safety apparatus in cars that young people take for granted, we would still hear those weekend statistics on death on the highways.

Bike safely or not at all. Please.

Sorry, but the article you provided does not begin to deal with the reality of horrible bike riding in Los Angeles. It's a very serious problem in my hilly area.