Bicyclists Get Red-Light Footrest in Copenhagen

Bicyclists now have a chance to rest while waiting for the right-of-way. photo courtesy of Copenhagenize.com

Please bring these to San Francisco! We with short legs will thank you.

Pleasanton Gets First Bicycle Red-Light Sensors

Bicyclists in SF generally encounter timed
signals instead of sensors

  Many a bicyclist and motorcyclist has encountered this situation at one time or another.  You approach a red light (more common in suburban areas) and wait, and wait, and wait some more.  The light never changes unless a motorist triggers the signal.  New technology promises to distinguish between bicycles, motorcycles and motorists in a trial being conducted in Pleasanton, CA.

  This piece by Robert Jordan of the Contra Costa Times highlights the sensors and the frustration felt by people who choose alternate forms of transportation around the Bay Area. And in this light-hearted piece from the San Jose Mercury News, the author highlights creative ways alternate modes of transportation attempt to trip the current red-light sensors.

   As more tools are utilized in creating a safer environment for all conveyances, the more accepted alternate modes will be acknowledged and respected by those in decision making positions. Let's fight for federal funding to bring these sensors to San Francisco's most dangerous un-timed intersections.

Double Deuce: SFBike.org Caught Flexing Again

  Last time I checked, there is no 3-foot passing law between bicyclists and vehicles currently on the books in either San Francisco or The State of California. But the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has made it there duty to foresee the future and provide us with a seemingly inane safety video on their website entitled Riding Predictably where they show us the law:

                   

                                              video courtesy of SFBike.org

  Even Celeste LeCompte from today's SFGate.com has been getting her ledes from SFBike.org  "Ride safely. Even though you're riding slowly, don't forgo the helmet, stop at traffic signals and ride predictably." Her great article about the Slow Bike Movement is where it IS.

  So anyway, after being pleasantly surprised at finding a quirky and informative safety video on their website (I always ask them for safety literature when I see them on the street, but they never seem to have any), I was shocked to hear @ 2:56 the declaration that the 3-foot law is "The law." (People without brakes on their bicycles:  Please watch 2:11) SB910 passed the senate this spring, but as of the date of this posting it has not become law.

Cops Increase Patrols of Bicycle Scofflaws

          Walking along Church Street at 14th this afternoon, I watched a SFPD officer quickly do a U-turn and issue a citation to a cyclist that had unsafely used the crosswalk to cross Church Street; causing several pedestrians to dodge and scatter.
          It is encouraging, as one who is a daily bicyclist, pedestrian, and car operator in the city, to see our SFPD officers begin to apply the same rules to cyclists, as they do to motorists.  As a driver and pedestrian, i continually watch as bicyclists brazenly ignore not only stop signs, but red lights.  As a rush hour cyclist along Valencia Street, I witness countless numbers of fellow cyclists run red lights, use the crosswalk without dismounting, and perform 'right on red' with no regard for pedestrians with the right of way.  This flagrant  disrespect for not only others, but the law, put pedestrians in harms way.  A roughly 150 - 200 lb. bicycle (operator included) traveling at 10 miles an hour could inflict notable injury on a child or elder pedestrian.
          The cycling lobby has continually fought Mr. Anderson's lawsuit (and the resulting injunction) to lobby for safer streets for all modes of conveyance.  Newly striped dedicated bike lanes are popping up all over the city, making San Francisco again the leader in progressive ideals.
          It seems to me that since we have gotten the policy change we've worked so hard to get, it's time to do our part.  Obey the law, be engaged in your surroundings (cell phones, headphones) and please, start stopping at traffic signals.
          Who knows, maybe a kind driver will surprise you and wave you through a 4-way stop, simply because you selflessly made the attempt to slowly approach and assess the intersection responsibly.
          No one mode of transportation is better than any other, we are all equal at an intersection.