NJN News "Gets It"!

I'm an NJN News junky and rarely a day goes by that I don't watch it. If you saw yesterday's edition, there was a wonderful 3 minute piece on bicycle safety and the end of the broadcast. If you didn't see it, HERE it is. Just scroll forward to 22min 12 sec where the piece begins.

The piece made some great points beyond the massive scary upswing in bicyclist fatalities so far this year. Those include:

• Many of these fatalities happened because the MOTORIST did not see the bicyclist
  
• Cyclists are allowed to ride on the street and must follow the rules of the road
  
• Lack of bike lanes (mentioned at least twice)
• "I've had some weird NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES"
  

However the best quote of the piece comes from Kate Slevin of the Tristate Transportation Campaign. She says:

"The number one thing we need to do is make the streets safer for people who want to bike around... to include cyclists (and pedestrians) when they plan / rehabilitate roadways..."

BINGO!!!

While this is Bicycle Planning 101, all too often bicycle improvements are passed over when road projects are built even in places where there is obvious demand. And note, she said "ROAD IMPROVEMENTS", not trails, not parks and not sidewalks but ROADS. For the most part, this is where adult bicyclists belong and this is where they should be accommodated.

So "a tip of the hat" to the folks at NJN for covering bicycling in a very positive light and for using the nice, smiling Jenny Applegate who wears regular cloths and rides a regular bike as the focus of the story. She is such a welcomed reprieve from the stereotyped cyclist image typically perpetrated in the media. You know, male, sometimes nerdy, wearing funny spandex and riding an uncomfortable road bike (not that road bikes can't be cool too). But Jenny puts a regular face onto cycling that most non-cyclists can relate to.

Also another big "tip of the hat" goes to the Tristate Transportation Campaign and Pam Fischer at Highway Traffic Safety for getting this issue into the media spotlight!

Lets keep it going!

PS - WOW! What a difference from yesterday! Huh!

A Precursor to All-Out War

Now that I got your attention with that title, let's all hope that it does not and never comes to that. However if you've been paying attention to the Bike/Ped news from around the nation, it may seem like things on the streets are truely getting close to all-out war.

See:
Moving Targets
The New York Times • Friday, August 8, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/627nq6

&

Pedal vs. Metal
Newsweek • Monday, July 28, 2008
http://www.newsweek.com/id/149224


I know that many of you have already read the article "Moving Targets" in The New York Times. If not, it is a good quick read. The article goes over the willful and deliberate aggression perpetrated on cyclists by motorists and vice versa as well as some of the tension between cyclists and pedestrians. Fortunately and refreshingly the article is mostly sympathetic to the plight of cyclists just trying to go on with their business as they ply the mean streets of the U.S. It even mentions the anti-cycling bias found in our justice system, something very rarely mentioned in the non-cycling press.

Unfortunately, as many longtime experienced cyclists will tell you, the "Cold War" between motorists and cyclists is nothing new and has been going on for decades.

Let me give you one personal example:


On July 3rd of this year I was riding to work on a bright and sunny morning at 8am. Being the Thursday right before the July 4th Holiday, traffic was lighter than normal. I was riding my 3-speed folding bike wearing "normal" cloths and a helmet. My ride takes me down 1.5 miles of Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick where the (supposed) speed limit is only 25mph. It is 55 foot wide, 4 lane road with parking on each side (that is about 50% occupied over the whole stretch). Even at morning rush hour, the road never even begins to approaches capacity. There are no bike-lanes.

Despite these somewhat ideal conditions, my totally unimposing dress (and ride) , my strict adherence to the motor vehicle code and good vehicular cycling technique, I was passed dangerously close by three drivers. Unfortunately, on top of those dangerous overtaking maneuvers the worst was yet to come.

As I was well into the downhill, homestretch of Livingston Ave traveling at the 25mph speed limit, I took the lane to avoid some nasty bumps and a big pothole on the right side of the lane. The whole time I am keeping pace with a car only 30ft in front of me. At the point of my maximum speed I was honked at by the car behind me in a very aggressive manner. The driver then quickly accelerated next to me, told me the get the "F" out of the road and then very purposefully and deliberatively moved into the right lane to push me off the road. All of this happened as we sped towards a red light that we both had to stop for immediately after the incident was over. As we both waited for for the light to change (at least 20 seconds) and began to exchange "pleasantries" (mine, despite my anger at nearly being MURDERED, were an attempt at reason and legal rights, his were anything but) I saw that he had half a bowl of oatmeal on his lap.

