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Cycling safety remains an issue, but what are we going to do about it?
The issue of bicycle safety is one of many layers, but two seem most obvious: a) Preventing car/bike collisions, and b) Education. Drivers and cyclists must learn to share the road.
We recently received word that a local cyclist - a member of this site - was struck by an SUV while riding. This person is recovering and will be running and riding in no time. But this accident brought the issue of cycling safety very close to home.
Two weeks ago, I pedaled around the west side, rode up to Manitou Springs and home. I'm very safety conscious and I always give drivers plenty of room to pass. But on this ride, three drivers made a point to cuss and shout at me - and one of them was traveling in the other direction! Was it the way I was dressed? My hairy legs? It seemed as if sharing the road made them angry. I ignored them and kept my eyes on the road - though it was tempting to yell back, to defend my right to be there.
A year ago, Bicycling Magazine ranked Colorado Springs No. 18 on its list of cycling friendly U.S. cities. We belong on that list. But I think the cycling community must take the lead in helping Colorado Springs move beyond the rider vs. driver conflict that has raged here for years. This begins by admitting we're part of the problem. There are still too many of us who ignore the common-sense rules of the road. I realize we'll never be perfect, but progress is always possible.
What do you think? What steps can we take to improve cycling safety in Colorado Springs?
How can we ease the ill-will that still exists between some drivers and cyclists?
Have you had any altercations with drivers recently? How did you handle the situation?
What measures do you take to stay safe while riding?
Thanks for participating!
We recently received word that a local cyclist - a member of this site - was struck by an SUV while riding. This person is recovering and will be running and riding in no time. But this accident brought the issue of cycling safety very close to home.
Two weeks ago, I pedaled around the west side, rode up to Manitou Springs and home. I'm very safety conscious and I always give drivers plenty of room to pass. But on this ride, three drivers made a point to cuss and shout at me - and one of them was traveling in the other direction! Was it the way I was dressed? My hairy legs? It seemed as if sharing the road made them angry. I ignored them and kept my eyes on the road - though it was tempting to yell back, to defend my right to be there.
A year ago, Bicycling Magazine ranked Colorado Springs No. 18 on its list of cycling friendly U.S. cities. We belong on that list. But I think the cycling community must take the lead in helping Colorado Springs move beyond the rider vs. driver conflict that has raged here for years. This begins by admitting we're part of the problem. There are still too many of us who ignore the common-sense rules of the road. I realize we'll never be perfect, but progress is always possible.
What do you think? What steps can we take to improve cycling safety in Colorado Springs?
How can we ease the ill-will that still exists between some drivers and cyclists?
Have you had any altercations with drivers recently? How did you handle the situation?
What measures do you take to stay safe while riding?
Thanks for participating!
Views: 276
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Brian McCarrie on
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Hi Tim, I've had several situations with motorists. I've had cars pass me so close that I could almost feel the side view mirror nick the hairs on my arm. I've had people throw trash at me. (McDonalds food bags of course). I've had people ride right up next to me and yell in my ear. And I've been nearly hit several times by motorists who weren't paying attention, who either didn't see me coming down the street as they were backing out or one guy who felt that he had waited at a Stop sign long enough and decided to enter the intersection that I was in the middle of.
On the other end of that spectrum, I almost hit a cyclist this summer when I was driving to work. I consider myself to be a very cyclist aware motorist when I'm driving. Maybe too aware, here's what happened. It was early morning and I was driving East up a little hill out of my neighborhood. There was a cyclist in front of me. I slowed down, waited for him to get to the top and make his turn. As I was sitting at the top of the hill at the stop sign, I looked left (the direction the cyclist had turned), didn't see any cars, looked right, no cars, left again, all clear so I started to pull out. Right in front of me was another cyclist! I had no idea where this guy came from. I quickly hit the brakes and narrowly missed this guy. It really scared me. He must have been in a shadow of a tree when I looked right. Or maybe I wasn't looking for a cyclist, maybe I was just looking for cars. I don't know. I didn't hit him but I'm sure that I got his heart rate up more than it already was. In this situation, both cyclist were following the rules of the road. I just didn't see the guy. Had I hit him, it would have been my fault, not his.
When I'm riding I always try to make myself very visible. I ride in the road when I can, not the shoulder so cars can see me. I try to communicate with drivers by making eye contact and waving. I also use my voice to yell/scream when in a close call situation. But most of all, I try to follow the rules of the road. I've been lucky so far.
I think a lot of drivers are just plain distracted. Cell phones are great but too many people are either chatting or texting to pay attention to the road, let alone a cyclist who may be there. I also believe that many motorists are extremely impatient. They don't want to wait an extra 10 to 20 seconds for a cyclist because they feel they have somewhere to go and this cyclist is keeping them from it.
