PM started this. I love data!Y'all tell me why, when you normalize things, adult cyclists have fared worse than other transport modes. Myself, I don't think bike lanes or MUPs will fix this trend. Risking flamethrowers one more time, I don't see how helmets are helping adult cyclists compared to, say, anybody else.
Particularly sad, I find it distressing that childhood cycling is largely being marginalized as a part of our culture. As PM often says, the discussion lamp is lit...
11 comments:
Neither one of my sons learned how to ride, even though we bought them bikes when they were younger. They always had something they wanted to do more.
My youngest has said he's interested in learning to ride before going away to college. That would be awesome; I'd like to ride with one of my boys.
The crash data shows quite clearly that the problems won't be solved with facilities. In Orlando, only 8% of cyclists involved in bike-v-car crashes were riding on the road and following the rules of the road (that is riding with traffic and obeying TCDs). And that 8% INCLUDES the aforementioned sideswipes and all the other crossing crashes that might have been avoided with more assertive lane position!
What we suffer from is cultural ignorance of safe cycling practices. We suffer from an oppressive, speed-dominant culture that demands we stay our of their way. But staying out of their way is, ironically, the #1 cause of injury to us.
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Doohickie, check out Rantwick's blog post about riding with his kids. It's cool.
Keri, thanks for pointing to my post on kids and riding.
I wanted to comment with my completely unsubstantiated by data hunch that accidents have increased because sidewalk riding has increased, and sidewalk riding has increased at least in part, beacuse of the curb cuts designed to make things better for wheelchairs, strollers, etc.
They have opened up the sidewalk as a convenient, if more dangerous, method of riding.
I also think that safety issues being reduced to the "wear you helemet" mantra hasn't helped either.
Doohickie, when your son is ready to learn, take the pedals off. Lower the seat so their feet rest on the ground. Have them learn to scoot with their feet and coast until they get the hang of balancing. THEN put the pedals on and they will learn to propel themselves while balancing.
This two step method seems to flatten the learning curve.
Rantwick said...
"They have opened up the sidewalk as a convenient, if more dangerous, method of riding.
I also think that safety issues being reduced to the "wear you helemet" mantra hasn't helped either.".
And now, the fear-based cycling segregationists' lobby wants, envious no doubt of the physically disabled being given curb ramps under the ADA, their own parallel facilities (cycle tracks), further adding to the dangers at every intersection.
Oddly, the desire for cycle tracks is an open admission that the segregated bike lanes they clamor for aren't providing the solution they seek: total separation and isolation from the traffic environment. Grade-separated crossings are next, as toy-vehicle operators can't be expected to wait for a green phase at a traffic signal to cross a road, but must be granted "priority".
Interesting theory, Rantwick. Makes total sense. Orlando has always had intermittent sidewalks. 20 years ago, they offered no utility for cyclists, now they're the preferred facility of most non-club riders.
That's reinforced by almost all of our recreational trails which become sidewalks when they run out of right-of-way and/or dump onto sidewalks when they terminate.
Sidewalk cyclists account for almost half of Orlando car-v-bike crashes.
Some people who should know better have defended WCL conversions with the notion that it gets cyclists off the sidewalk. I wish someone would do a (real) study on that. I think it would be disproved. I see cyclists on the sidewalk even where the bike lanes are wide and clean. I see more on the sidewalk than the bike lane where they are narrow (converted WCL bike lanes are narrow).
If I was a timid cyclist experiencing what we did in that Mills Avenue video, I would have been up the next curb cut with the solidified belief that riding on the road is too dangerous.
Saith Keri: "Some people who should know better have defended WCL conversions with the notion that it gets cyclists off the sidewalk. I wish someone would do a (real) study on that. I think it would be disproved."
Keri, I say your hunch is correct. As I commented above, we wouldn't be seeing this push for "cycle tracks" if bike lanes did what we were promised they'd do.
Instead, we have created a wave of facilities addicts who can not imagine operating a bicycle as a vehicle, but instead, clamor for recognition of bicycles as toy vehicles.
Perhaps if we passed a law requiring all bike lane and sidepath bicyclists to have training wheels on their bicycles?
;-)
PM said: "we have created a wave of facilities addicts who can not imagine operating a bicycle as a vehicle"
For many, I'd rephrase that as "...near a motor vehicle". Whether it's the noise, or the speed/size mismatch, many find it unpleasant to ride bikes near motor vehicles.
While it's easy enough to create motor-free recreation areas, it's a lot harder to create motor-free transportation corridors, and especially, motor-free intersections.
Michael, I'd agree you totally, but I was trying to get at something else, something that is very disturbing to me.
There is a growing disregard among segregationist cyclists for traffic principals of any sort, and a growing disregard for what it means to be classified as a legal vehicle.
Keri... FYI, when I said, "going away to college," I meant this fall. My sons are 18 & 21 and both have drivers licenses.
Rantwick's blog was interesting, perhaps even charming, but not really germane to my situation.
I will try Chipseal's pedal idea. It sounds like it might work.
regarding teaching anyone to ride a bike in the manner described by ChipSeal, it works. A two-year old girl in my neighborhood took one hour, while a seven-year old boy took one week, having been on training wheels far too long. An adult female in her forties who had never ridden a bike learned of this method when I was working in the same office and it took her one week of evenings to get the hang of it. The one failure in which I've been directly involved was due to an over-large bike.
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