The Monday Roundup

“Finding beer on a bike in Portland is about as hard as finding a duty-free shop in an airport.”
BikesnobNYC on the Hop in the Saddle book

Welcome back from the weekend. Here’s the news and other interesting stuff that caught our eyes this past week…

Support for building more roads for cars is falling in America, according to a National Resource Defence Council poll (PDF), as more people recognize the need to improve other transportation options.

The New York Times highlights how few penalties there are for people who drive recklessly in New York City.

– Meanwhile, a person driving a car was found not-guilty of criminally negligent homicide after a collision in Texas that resulted in two people’s deaths. One of the victim’s family members said the ruling was, “kind of a shot in the bottom to the biking community… Why don’t they just put a big target on their backs? It’s just pathetic.”

– The Emily “6 Kids and no car” Finch story continues to spread around the globe — nearly three months after we shared it here on the Front Page. Last week her story caught fire again, appearing in the Daily Mail, The Sun, the Today Show blog, MSN.com, and many others.

– Crowdsourced data is helping people find the best (and avoid the worst) routes for bicycling in Berlin.

– As an Oregon man prepares to launch a ballot measure for bicycle licensing, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is considering requiring large numbered license places on bicycles.

– There’s a disconnect between people promoting bicycle transportation and its critics in New York City.

– Dean Dickinson has released a book documenting his experience riding a bike in 100 different backyard pools.

– One triathlete decided to leave the performance bicycle at home and instead completed a race’s 25-mile cycling segment on a Capital Bikeshare bike.

– There’s a very funny story about shopping for a car that points out how silly it is for so many bike shops to focus on selling bicycles that aren’t designed for transportation.

– Swift Industries, a “two person pannier company” based in Seattle, talks about how they got into the business of building custom touring bags.

– One proposal for safe, separated infrastructure for bicycle traffic on a causeway in Florida comes with the suggestion of tolling people who ride bikes.

– A tabloid-like headline covering Washington DC’s bike share system is the inspiration for a series of hilarious parodies pairing the danger of cars with the Hindenburg, sad puppies, and Tiananmen Square.

– One small yellow sticker on your helmet can automatically notify emergency responders when it detects a collision.

– When examining deadly collisions we might want to avoid blaming anyone involved and blame the road instead.

– The publishers of Momentum Magazine share their opinion on the bicycle helmet debate saying it’s “a waste of resources and a waste of our time as promoters of safe, everyday cycling for transportation” to worry about policing helmet use.

– When it comes to children and safety gear, the Portland-based UrbanMamas aren’t sure how to react when other people’s kids decide not to wear a helmet.

Hop in the Saddle‘s Kickstarter campaign has met it’s goal but the Bike Snob doesn’t get the point of the project when “finding beer on a bike in Portland is about as hard as finding a duty-free shop in an airport.

– There are many reasons why bike theft is so hard to stop and The Atlantic Cities says the best defense may be keeping your bike with you at all times.

Ticket the Talker feels there’s a “culture of acceptance concerning cell phone use while driving” despite the practice being illegal and dangerous and has extensive documentation of people talking and texting while driving around Seattle.

Christine M. Grant shares a tour of 8-House, a building in Denmark with a bike path leading almost to the roof:

– And finally, a Danish television commercial has done what some thought was impossible: it makes riding a bus seem cool:


— Did you find something interesting that should be in next week’s Monday Roundup? Drop us a line. For more great links from around the web, follow us on Twitter @BikePortland.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

11 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Christianne
Christianne
11 years ago

The Bike Snobs comment is kind of hilarious due to the fact that there actually isn’t a duty-free store in the Portland airport.

Andrew K
Andrew K
11 years ago

Hahaha, when I put some money down on the Kickstarter project for the Beer by Bike Guide my wife said the same thing. Do I really need a guide book to help me find good places to ride my bike and have a beer? In Portland!!? No, I probably don’t. In fact as I type this I can think of five great beer drinking spots within about a ten minute bike ride right off the top of my head (special shout out to Gigantic Brewing!).

But whatever, I bought the book anyway. Why? Because it will probably be fun to read regardless and if spending $15 means I support some local authors what the hell, why not? I know more than a few people who spend $15 daily on Starbucks which in my opinion is a whole lot crazier. Besides, leaving a copy of the book on my coffee table at home will probably motivate me to get outside and go out an evening here and there enjoying the company of friends instead of sitting at home.

