randya
ANOTHER local media outlet weighs in....
Bikes and Cars
With six bicycle-rider fatalities this year, including two in the last few weeks, city officials are moving quickly to make changes aimed at preventing more deaths. KINK Considers bicyclists and motorists.
City Commissioner Sam Adams is right to take the recent deaths of two bicyclists and the death of four other bike-riders this year seriously. But Adams may be moving too fast in his proposal to put bike boxes at 14 intersections. With a bike box, a motorist stops at a line on the pavement just before the intersection while bicyclists overtake the motorist and move into a box right at the intersection and in front of the motorist. The so-called right hook is the most common cause of bike crashes. That's when a car or truck is turning right while a bicyclist alongside is trying to go forward through the intersection. An alternative that we think merits further exploration, is California's law. That basically allows the motorist to get as close as possible to the curb just before making a right at an intersection.
The ultimate solution to promote bicycle safety and more bicycling in Portland is separation of motor vehicle and bicycle traffic. This would be good for bicyclists and motorists. We have suggested moving ahead on plans for a northeast bike path similar to Springwater as well as putting physical separators with special traffic lights on a couple of main downtown routes. The city should consider a bond issue for major bicycle infrastructure projects.
While city officials may be in a hurry to help, they should look at how Portland handled another contentious safety issue in the past---dogs in the parks . A wide-ranging planning effort over a long period of time--actually too long in that case--has substantially eased that problem. We should do the same and have a bicycle master plan for Portland that includes advocates for bicyclists, motorists, pedestrians, and transit riders. Many people simply can't commute by bicycle and just putting bike boxes out there might be seen as a punishment for motorists that would actually increase conflict.
http://www.kink.fm/Bikes-and-Cars/1157082
Bikes and Cars
With six bicycle-rider fatalities this year, including two in the last few weeks, city officials are moving quickly to make changes aimed at preventing more deaths. KINK Considers bicyclists and motorists.
City Commissioner Sam Adams is right to take the recent deaths of two bicyclists and the death of four other bike-riders this year seriously. But Adams may be moving too fast in his proposal to put bike boxes at 14 intersections. With a bike box, a motorist stops at a line on the pavement just before the intersection while bicyclists overtake the motorist and move into a box right at the intersection and in front of the motorist. The so-called right hook is the most common cause of bike crashes. That's when a car or truck is turning right while a bicyclist alongside is trying to go forward through the intersection. An alternative that we think merits further exploration, is California's law. That basically allows the motorist to get as close as possible to the curb just before making a right at an intersection.
The ultimate solution to promote bicycle safety and more bicycling in Portland is separation of motor vehicle and bicycle traffic. This would be good for bicyclists and motorists. We have suggested moving ahead on plans for a northeast bike path similar to Springwater as well as putting physical separators with special traffic lights on a couple of main downtown routes. The city should consider a bond issue for major bicycle infrastructure projects.
While city officials may be in a hurry to help, they should look at how Portland handled another contentious safety issue in the past---dogs in the parks . A wide-ranging planning effort over a long period of time--actually too long in that case--has substantially eased that problem. We should do the same and have a bicycle master plan for Portland that includes advocates for bicyclists, motorists, pedestrians, and transit riders. Many people simply can't commute by bicycle and just putting bike boxes out there might be seen as a punishment for motorists that would actually increase conflict.
http://www.kink.fm/Bikes-and-Cars/1157082