Here are the most noteworthy stories we came across last week…
A politico’s Pronto post-mortem: Former Seattle City Councilor Jean Godden said fear of not appearing progressive enough was part of the political “hubris” to blame for the system’s failure.
Clear and present bias: A perfect (and perfectly sad) example of police and media bias in a case where a driver was initially exonerated without facts, only to be found guilty of distracted driving after a court hearing.
A new terror: Terrorism is the new frontier of motor vehicle violence, and it’s also the latest impetus for street infrastructure that protects vulnerable road users.
The problem with technology: Elon Musk and his acolytes like to think they can solve any transport problem with futuristic tech. That’s why it’s sort of funny that auto parking is such a mess at Tesla HQ.
Walking is a crime in Sacramento: A police officer is being investigated for criminal misconduct after tackling and beating-up a man who was legally walking across a street.
Drunk biking and walking: The Wall St. Journal covered a report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that encourages road agencies to take drunk biking and walking more seriously as factors in crashes.
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London’s low-emissions zone: As a way to curb air pollution and make their city center safer for humans, London will establish an “Ultra Low Emission Zone” by next year and charge the most polluting vehicles to enter it.
Eudaly’s incomplete narrative: During her election campaign, Portland Commissioner Chloe Eudaly told a gripping story of her father being killed while driving — but didn’t mention he was legally intoxicated and that the collision he caused took the life of another person two innocent people.
More development, more people: Get the lowdown on all those new buildings springing up on the eastside near the Burnside Bridge.
State of the road bike: More adventure and individuality are the takeaways from this year-old (new to me) essay that I think is a very good take on what’s happening to the road bike market.
It’s the road design, stupid (or stupid road design): Finally! A mainstream media article on the rising vulnerable user death tollthat looks beyond lazy victim-blaming and considers the role of bad road design.
Anonymously on-point: Portland Mercury I, Anonymous article is a good reminder that our city’s outdated form of government needs to go.
Oslo knows: Speaking of our local government, they need to watch and learn from the latest Streetfilm that documents the inspiring strategies Oslo, Norway is using to have their downtown completely carfree by 2019.
Oslo: The Journey to Car-free from STREETFILMS on Vimeo.
“Rogue bike share”: The PR campaign against a new wave of bike share companies is in full-effect. This reminds me of what happened when Uber bullied its way into cities without waiting for regulations or often the blessing of local governments.
Thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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