All the same, I found the link hilarious. 😉

9watts
9watts
11 years ago

This is completely and utterly nuts:

(from the article about two people run over and killed in Texas)

The wreck appeared to renew resentment among many over Gov. Rick Perry’s decision months earlier to veto a statewide safe-passing law.

Prosecutors on Friday argued that Sullaway should have been aware of the “substantial and unjustifiable risk” of failing to control his speed and stay on the roadway.

There’s no explanation as to why he never saw two brightly dressed people riding an 8-foot-long bicycle, Assistant District Attorney Lorina Rummel said.

“This case was a tragedy that was easily preventable,” prosecutor Alaina Altis added. “All he had to do was keep his eyes on the road, his speed down and stay in his lane.”

But Sullaway’s mistakes that day could have been made by anyone in the courtroom, the defense countered.

“Have you ever drifted? Have you ever looked off the roadway?” Mark Stevens asked jurors. “That’s what people do. It doesn’t mean they’re criminals when they do it.”

Kristi Finney-Dunn
Kristi Finney-Dunn
11 years ago
Reply to  9watts

I can barely stand how angry this makes me.

Chris I
Chris I
11 years ago
Reply to  9watts

We must remember that lawyers have no souls.

Serenity now…

JRB
JRB
11 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

We must remember that every one is entitled to a defense. It’s a basic human right. I hope you never find yourself in a situation where you need a lawyer to defend you, but if you do, I am sure you will just go ahead and plead to whatever the prosecution charges you with in order to avoid being a hypocrite. Don’t blame the lawyer, blame the jurors who swallowed this defense.

Kristi Finney-Dunn
Kristi Finney-Dunn
11 years ago
Reply to  JRB

After my son was killed by a drunk hit-and-run driver who overshot a corner and was speeding in the bike lane for 3 blocks, a Vancouver DUII defense attorney used Dustin’s case to advertise for business because the driver (killer!) had rights, too, and my son and our family weren’t the only ones suffering. It was despicable, and fortunately family and friends pressured the attorney enough to take it down. In the case here, I do blame the jurors because of their ignorance but I also blame the attorneys who knowingly and for profit get people off. And I definitely blame the killer here who is taking virtually no responsibility at all for what he’s done. If I killed or injured someone because of my carelessness, negligence, or recklessness, I would expect there to be consequences and I would have the integrity to live with them.

JRB
JRB
11 years ago

Ms. Finney-Dunn: I have never experienced a loss like yours and can’t possibly understand the pain you have endured and continue to endure because of it. Out of respect for that loss and your advocacy for cycling safety I will limit my response to your post to stating that I disagree with your assertion that lawyers should not be paid for their work, that some individuals are not entitled to assistance of counsel, or that any lawyer should be able to decide whether their client deserves less than their best efforts.

wsbob
wsbob
11 years ago
Reply to  9watts

The DA’s office chose to charge and prosecute for a crime…criminally negligent homicide…it came to find it couldn’t prove. MySanantonio did a good job covering the case…I think five stories…I read three. Link to one other than the one linked in the roundup:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Trial-begins-for-motorist-who-killed-bicyclists-3825518.php

“…Prosecutors also introduced into evidence the couple’s mangled bicycle and a recording of Sullaway’s 911 recording.

“I’ve got two bikers down right in front of District 7 Fire and Rescue,” Sullaway could be heard saying, his voice shaky. “I lost control of my truck and ran into them. I lost control.” “. craig kapitan/mysanantonio

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Cyclists-deaths-land-motorist-in-front-of-jury-3825518.php#ixzz26zmlRC3G

Sullaway wasn’t convicted, apparently because Texas law doesn’t find to be criminal, distraction by something outside the vehicle other than the road and what’s on it, losing control of the vehicle because of being so distracted, consequently running into and killing vulnerable road users.

Given that he was speeding, allowed himself to be distracted, subsequently losing control of the vehicle and killed people, he could have been charged and convicted of ‘careless driving’ if Texas has a law like Oregon’s ‘careless driving’ law that includes a vulnerable road user provision written into it: http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/811.135

Tyler w
Tyler w
11 years ago

Very sad about tandem killed :/

9watts
9watts
11 years ago
Reply to  Tyler w

not to mention the two people riding on it.