Great! Not only homicidal but also distracted while behind the wheel!

AND, all this and the three dangerous passes happened to me in just the ten minutes it takes for me to get to work! Exceptional yes, but not at all unprecedented in my 2 years riding to work down Livingston Avenue everyday.


Now I have always felt that it is a real tragedy, beyond which words can describe, that road cycling in the United States continues under a siege mentality. For me bicycling is a pastime that I love beyond all others and after a good ride I truely attain a relaxed, zen-like state of mind; totally high on life. However, every time I begin a ride (whether that's my short hop to work, out on a 3 hour-40 mile spin or on a multiday self supported tour) I always have an apprehensive feeling that I will be forced into unprovoked battle for which I am out-gunned and out-classed, due to the inattentiveness, ignorance or plane ol' willful homicidal belligerence of drivers.

Unfortunately, what happened to me while going to work and the incidents described in the two news articles are nothing new and are typical for those trying to ride a bicycle in peace on the roads of New Jersey and elsewhere. Ultimately the "war" on the streets needs to end and hopefully very soon.

The "Blind Spot" Excuse in Pesestrian Death

In last Thursday's Asbury Park Press there was an article about what is being done to help prevent further pedestrian fatalities on Chambers Bridge Road in Brick Township (See "Officials to work at making a Brick road intersection safer" at the bottom of this entry in its entirety). For those of you who may not be familiar with this issue, there have been 4 fatalities along this road in the last 2 years. While in the other crashes the pedestrians were reported to be at fault, in this latest crash the pedestrian was crossing at a crosswalk, with the green / walk signal. In essence, the pedestrian was doing everything right and yet she was still hit and killed.

That said, the most profound tidbit was found further down from the headline. Quote:

Investigators are still trying to sort out the details of the accident, (Sgt. Donald) Ling said. There have been no charges filed in the crash, he said. "That's not to say there won't be charges," Ling said. "We have to look at a lot of factors. Was the driver's view obstructed either by the design of the van or another vehicle?"

Now look, I know you can't trust what you always read in the papers and it can be really easy to make judgments from afar when not all the facts are available and maybe this officer was misquoted. I will also give the driver the benefit of the doubt that he/she was driving in a non-aggressive manner and had honestly made a mistake. However last I remember, failure to not account for sight obstructions due to the design of ones vehicle or other vehicles on the road was not an excuse to violate another's right of way on the road and cause an accident.

If this crash HAD NOT involved a pedestrian being hit and killed and was only instead a fender bender caused by "the driver's view obstructed either by the design of the van or another vehicle," it seems doubtful that charges would still be pending. Let's just hope that the Brick PD are simply being thorough and "dotting their 'i's and crossing their 't's" with this very serious incident.


Officials to work at making a Brick road intersection safer
Asbury Park Press • Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6zdscd

By ED JOHNSON
Staff Writer

Another fatality at Chambers Bridge Road and Ovation Way has township officials planning to huddle with Ocean County engineers to determine what can be done to make the intersection safer.

Christine Wirth, 78, became the crossing's latest victim July 21 as she attempted to navigate what has become the township's deadliest intersection on her motorized scooter. A left-turning van, driven by Ronald R. Caroselli, 69, of Lakewood, struck her as she was halfway across the four-lane roadway, said Sgt. Donald Ling of the police department's traffic-safety unit.

At the Forge Pond Apartments, there was both shock and sadness at Wirth's death. Friends said a physical therapist showed up at her apartment July 22 for a previously scheduled appointment, only to learn of her death.

"She was a wonderful lady," said Terri Phillips. "She was my mother's best friend. I guess I knew her for almost 20 years. She was a big part of the community here, always talking to people. Always so lively. She will be missed."

Last year, three people were killed as they tried to cross Chambers Bridge Road, but unlike Wirth, they all were crossing illegally. In Wirth's case, she was in the crosswalk and the traffic signal was in her favor, police said. But that same signal was also green for the left-turning van, police said.

Investigators are still trying to sort out the details of the accident, Ling said. There have been no charges filed in the crash, he said.

"That's not to say there won't be charges," Ling said. "We have to look at a lot of factors. Was the driver's view obstructed either by the design of the van or another vehicle?"

Phillips said she'd be surprised if Wirth had been careless.

