(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)
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Here are the bike-related links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:
Biking while older: A Danish study of biking obstacles among people over age 50 found that the top three needs were (in descending order) good pavement quality, good lighting and quiet.
The “IKEA bike”: REFRAMED, now early in a Kickstarter, aims to be “a fully customizable self-assemble bike.”
Better crash reports: Police reports about bike crashes should start categorizing by crash type, according to a new Harvard study.
No rush: “Why am I pushing him so hard?” asks the father of one of the 72 percent of 16-year-olds who don’t have driver’s licenses (up from 54 percent in 1983). “An Uber is going to be so much safer than a 16-year-old behind the wheel.”
Courier’s tale: “I had secretly wanted to be a bike messenger ever since I learned that the MSNBC host Rachel Maddow once worked as a bike messenger in Washington,” writes Anne Foster in a personal essay about her work as a courier in Manhattan.
May use full lane: A Salem print shop owner frustrated by people failing to realize that bikes can claim the travel lane made two signs of his own to inform people. The city forced him to take them down.
Street casualty: The traffic death last month of Guadalajara’s best-known bike advocate could cause his movement to fizzle — or catch fire.
The speed of life: London’s 20 mph speed limit zones cut traffic deaths by 35 percent, writes Vox in a roundup of the case for lower local and freeway speed limits.
Bike lane buffers work: Shot; chaser.
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Distracted driving: A Republican-backed bill that would have banned all touchscreen use behind the wheel, including using phone-based maps, has died in the Washington state legislature.
CRC aftermath: Republicans who killed Washington’s support for the defunct Columbia River Crossing expansion are finding their colleagues uninterested in rebooting the process.
Ad ban: Virginia Beach has banned bike-powered rolling ads on its boardwalk.
Solar bike tunnel: Korea has built a bike lane roofed by solar panels down the middle of the highway.
Ghost bikes: A man who co-created the first such memorial tells the story.
Miles traveled: Americans are driving less, but those of us who drive to work are driving farther than ever.
Anti-theft advice: Our friends at Bike Index and local designer Aubree Holliman have created a graphical guide (PDF) on how to not buy a stolen bike.
Pedal city: The latest city to install a bike lane protected by parked cars and posts is Detroit.
Tomorrow’s cars: “We are becoming more of an information company,” the CEO of Ford Motor Co. said last week, predicting self-driving cars within 15 years.
Private mass transit: Good for the rich or good for everyone? CNET investigates.
Street funds: Like most U.S. cities, Vancouver, Washington, is facing a big road funding shortfall and trying to figure out how to raise new money to prevent deterioriation.
And for your video of the week, McDonalds created a bike-through window at a single store in Copenhagen as part of an international campaign to create “gifts of joy.” Hmm.
If you come across a noteworthy bicycle story, send it in via email, Tweet @bikeportland, or whatever else and we’ll consider adding it to next Monday’s roundup.
Thanks for reading.
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I saw the heading “Biking while older” and thought it would be helpful to find out what that’s going to be like. Then I read the abstract and found out I’ve already been doing it for ten years.
Same here. The findings accord with my own experience. I didn’t think they were the preferences of age so much as of gender, in my own case, but then I was already old by the standards of the study when I started riding a bike.
Cycling while “older”; relative word there. The father of a Seattle bike store owner turned 90 a couple of years ago and rode 90 miles on his birthday. A now deceased friend of mine in California rode 80 on her 80th.
WTF is this about 50+ being old????
“Older“, not “Old”. I’m older now than I was when I started typing this. I’ll still ride to work though, so there I go, “biking while ‘older'”.
I saw the story about the Salem man and his “Bicycles may use full lane” signs on the local TV news the other day. I found their coverage of it irksome only because of their ignorance in “explaining” the law Mr. Fox was attempting to make known to drivers. I can’t remember which local channel I saw it on, but both times I saw it covered, the anchor “explained” that the law requires bicyclists to ride as far right as possible (wrong: should be “practicable”), but that they are allowed to use the full lane as long as they aren’t impeding traffic (wrong: there are many reasons—especially when there is no bike lane—that allow a bicyclist to use the full lane, and car drivers can suck it for 30 seconds if they feel “impeded”).
If we want to educate the public about the true nature of the law and the rights bicyclists have, let’s start with The Media and Law Enforcement.
In Cali we have exception 4 to CVC 21202 that says bicyclists may take the full lane “anywhere a right turn is possible”, and it works fairly well with the way traffic flows here and my bicyclists ride. I’d love to see this phrase added to the Oregon ‘FTR’ rules, at the very least.
One of the biggest shortcomings I see, though, is in driver education. OR has its Bicyclist’s Manual and CA only recently added a section on bicycle rules in their Driver’s Manual, but both are written solely around the letter of the law and don’t give rational explanations about where and why a driver might see a “bicyclist taking a lane meant for a car” (to quote a recent YouTube comment that sums up the ignorance so well). DMVs are in the best position I can think of to influence this education, yet even in writing some simple paragraphs with illustrations on the subject they fail to deliver the message. (Plus it’d be nice to see some relevant questions on the tests; they’re not here in CA).
