Pueblo Bicycling

Public Review of Pueblo Bike Map

The public is encouraged to attend two public comment sessions on an updated map identifying bike routes for the City of Pueblo and Pueblo West. Sessions are scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009, Pueblo West Library Branch, 298 S. Joe Martinez Boulevard and from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Wednesday June 24 (National Bike to Work Day), Pueblo County Conference Room, 1001 N. Santa Fe Avenue. Public is invited to give input to improve the map and encourage safe cycling around Pueblo for fun, commuting to work or school and to help make health and fitness a part of one’s everyday life. Hosted by the Pueblo Active Community Environments Committee (PACE); additional information available at 583-4315.

Fine Possible If Bike Collides With Open Car Door

The plan also eliminates a requirement that riders allow three feet between their bike and any vehicle. It is expected to be considered by the Assembly.

I’m for equal rights for bicyclists compared to car drivers. I’m for improving the rights of bicyclists. But with those equal rights come equal (proportionate) responsibilities. Eliminating the three foot safety zone looks like we think we can have it both ways. And that’s wrong. Either we follow a rule or we don’t.

Are there certain times or places where the three-foot rule won’t apply? Of course. No rule applies in all situations, except for the rule that there is no rule that applies in all situations (try to follow that drunk; it’s a blast). But that doesn’t simply mean we throw out the rule altogether.

Last push for the Colorado Bicycle Safety Bill

This bill would cover several situations that are not currently clear in Colorado’s law and given the warming of Colorado we need to pass this bill. It also covers harassment of bicyclists. The full text of the Bill is located here and we have a big vote coming up so be sure to Contact your state house rep and urge them to vote for this legislation.

I needed to adjust the rear brake to stop it from grinding on the wheels. After that, went for a quick trip down to radio shack for a telescoping antenna. I was a bit out of shape, but it went pretty well and with the weather cooperating this is the start of biking season. Next is some Garage Sales and maybe a trip to the riverwalk

GM and Segway unveil new two-wheeled urban vehicle - Yahoo! News

Ideally, the vehicles would also be part of a communications network that through the use of transponder and GPS technology would allow them to drive themselves. The vehicles would automatically avoid obstacles such as pedestrians and other cars and therefore never crash, Burns said.

As a result, the PUMA vehicles would not need air bags or other traditional safety devices and include safety belts for “comfort purposes” only, he said.

I write about this on a bicycling blog because this will add a new type of vehicle out there (if this actually does become a factor in our transportation network) so bicyclists should know if and when this item comes around.

Now, they write about “ideally” and ideally is nice. Ideally all bicyclists would know the rules of the road and how to keep themselves out of accidents and whatnot so that a helmet would be a “comfort device” and not pushed as a one-size-fits-all band aid. But that’s not the case and I doubt that it will be with this new PUMA, even if such a GPS and transponder network were in place.

Now even though the typical response would be to tell people there is already a cheap and efficient personal utility mobility and accessibility project known as the bicycle, this is interesting. Yes it would be nice if everybody could ride a bike (well, maybe not if you have ever been at a critical mass event), but the aging of America will eventually bring about a large number of people who will need such a device even if we forget about the obesity of America. And I don’t know about you but I would much rather face one of these than the four wheel type most of the time.

Road Rage in Portland: Bikes, Cars Clash | Newsweek Project Green | Newsweek.com

“It’s reached a certain level of madness,” said resident Jim Blackwood, who kicked off a fiery discussion earlier this month when he blogged about nearly hitting a cyclist who was riding at night without lights or a helmet and had cruised through a red light. Two blocks later, Blackwood saw two more bikes without lights. “Why isn’t the bike community insisting everybody have a helmet and lights on the front and back of the bicycles?,” he said.

Actually I would think you’d be insisting that bicyclists learn the road rules. Nothing about a helmet is going to prevent a bicyclist from running a red light. On the contrary, we have several studies that show that wearing a helmet increases the bicyclists chances of getting hit.

Now what we should be concerned about is bicyclists endangering themselves and others while out biking. Yes, there are a few loose screws behind steering wheels these days. Yes, we should protest them as well. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t also be telling other bicyclists not to go down the road the wrong way, for example.

Too often this gets framed as an “either-or” argument. Either we focus on drivers or we pile on self-blame for bicyclists who ignore the law. I don’t see why we can’t do both at the same time, however. Talking about bad bicyclists is not being an apologist for cagers, nor is talking about bad drivers license for bicyclists to ignore the rules of the road.

FindLaw’s Common Law: Brian Bosworth, aka The Boz, Arrested for DUI … on his Motorcycle! Driving a Number of Vehicles Can Lead to a DUI

For anyone who harbored any doubts, yes, you can still get a DUI for riding a motorcycle, even though, in all likelihood, the greatest risk posed is to yourself. In some states you can get a DUI for driving vehicles such as snowmobiles, ATV’s, golf carts, or even electric wheelchairs!

Not in terms of the second statement. I think anybody who rides a bicycle notes that you don’t have to be driving a car to be charged with DUI. But the first statement I think assumes that everybody will be in a two ton vehicle and not either on a bicycle, other motorcycle or out walking.

Denver Cycling Examiner: Bicycle safety bill passes Colorado Senate

Bicycle Colorado has been at the forefront of lobbying efforts to get the bicycle safety bill passed. The organization’s executive director, Dan Grunig, said rigorous enforcement is not the ultimate goal, but rather setting a standard and sense of expectation for drivers that can be easily understood. “Three feet is pretty easy to envision because if a bicyclist were to stick their arm straight out that would be about 3 feet,” Grunig said.

This is not some hard, abstract standard that you have to enforce here. It’s pretty much the length of your arm. And even in a car you should be able to tell within a few inches how close that is.

Fort Pierce man pleads no contest in crash that killed cyclist : St. Lucie County : TCPalm

Fort Pierce man charged with DUI manslaughter for driving into and killing a Vero Beach bicyclist Feb. 1 pleaded no-contest Friday to a charge of DUI with serious bodily injury.

According to Florida Highway Patrol reports, Jeffrey Loforte, 55, rear-ended a bicycle ridden by Merywn L. Russell Jr., 50, who was wearing a helmet with a headlight and had a flashing tail light and reflectors on his bike, on U.S. 1 in northern Fort Pierce.

DUI with serious bodily injury? Uh, yeah, I would think so. Anytime somebody gets killed I would suspect that it is “serious bodily injury”.

We all realize what the prosecutors were trying to get this guy behind bars for a certain amount of time. ANd too many people probably think that if he isn’t at that magic .08 level he isn’t DUI (which is false, that level is defined as DUI per se). Would they make the same deal had he ran over a mother driving somewhere in her car, I don’t know. But at the very least this guy’s days behind the wheel are going to be very limited, if not completely over.

1330 WFIN News with Tom Sheldon and Scott Jennings - Findlay Ohio

Four women are in custody, charged with robbery, after a 37-year-old Findlay man was knocked from his bicycle and assaulted near Defiance Avenue early Wednesday morning.

Because not only did this guy get assaulted, but he’s probably going to take a verbal beatdown around the water coolers for being a pansy. Yeah, like anybody can take on anybody else four on one. This is not a video game, this is real life. And man or woman I don’t care four on one odds are never good. Here’s hoping these four get the book thrown at them.