"She was always so careful with that scooter," she said. "It was relatively new, and she had just had a new battery put in. She went everywhere with that, but she was always so careful."

For the township, the accident has forced another look at what police said is the highest pedestrian-volume intersection in the community.

Flanked by the Brick Township Housing Authority's Forge Pond Apartments on one side, and a shopping plaza and the U.S. Post Office on the other, this part of Chambers Bridge Road has become a dangerous area that is regularly crossed by the residents of the 266-unit assisted-living apartments. The age-restricted housing has many elderly residents, none younger than 62 years old, according to the housing authority.

"It's an area where people have to be extra-cautious," Ling said. "You have a lot of older residents crossing, and many have physical infirmities."

The township made the area a priority last year and teamed with county engineers to try and eliminate safety hazards there, Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said.

Among the improvements were the installation of a fence along Chambers Bridge Road designed to keep people from trying to walk across and avoid the crosswalks, officials said.

Jersey Central Power & Light also installed an additional 15 street lights in the area and equipped them with high-intensity bulbs that doubled the area's lighting, Acropolis said.

"All of the obvious things have been addressed at this location," Ocean County Engineer Frank Scarantino said. "Between Brick and ourselves, we've done all of those things."

Now engineers will do an in-depth analysis of this particular accident to see if there is something else that could be corrected, Scarantino said. Among the options that could be explored are the timing sequence of the lights at the crossing.

One option that Acropolis wants explored is the possibility of an "all-red intersection," which would keep the traffic signals red for vehicles in all directions when the crosswalk is being used.

"It's been used in other areas," he said. "It might be what is needed here."

The county has already installed "talking crosswalk" signals that assist pedestrians, Ling said. Those mechanisms trigger an audible signal when pushed to cross. The signals tell a pedestrian to wait or walk. When there is 17 seconds of crossing time left before a light's due to change, it begins a countdown to assist those trying to cross, Ling said.

Among the suggestions that probably won't happen is a pedestrian overpass, Acropolis said.

It's an option that was explored, but because of the engineering requirements, the best spot would be a half-mile away from the shopping centers, he said.

A crossing guard for peak hours is also an option, the mayor said.

"We're not stopping," Acropolis added. "We want to be sure we have done everything possible to make this intersection as safe as possible."

New Jersey Bike and Ped News for Monday, August 4th, 2008

New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian News Digest for Monday, August 4th, 2008

34 Articles / Links


Headline

Experts: Bike, pedestrian safety an uphill battle
Gloucester County Times • Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6f274o


NJ Bike/Ped News

Officials to work at making a Brick road intersection safer
Asbury Park Press • Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6zdscd

Speed tables placed in Brick neighborhood (read comments)
Asbury Park Press • Friday, August 1, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5syqhd

New trail opens up 2.5 mile stretch
The Trenton Times • Sunday, August 3, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6enupo

Denville bridge project will close roads in August
Daily Record • Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5dmhwy

Deaths prompt focus on rail safety in Manville
The Courier News • Sunday, August 3, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5ecs4r

Small-town chaos
The Star-Ledger • Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6fl7av

Route 1 road work on schedule
The Home News Tribune • Saturday, August 2, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5w6omy

Morristown in running for cycling hall of fame
The Courier News • Sunday, August 3, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/63xj2s

Hoboken cyclist in NYPD uproar is back on job
The Jersey Journal • Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6e7kud

Doctors: Texting while walking dangerous
Courier-Post • Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6opbz6


Crash Report

Two pedestrians were sent to hospital after being hit by vehicle
Courier-Post • Monday, August 4, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6nlsvd

Man struck by tractor-trailer in Piscataway, hospitalized in serious condition
The Home News Tribune • Saturday, August 2, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6fn3cv

Bicyclist injured in accident in Long Beach Township (read comments)
Asbury Park Press • Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5pqnnk
&
Woman bicyclist in trauma center after being struck on Long Beach Blvd
Press of Atlantic City • Wednesday, July 30, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6ogd9m

Pedestrian hit by vehicle in Cape May
South Jersey News Online • Wednesday July 30, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5vvs6l

IMPROPER PASSING: Truck hits cyclist on one-lane bridge
Courier-Post • Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6d5m57

Follow-up: Progress in recovery of 6-year-old hit-run victim
The Jersey Journal • Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5cnzxx


Opinion

Editorial: Pathway funding going off course
Asbury Park Press • Friday, August 1, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/585dgb

Editorial: Protect pedestrians, bicyclists by building safer roads
The Home News Tribune • Saturday, August 2, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5er723