I hope Mr. Fox does what I’ve always wanted to do – make a line of cycling jerseys out of the “May Use Full Lane” sign!
Unfortunately it’s perfectly possible for a person to encounter a driver’s licensing test (and a driver’s manual) only once in their lifetime. This person will know as much about driving laws as they do about algebra!
“it really cannot resemble a regular traffic control sign because that would confuse drivers”
= my favorite part of that article.
I can’t tell you the number of times someone in a car has pulled up to me at a light and told me about signage that confuses them. As if I have anything to do with their inability to comprehend the wide world around them.
This is my favorite sign to be honked at while riding next to:
https://goo.gl/maps/0mkPr
I’ve often thought that our “bike merging left” signs should include the message “autos on bikeway”.
It seems possible to actively overcome the health part for some respondents since around 38 % of the respondents think that an electrical bicycle would get them to cycle again.
Electrical cycles are not bicycles.
I would rather have them “ride” an E-Bike than drive, any day. Pedaling at your capacity is what a E-assist bike can do for you at any age.
Consider this: in Oregon (ORS 801.258) an e bike may not ride on a sidewalk, and a permit is required to ride an e-bike if one is < 17 yrs of age.
If it don't use gravity, tailwind and ATP as its only energy sources, it ain't a bicycle. Adding and engine or motor that is directly or indirectly dependent on fossil fuels corrupts the purity and essence of that which we all instinctively know to be a true bicycle.
Word.
don’t let best be the enemy of very good. People unwilling to compromise, accept others situations or at worst feel threatened by an e-bike has bigger issues.
Or higher standards.
If I charge my electric bike using solar power, is that pure enough for you? What if I charge it using a pedal-powered generator under my desk? I could instead drive my biodiesel car to take my kid to school, but I’m not going to pant and sweat my way up a 400ft climb at 3mph while sucking exhaust and dodging aggressive and distracted drivers.
The word “bicycle” was not first defined by you, nor is it only used by you, so letting your personal opinion define what is a “bicycle” seems illogical. The introduction of an additional power source does not negate the fact that a “bicycle” can still be pedal driven. Even “moped” is by some dictionaries defined as a “bicycle”.
You have the permit information backwards. You do not need a permit to operate an electric assist bicycle, but you must be over 16 years old to do so. Presumably, that means, e-assist bikes are not to be ridden by anyone under 17 – not that they need a permit. Source: http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/807.020 (section 15). The section immediately before that says anyone may operate a bicycle that is not an electric assist bicycle without any type of license or “grant of driving privileges”. Considering there is not grant of driving privileges available to those 16 and under, there is no legal way for this group to ride them legally.
You are generally correct about the e-assist bike on a sidewalk: http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/814.410 (1e); however, in that passage, “Operates an electric assisted bicycle on a sidewalk,” does “operates” mean invoking the e-assist or using the bike at all? In a legal sense, it seems ambiguous. Most e-assist bikes (if not all) have modes in which you can elect to be on 100% human power.
“…You do not need a permit to operate an electric assist bicycle, but you must be over 16 years old to do so. Presumably, that means, e-assist bikes are not to be ridden by anyone under 17 – not that they need a permit. Source: http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/807.020 (section 15). The section immediately before that says anyone may operate a bicycle that is not an electric assist bicycle without any type of license or “grant of driving privileges”. Considering there is not grant of driving privileges available to those 16 and under, there is no legal way for this group to ride them legally. …” John Lascurettes
That’s good information to be aware of. I wonder how commonly this age of rider restriction on the use of e-bikes is known. As more adults buy e-bikes for transportation, it’s likely that when they see their parents ride them, their kids would want to ride them too.
Really? So are any freight shipping bicycocles with e-assist no longer considered bicycles either, despite the operators pedaling them?
guess we have to stop giving props to B-Line…
I’m beginning to think that the only effective solution to this fuzzy grey spectrum of possible vehicle configurations and technologies is a liability system based SOLELY on inertial impact force.
Pure unadulterated science and math: F=m•a
Potential impact force (determines possible lethality and property damage) = Top rated speed of vehicle × Gross Vehicle Carrying Weight (not empty but fully laden to cover cargo bikes)
Such a system is “agnostic”; it doesn’t care what the propulsion method is, only the potential for harm to the general public.
Then, anyone operating such a vehicle must have some form of collision liability insurance that indexes costs and coverage based on simple science. You want to ride a suped up e-bike that can go 45mph and weighs 100 lbs go ahead but you’ll pay to insure it like the electric motorcycle missle that it is.
Even a human powered diamond frame “safety bike” can cause injuries on impact so some sort insurance even at Carsar’s level of preference might be advisable. As much as we might espouse the “freedom” of The Bicycle it too is a machine that has real potential to cause harm under the control of an idjit. We have no ethical high ground to bash e-bikes as if electricity makes the rider evil or unskilled.
Disagree.
I’m doubtful that these low cost mail order bikes are the future (like Ikea bike). They result in people not knowing how to put together bikes dangerous putting them together themselves. Last week at valet someone came in with a Priority bike (a similar Kickstarter low cost designed bike). They had ordered online and to save money built it themselves. Unfortunately, they unknowingly installed the fork backwards which made riding very awkward and dangerous.
