Welcome to a new week of bike news. Before we get started, let’s look back at the noteworthy stories you might have missed last week…
— There was a big debate last week about people who break traffic laws while bicycling. It started with a post on The Atlantic Cities titled, “Cyclists Aren’t ‘Special,’ and They Shouldn’t Play by Their Own Rules” and spurred a response from Greater Greater Washington titled, “Cyclists are special and do have their own rules.”
— The NY Times weighed in on the “YIMBY versus NIMBY” debates about the launch of bike share in New York City.
— Is it time to lower the legal limit of alcohol intoxication for people operating vehicles? The National Transportation Safety Board thinks so.
— Did you see the great video profile of Portland’s Apex Bar? It explains beautifully why a business owner would go out of their way to appeal to people who ride bikes.
— I’ve been accused of over-reacting in the past when I make a big deal about people who make verbal threats to other road users. Now I’ll always point to this story in Colorado, where man who previously complained that people on bikes don’t belong on the road was arrested for killing one of them.
— A coffee shop along the route of the Amgen Tour of California posted a mean-spirited flyer on their door that said (in part): “No coffee for you, silly out of town rich people in spandex. Don’t come back!”
— Thanks to a new law in Houston, a person can no longer throw objects from their car with the intent of hitting someone riding a bicycle. The reader that shared this link said, “My sister lives in Houston and gets around by bike. She had no idea it was okay to throw things at cyclists or pedestrians from car windows until now.”
— I’m not sure I follow the Wall St. Journal’s logic on this one. They say the fall of Lance Armstrong is behind the trend away from bright-colored spandex and toward more subdued and stylish on-the-bike fashion?
— Neighborhood Notes published a great roundup of where to learn to work on your bike and where to ride it in Portland.
— Noted urban planning commentator Richard Florida took a look at the recently released Bike Score numbers and wrote a story about America’s most bikeable neighborhoods.
— Bicycling Magazine released a visually compelling piece of online reporting that calls for improvements to helmet technology in order to prevent concussions.
— National Public Radio chimed in on biking during Bike to Work Week. Unfortunately they focused on the dangers of riding to work and even asked the ridiculous question, “Does it make you healthier?”