Happy Monday everyone. I was out of town visiting family for a few days last week (you might have noticed the lack of posts), so this week’s Roundup is a bit spare.
Here are the best stories I read and bumped into thanks to reader submissions…
Adding immunity to injury: An interesting legal case from Illinois found that municipalities don’t have blanket immunity to lawsuits for poorly maintained bike paths (but it’s still hard to find them liable).
Auto industry is not dumb: The post-millenial generation might not be gung-ho about owning a car right when they turn 16; but don’t let that fool you into thinking the auto industry will retract its claws from them. Not a chance.
Shop while you drive: GM’s suite of car brands now has a “Marketplace” option for their dashboard screens that allows drivers to shop and order items while they f’ing drive. What could possibly go wrong?
Drive better > dress better: Hell of a lede on this news story from British Columbia: “Moments after receiving a safety reflector designed to help increase pedestrian visibility, a Victoria-area man was struck by a car in downtown Sidney.”
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Mom/racer balancing act: Women who dedicate their lives to racing bikes often don’t menstruate until they retire and that can weigh heavily on family-planning options.
Senator scofflaw: New York State Senator Marty Golden has landed in hot water for allegedly impersonating a cop after hitting a bicycle rider, then fleeing the scene through a red light. Add in his 10 school zone speeding violations and the fact that the person he hit was a transit activist and community board member and you’ve got a perfect storm of car culture karma.
Quick/easy/cheap bus-only lane: Boston’s transit authority wanted to speed up bus traffic so they simply placed some orange cones to create a dedicated lane. It worked great. So simple. So easy. PBOT and TriMet, are you listening?
Perspective matters: Another reason to encourage bicycle use is that the simple act of pedaling has been shown to make people safer drivers.
Self-driving vaporware: Oh look, a major automaker has delayed their rollout of self-driving features — which will only fan the flames of people who are skeptical of the zeal for our AV/self-driving future.
Thanks to everyone who shared links this week.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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