Super cheap bikes give the expectation that bicycling should cost next to nothing. To cycle comfortably has some up front costs. Saving money by buying things online works for some people who have had a lot of previous experience buying things in shops.
I clicked on the link for the ‘ikea’ bike, and took a quick look. I must have missed the Ikea association. Whether or not the engineering is sound, the bike looks crude. Hearing how it actually rides, assuming it’s put together well, would be good.
Technically, just to move forward, I suppose all a very basic bike needs, is a frame, wheels, cranks and handlebars. A seat is nice. Good frame, good wheels, good cranks and good bearings, well assembled, may be things many people aren’t familiar with. Despite its ‘eye of the beholder’ beauty, does the ikea quickstarter bike have good stuff?
The REFRAME kickstarter bike is a single speed with a rear coaster brake, and the price (excluding early birds) is USD $230. BikesDirect will sell you a single speed with front and rear caliper brakes for USD $230.
My coworker just crashed his Bikesdirect bike on the streetcar tracks and 3 of the welds broke (2 on the steerer, and 1 on the bottom bracket. Nothing else was damaged…
“Super cheap bikes give the expectation that bicycling should cost next to nothing. To cycle comfortably has some up front costs.”
One thing to get over when it comes to bicycles and costs is the belief that the bike must be *new*. It is such an unimaginative notion. Craigslist is full of decent bikes for $30 – $100 every day of the year, and, despite what many of you suggest in comments here, my Craigslist buying and selling experience over the past twelve years suggests that most of what is for sale in the (bicycle) categories I frequent is *not* stolen.
Ask Bryan Hance for the details but my understanding of the objections to Craigslist (similarly eBay) is that they do not help stop the sale of stolen bikes (and probably other goods). No serial numbers recorded or searchable, you can’t post lost/found notices, you can’t call out known bad sellers, it is nearly impossible to get info from them about posters of probably-stolen stuff (even cops have difficulty), and maybe more. Even if the fraction of stolen goods is low (I believe that), the volume means plenty of badness happens there and they aren’t helping stop it.
That is an interesting problem of Craigslist (the institution). But at the level of the buyer-who-wants-an-affordable-bike I don’t see the problem. I guess I just don’t see the efficacy of boycotting the used bike rubric of Craigslist to get the unrepentant cheeses at CL to clean up their act, when (a) as you note that has so far not worked, and (b) there are hundreds of affordable (not stolen) bikes being advertised in our city right now. If I buy a new bike that doesn’t send CL a message at all; it just means there are more used bikes for those of us who take a more pragmatic view of this particular slice of our flawed economy.
I always try to buy used first, but in defense of those who lean toward new, buying used can be potentially dangerous when a seller and buyer both know little about bicycles and subsequently overlook critical damage.
“when a seller and buyer both know little about bicycles and subsequently overlook critical damage”
That sounds like a bad way to buy anything, new or used. That is what friends (who know something about bikes) are for, eh?
I agree, but some people don’t have friends who know anything more than rudimentary details about bicycles.
But I realize now that when I read your comment, I was thinking only of buying used in the context of Craigslist, and when I said “lean toward new”, I was really thinking of tending toward buying from commercial shops – where the potential I mentioned could still exist, anyway. No more early morning posts for me…
Wow…I am lovin’ that McDonalds (DK) took a page out of Burgerville USAs playbook. Makes perfect sense not to exclude 30% of the pass by traffic especially the young and hungry. That to go bag was very handlebar friendly too..
As someone who has been threatened with arrest at biking thru a PDX Wendy’s etc.afterhours drive thru I am still surprised the CoP planning office still allows “bike dangerous” drive thrus to be permitted. Along with being not ADA compliant too…when the front door is locked but the drive thru is open.
I know it’s McDonald’s and all, but yeah, I loved this, too. Especially loved how they handled the drink. Wish this was every day, everywhere!
Re: Lowering speed limits. Speed limits are a joke without enforcement. I went out I-84 Saturday morning towards Hood River and there was no one going less than 65, me included. Even at that speed I had dozens of people pass, some I’d guess easily doing more than 80. I went all the way from Hollywood to Troutdale in the right lane, in traffic the whole way, and never passed a single vehicle. All this in a 55 mph zone. Posting lower speed limits might be a nice idea but,… it’s mostly just a joke.
the speed limit goes up to 60 around 117th…
I’ll just keep parroting this until the Associated Press puts out a press release…
Pedal city: an empty parking lane and floppy plastic bollards aren’t protection, they’re separation… protection is when immovable objects separate you and the motor vehicles…
Anybody else notice on the standardized traffic crash reporting that the left cross was not included? (Left/Right hook, yes… Left/Right cross, no…)
correction first ghost bike “in NYC.” the first ghost bike was in st. louis in 2003.
About the ban on the guy advertising by bike in Virginia Beach, I am guessing that the same policy does not apply to Cessnas flying over the beach, dragging banner ads behind them.
It’ s always refreshing when something written about bike courier work is not, you know, ‘Quicksilver’. Nice job, Anne Foster!