posted August 30, 2008
In response to the statement that balance and common sense do not mix very well, at least not with cars and bicycle, I would like to refute that. Balance and common sense is exactly what is needed in mixing of bikes and cars, and it mixes very well.
Many people who have not ridden a bicycle as transportation exaggerate the dangers of it. It can seem scary getting in with those heavier, faster vehicles. But think to your first days of driving. How scary was that. But with practice, experience and learning the rules of the road, we became more comfortable (and hopefully better skilled) at driving.
Bike riding in traffic is like that also. Studies have shown that bicycling among all cyclists, regardless of experience or skill, is no more dangerous then driving. Cycling by experienced riders following the rules of the road can be safer than driving.
I have been riding my bicycle as transportation for years now. The more I ride, the more I learn, the easier it becomes. I get my quota of people, who apparently do not know the laws, yelling at me to get on the sidewalks, but it seems to me that many drivers respond positively to a cyclist that is riding predictably and lawfully. I try to be considerate of my fellow road users and I get that in return.
Because bike use is only used in this area less then 1%, many have a hard time imagining that bicycles can be a significant transportation mode. But it only takes looking at other cites in the United States - Portland, Ore, Davis, Calif., Boulder, Colo. to name a few - and even more so in European countries to see that it can.
And not only can, but should. The positives that bicycle transportation brings go way beyond the saving at the pump. When the South is serious about tackling its obesity, health costs, air pollution and many other headliner problems, we will look to the easiest and cheapest and most available piece of the solution.
All it would take to really get bike transportation going is an act of imagination. Then we can address the challenges that have people insisting it is too dangerous, not practical and not enough people will do it to make a difference.
Let's get Chattanooga rollin.
Colleen Carboni
Chattanooga
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Experience level makes no difference. Physics is physics and there's no way even an experienced bicycle rider can navigate the vacuum created behind a large truck as it travels down the road, or the blast of air which occasionally precedes it just before the vacuum that follows. Couple that with the fact there are so many inexperienced riders on the road, not to mention those who want to flaunt the laws and rules of the road, and we have a perfect recipe for disaster.
Can a bicycle maintain a constant speed of 35 miles per hour? How about 45 MPH? There are laws concerning traveling slower than the rest of traffic, even if they aren't enforced very often.
How about when a gust of wind might blow a bicycle into a lane of traffic? It wouldn't be a good day for the bicycle, or the rider. Wind gusts strong enough to blow a bicycle off course happen frequently, much more frequently than those who ride would care to admit, but there we go with that physics deal again.
Traveling via bicycle on a residential street or in an area specifically designated for that purpose is one thing. Traveling in normal traffic and on roadways designed for car and truck traffic is entirely another. Just because we can is no good reason to throw common sense out the window.
All this brouhaha over bicycles traveling where physics just does not encourage their use is beginning to make me need a physic.
Royce E. Burrage Jr.
Royce@OfficiallyChapped.org
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Yes, physics can be problematic. Each year, approximately 6500 pedestrians and 900 bicyclists are killed in collisions with motor vehicles. As a group, pedestrians and bicyclists comprise more than 14% of all highway fatalities each year (FHWA). The Mean Streets 2000 report concluded that on a per-mile basis, walking is more dangerous than driving, flying, or riding a bus or train, yet we are all pedestrians. On the other end of the scale however, about 5000 motorists are killed each year in car-truck collisions. A 4000 pound automobile doesn’t do so well versus an 80,000 pound truck either. So, if mass is the true issue here, then why is it necessary for a 150 pound person to wrap themselves in 4000 pounds of steel and other materials for a 2 mile trip to pick up a 1 pound loaf of bread, putting other road users at significant risk?
In terms of speed, Chattanooga is already facing congestion issues. As larger cities have found, our current model of single-occupancy vehicles is not fully sustainable as volumes increase. If everyone continues driving single-occupancy vehicles for all trips, then no one will be traveling at 45 miles per hour before long. Bicycling is simply an efficient, healthy, non-polluting transportation option for some people and some trips depending on a variety of circumstances. The question then is about balance, choice, efficiency and equity. While some facilities are segregated such as limited access highways, sidewalks and truck restricted streets, the bulk of our transportation network is integrated in some fashion. Balancing these needs is the work of traffic engineers and a host of other professionals guided by public involvement and policy. Is it wrong to imagine a future where people can walk and bike safely throughout our community?
Philip Pugliese
Bicycle Coordinator
Outdoor Chattanooga
ppugliese@outdoorchattanooga.com
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To redress both of the positive writers about bicycles, I own two but have not logged a mile this year. Yes, I believe there is a place for them, but not on narrow roads. Some, but not all, bicycle fatalities could be ruled "Death by Arrogance."
On Labor Day my wife and I made a special trip to have lunch at River Street Deli. We enjoy most of the shops and restaurants in that area. Returning home we were driving on Manufacturers Road only to be held up by two, color-coordinated, side-by-side, apparently self-righteous cyclists hogging the entire lane.
Looking over their shoulder made them aware of the cars behind, but neither chose to fall into single file.
Thank God, I did not have a paintball gun with me or another color may have been added to those middle aged "men in tights."
Before you think this is only one instance, where John Ross Road meets South Crest Road, I was made privy to about six cyclists crossing the Ridge heading in the Fort Oglethorpe direction. None chose to move to the wide and smooth sidewalk or to fall into single file. Traffic again was made to wait as the "spandex clones" ambled on. This happened on a Thursday or Friday morning about a week ago.
I see bicycles almost every day that I work outside the office. Most have manners and do not tempt fate. It seems the more expensive the bike or uniform the more demanding the cyclist is of traffic flow. I drive more than 30,000 miles per year in my job; safely most of the time. I see bad drivers, stoned drivers, cell phone gabbing drivers, drivers with half a kindergarten in the back.
When cyclists demand that all drivers pay attention to them first and their two wheelers, each becomes a foolish gambler with little to gain.
Carnell Storie
CarnellStorie@comcast.net
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