Editorial: Be aware of foot and pedal power
Gloucester County Times • Monday, August 4, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6gx76n

Letter: Route 18 work should include sidewalks
The Home News Tribune • Saturday, August 2, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6hojyn

Editorial: HITS & MISSES, HIT: Pedals blooming (last entry)
The Home News Tribune • Saturday, August 2, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5znanb

Letter: Intelligence is best bike safety measure
The Record • Saturday, August 2, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6x78fm


Beyond New Jersey

Man testifies he shot boy after feeling threatened
Courier-Post • Friday, August 1, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6jv7rw

Police and a Cyclists’ Group, and Four Years of Clashes
The New York Times • Monday, August 4, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5gnpwl

Op-Ed: Struck by New York
The New York Times • Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6dj9jo

Op-Ed: Put the brakes on these bicyclists
The Daily News • Wednesday, July 30, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6gpakd

Whalley Suggestions Don’t Impress DOT (read comments)
New Haven Independent (Connecticut) • Wednesday, July 30, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6dxpex

Last Thursday becomes nearly carfree, naturally
Bike Portland Blog • Friday, August 1, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5pvpv5

Emeryville firm pays employees to bike
San Francisco Chronicle • Wednesday, July 30, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6jmr88

Hit-and-run driver who struck 19 ruled insane
AP via Press of Atlantic City • Friday, August 1, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6psp8u

Risking Life and Limb, Riding a Bike to Work in L.A.
WSJ via Yahoo News • Friday, August 1, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5q5kp9


Fun / Humor

Bikers strip for eco demonstration
AP via The Jersey Journal • Monday, August 4, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/587jtm

Action Alert - Contact Senator Lautenberg Today

Bicycle Resolution
Recognizing the importance of bicycling in transportation and recreation

Take Action!

Contact Senator Lautenberg on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee

House Congressional Resolution 305 (H.CON.RES. 305), dubbed the National Bike Bill sponsored by Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), which passed the House of Representatives on May 21, 2008, is scheduled to be considered by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, this Thursday, July 31, 2008, at 10am. Please take a moment to contact your Senator on the Committee to thank them in advance for their support of this resolution which recognizes the importance of bicycling in transportation and recreation.

Click here to Take Action

http://capwiz.com/lab/issues/alert/?alertid=11719911&PROCESS=Take+Action

Pay As You Drive Insurance Coming to NJ

From the Burlington County Times

The Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J. - One auto insurance company is offering Garden State motorists discounts of up to 60 percent if they install a high-tech monitoring device.

The wireless devices will tell Progressive how many miles are driven, how fast people accelerate and hit the brakes.

Under the pay-as-you-drive concept, good drivers will get discounts and lead foots could face surcharges as high as 9 percent.

New Jersey will be the fifth state to offer the option.

Progressive says in other states, about one-third of the company's customers have enrolled. They're saving about 10 to 15 percent.

The program will begin Aug. 8.

NJ Bike/Ped News for July 28

New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian News Digest for Friday, July 25, 2008

42 Articles


Headline

4th fatality at deadly crossing (More in Crash Reports) Asbury Park Press • Thursday July 24, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/56xt8q

Soaring gas prices fueling more bicycle rides by workers Courier News • Saturday, July 26, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6rsjk6

A way to alleviate the sting of high gas prices? Bike it The Home News Tribune • Wednesday, July 23, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6xc3z3

Consumers make changes, but will they last?
The Home News Tribune • Sunday July 20, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/69qg98

Square Visions
The Jersey Journal • Wednesday, July 23, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5hjfuk

Wanaque Ave. to undergo construction
Daily Record • Monday, July 21, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5vc5lw

NJ is well equipped for — but not always open to — transit-oriented development The Home News Tribune • Tuesday, July 22, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/6oj2tq

Victory Bridge is called perilous
Asbury Park Press • Thursday July 24, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/67kfus

Cops: 30 bike thefts in 30 days
Hoboken Now • Monday July 21, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5tsel9

Is Eight (More) Enough at the Hoboken PATH station?
Hoboken Now • Thursday July 24, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6a8tqr

Another bicycle theft thwarted by a Good Samaritan Hoboken Now • Wednesday July 23, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5ebx2a

Gateway Two draft ordinance debated at Planning Board meeting Independent Press • Wednesday July 23, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/6m8scu

