Cyclist Mike Reuter was the first person to utilize a little-known legal procedure known as the Citizen Initiation of Violation Proceedings. This legal process allows crash victims to take the law into their own hands. It was first brought to light by Portland lawyer Ray Thomas and I posted about it back in January. Back … Read more
Roger Louton, board member of the Portland United Mountain Pedalers and Western Oregon state representative for the International Mountain Bicycling Association, will attend the 2006 IMBA Summit/World Mountain Bike Conference this June in Whistler, BC. According to their website, the Conference, “will be a global gathering of mountain bike advocates, trailbuilders, land managers, tourism professionals, … Read more
Lawyer Ray Thomas, of the Portland-based Swanson, Thomas and Coon law firm has announced a new initiative. He plans to form a legal team to scrutinize the Bicycle Bill to make sure that a “fair share” of state highway construction funds are going toward bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
In my post last week about changing existing stop sign and yield laws for cyclists, I referred to City of Portland Transportation Planner Stuart Gwin. I’d heard that Stuart had some previous involvement with the Idaho statute that allows bicycles to roll stop signs. Stuart was formerly the chair of the Citizen Advisory Committe for … Read more
[Photo: Ed Abrahamson] The three-foot rule that recently passed as a city ordinance in Grants Pass has generated some good discussion. A few minutes ago I got an email from Ed Abrahamson. Ed is the Principal Planner for the Multnomah County Land Use and Transportation Program. He shared this photo he took last summer while … Read more
I don’t usually cover news from other cities, but since road safety issues are a very hot topic in Portland right now, I thought I’d pass on some news from Grants Pass. Grants Pass is a town of about 25,000 just north of the California border. According to Mark Lansing, a bicyclist and lawyer from … Read more
Last week, there was a lot of discussion about a stop sign enforcment mission by the Traffic Division of the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). In response to a citizen complaint, they sent several officers out to SE 23rd and Salmon Streets to nab law-breaking cyclists. Until now, the one group we hadn’t heard from was … Read more
As I reported back in March, a group of community activists and artists are working on a new “Share the Road” mural that will soon adorn the side of Hawthorne Auto Clinic (4307 SE Hawthorne) in Southeast Portland.
[Shared lane marking, a.k.a. “sharrow”.](Photo by Todd Boulanger) These roadway markings in Northwest Portland are known as shared lane markings, or sharrows. They were installed back in September as an experimental project, and they’re still awaiting official sanction. Because the markings are still new to many road users, the City of Portland has developed a … Read more
If you think bicycle commuters deserve the same tax benefits from employers that already exist for drivers and transit users now is the time to make your voice heard. I just got this urgent call to action from Jessica Roberts at the BTA.
The Portland Development Commission needs to hear from you about what traffic safety projects you care about on the Vancouver/Williams corridor. The meeting is tonight from 6-8PM. I know this is way late notice, but this is an important opportunity to weigh in on traffic safety issues. If I could make it, I would tell … Read more
[Photo by quite peculiar.] For many years, the prevailing mantra from bicycle advocates has been, “Same roads, same rights, same rules.” Beyond a catchy slogan, the thought is that this puts bicycles on a level playing field with motorists in the court of law and public opinion. This seems to make sense. However, the problem … Read more