Funny, I learn so much about what's going on here in the Bay Area from bikeportland.org:
http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/index.php/site/blog/4356
Any programs like this going on here in the South Bay?
Forums:
Funny, I learn so much about what's going on here in the Bay Area from bikeportland.org:
http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/index.php/site/blog/4356
Any programs like this going on here in the South Bay?
colin
February 12, 2013 - 1:12pm
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Bicycle Diversion in Santa Clara County
Good question! A bicycle diversion program is something SVBC has been pursuing for years. It's a bit of a thorn in our side that our very good friends/arch rivals at EBBC got one up and running before we were able to! However, things are looking good for a future program, especially in Santa Clara County. Stanford University has had a great diversion program in place for a while, and we think that bringing such a program to the rest of the county would make a big difference in the amount of wrong-way riding, traffic light violations, and other bad biking behaviors we often see. The best place to learn more about what we can look forward to will be at the Silicon Valley Bike Summit on February 26 in Palo Alto. One of the speakers on our panel of local experts and innovators will be Commissioner James Madden, Traffic Trial Commissioner with the Santa Clara County Superior Court. He will be speaking about the prospect of just such a program and what needs to be done to get it started. For those who can't make the Summit, I hope to have a detailed follow-up posted here on the site afterward.
Erik
March 10, 2013 - 1:11pm
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Sounds like I good idea but
Sounds like I good idea but personally I'd like it coupled with a general review of the bicycle traffic rules to update and improve them. But maybe I am crazy in thinking our bicycle traffic rules are not perfect... :-)
pmackay
March 16, 2013 - 11:44am
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Review
sounds like a good idea. One thing I find ironic is that driving rules in California say a right-turning motor vehicle should be as close as practicable to the curb starting 200' away from the turn, yet the driver's manual says signalling a turn should start at 100'. Having moved here from Oregon where drivers are supposed to just plain stay out of the bicycle lane, I have mixed feelings about the way merges are supposed to work here. I've gotten into the habit of signalling and taking the lane coming upon a corked right turn (and/or red light, or lane drop), and it seems to work well. The drivers coming up on the red just have to slow and stop in a little shorter distance, and those turning right clearly know my intention of going straight (and have room to move by me on the right). Unfortunately I see only a few experienced riders doing this, but if I'm not mistaken it's a technique taught by the League of American Bicyclists.
I encourage any of these local advocacy programs to work closely with larger groups like the LAB (or even Oregon's BTA) to harmonize on educational programs (and I suspect you probably already do). I think one of the biggest problems with cycling in the US is the lack of education of both driver and cyclist, and by that I don't just mean letter of laws like CVC 21202 or the persistent message of DMV-published bicycling manuals that lead people to believe cyclists must always be out of their way ("gutter-trawling" we call it in Oregon).
There's a Portland bicycling lawyer named Ray Thomas who's done a great deal of education and advocacy work, including teaching free classes to cyclists and publishing an updated manual on Oregon law related to cycling. Though it's tailored specifically to Oregon's laws (some of which he helped pass), I encourage everyone to seek out his articles online, as they often explore the implications of law instead of just interpretations. Bob Mionske is another (who's currently writing a legal column in Bicycling magazine).
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