Brook bridge hits a major snag
Daily Record • Friday, July 25, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6oks6m

Tour de France bike on display at mall
The Somerset Reporter • Thursday, July 24, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6pfda5

Obituary: Robert Yard, 89, competitive cyclist The Star-Ledger • Thursday, July 24, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5ar6l5


Crash Report

Boy hit-run victim fights for life
The Jersey Journal • Wednesday, July 23, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/69e328
&
Update: Police make arrest in hit-and-run The Jersey Journal • Wednesday, July 23, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5u2vt9

Disabled pedestrian killed crossing road in Brick Asbury Park Press • Tuesday, July 22, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/65kjuq & Woman on scooter struck, killed while crossing street Asbury Park Press • Tuesday, July 22, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/68wru3
&
UPDATE: Woman killed while trying to cross road in Brick identified Asbury Park Press • Tuesday, July 22, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5baoxo

Edison man killed in Bedminster crash
Daily Record • Friday, July 25, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/69z5nd

Follow-up: Authorities name person killed in Route 130 crash The Trenton Times • Tuesday, July 22, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/56bc9v

Follow-up: Pedestrian ID'd in hit and run The Record • Friday, July 25, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5zl97e


Opinion

Letters: Is helmet law no longer valid? & Accident story lacked humanity Asbury Park Press • Wednesday July 23, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/6rn7lm

Column: High gas prices may better our lives The Home News Tribune • Friday, July 25, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5dwxcc


Beyond New Jersey

Editorial: Bike Sharing
The Philadelphia Inquirer • Monday, June 9, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5n3xv6

Philly Near the Top of a Good List?
Phillyist Blog • Tuesday, July 22, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6a6ko8

Google Walking Directions Needs Some Work Philadelphia Bicycle News • Thursday, July 24, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5myzdf

America's Most Fuel-Efficient Neighborhoods Forbes Magazine • Wednesday July 2, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5ua6sr

Portland, OR, Rides Bikes Around High Gas Prices (Audio) See Related Stories NPR • Wednesday, July 23, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6c23c7

Making Cities More Walkable
NPR • Monday, July 21, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6kwkee

Officials say cyclists safer on streets
Forum Communications Co. Fargo, ND • Sunday, July 20, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5rfpjf

Salt.Lake City Council hopes changes to parking rules encourages 'walkable' neighborhoods The Salt Lake Tribune • Wednesday July 23, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/6e8gak

Smaller Industrial Cities Offer Walkable Haven for Families, New Report Says Sun Herald (Mississippi) • Tuesday, July 22, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5p3gz7

Plan to ban cars on part of Market St.
San Francisco Chronicle • Wednesday July 23, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/58trt8

Drivers, Walkers And the Battle For the Streets Washington Post • Sunday, July 6, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/6cnh4c & Drivers Feeling Shunned by D.C.
Washington Post • Sunday, July 6, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5laz48
&
MAP: D.C.'s Plan for Safer Streets
Washington Post • Sunday, July 6, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5dpf3d

Plan for East Rosedale 'does not make sense'
Star-Telegram (Dallas) • Wednesday July 23, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5ud3pu

Conflict between bicyclists, motorists boils over in Brentwood Los Angeles Times • Wednesday July 9, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6oj944

Building Smart in Fuel Crunch, Bike Industry's Gear Shift Pays Off Popular Mechanics • Wednesday July 2, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/684fhg

Bicycle Campaign Gears Up for Campaign Cycle Congressional Quarterly • Monday, July 21, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6jy6w2

Going green, on two wheels
Guardian News (U.K.) • Thursday, July 3, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/6d4nkw

Novak cited after hitting pedestrian
Politico • Wednesday July 23, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6gq5e7

David Suzuki Got Copenhagenized
Copenhagenize Blog • Tuesday, July 22, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/59ea5v

Cycling to the left or to right? (More with audio link) BBC News • Tuesday, July 22, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6ms558

Mayor launches cycling campaign
BBC News • Tuesday, July 22, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/69sjsg


National Nightly News Video Special

Building a bicycle infrastructure
NBC Nightly News • Monday, July 7, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6gfpt7

Ride a bike, lengthen your life
NBC Nightly News • Tuesday, July8, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6pdjpa

Switching Gears From Car To Bike
CBS Evening News • Wednesday July 16, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/57nz7e


Fun / Humor

Firefighters in bike race
The Star-Ledger • Friday, July 25, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6apae9



AJB