I think we need a full on awareness campaign to share the roads in Colorado Springs.
Here are a few ideas.
1. We need at least 3 huge signs. Two on i-25 at the North and South ends of the city and one out East saying something like, "Colorado Springs is a cycling friendly city, please watch for cyclists on our roads."
2. We need a drive time radio campaign asking motorists to watch for cyclists.
3. We need a news hour TV campaign asking motorists to watch for cyclists.
4. We need the entire cycling community to work together to be ambassadors of a share the road campaign.
Even with all of this, I'm sure there will be accidents. I hope we can minimize them.
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Permalink Reply by Dean Blanchard on
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As far as riding goes I try to ride as if I am invisible. To really help we need to work with pedestrians too. I have had people pass me in parking lots so close I could touch their car and I am usually with my two small children. Just today a car came so close to my 2 year old he could have touched the car. I have also had a driver pull in front of me and slam on his brakes then drive off. I was in a bikes lane!
Some cyclist ride in the middle of the road and blow through stop signs which pisses off drivers. Drivers seem to hate cyclist becouse they are in the way. Maybe we should talk to the police about ticketing cyclists and cars. If we could get some bike cops in plain clothes riding around then they could see firsthand how dangerous it is.
I don't know about anyone else but, I have found the downtown area of the springs has more mad motorist then other areas.
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Permalink Reply by Jayme Ramson on
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Good discussion topic. Education would be my main suggestion. Are young drivers in Colorado learning about the importance of sharing the road in their drivers' ed classes? Is Colorado strict enough on the texting while driving law? Should we ban talking on the phone while driving to minimize distractions?
As cyclists we need to make sure we are wearing bright clothing, following the rules of the road and anticipating trouble (despite taking these precautions, many still get hit). Unfortunately, I've had some time lately to think a little about how cyclists can avoid crashes. Cars beep their horns when another car does not see them, but cyclists can only yell (which often isn't going to be a solution). Short of airhorns mounted on handlebars, what else can we do?
Cycling is inherently dangerous, but there have to be ways to make it safer in the Springs.
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Permalink Reply by Jon Zanone on
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My wife was hit by a teenager while crossing Constitution & Circle. We joke that the tunnel there now should be named after here. Whenever I get in a conversation with people about how crazy cyclists are, I always agree. Then I ask them if have ever rolled through a stop sign. Or exceeded the speed limit. Or zipped across three lanes of traffic to make a turn. They usually think about it. For a little bit, anyway.
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Jayme, that's a good question about the teens learning about sharing the road in Drivers Ed. Also, I've never heard of anyone being pulled over for texting. Is that even an enforceable law. More education is absolutely needed.
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Permalink Reply by Allen Beauchamp on
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Good day to all,
Cycling safety education is desperately needed on all levels. The riders who are utilizing the roadways as vehicles very much need to understand that they have all of the same rights and responsibilities while out pedaling and that includes stopping at stop signs, riding in a manner that does not impede the flow of normal traffic when not "taking the lane" and generally just following the same rules you do when you drive your car. Bicycles are vehicles, bicycles are traffic, we have every right to be on the roadway but need to hold ourselves to at least a standard of legality.
Law enforcement could be trained to a much higher degree as well and that is in the works. However, the flip side of that is that once the education gets out there and the need highlighted, be prepared to be stopped for illegal riding behavior when it puts you and/or others at risk. I'm all for it though and Officer Brett Iverson, our local International Police Mountain Bike Instructor (Bike Cops...remember when we had them?) has related a few stories to me about "courtesy chats" he's had w/local cyclists, mostly all groups that were riding as if the roadways were their private training grounds. Also, we have several situations related to the Colorado Springs Cycling Club about traffic altercations between cars/bikes that have turned out very positively for the cyclist and had the officer explain the new laws in very specific detail to the motorist in question.
Education for car drivers is a much more elusive target to hit but I really like Brian's suggestions above. All of these things need to occur during a very coordinated campaign. There is hope though! I spent all day on Monday down in Pueblo working with PACE, Pueblo Active Community Environments shooting a bicycle safety video that will become a PSA that will air on their local channels and hopefully be used widely. They have been working on this very issue and I've been taking notes! Colorado Springs is obviously a much larger city but we share the same specific issues when it comes to sharing the roadways together as vehicles.
Let's start here. This is a link to the Bicycle Colorado web page article on the Bicycle Safety Act. As of August 5th, 2009 we have been protected by the provisions w/in this bill (I know, hardly feels like a "protection" when you get buzzed) but it spells out in very clear fashion many of the issues noted in riders complaints on the roadways. However, it also spells out how we as cyclists should be legally riding on the road and I see flagrant violations of that every time that I am out on my own bike so obviously the education part has been lacking or people, knowing what the legal way is choose to do otherwise, which happens as much with cars as it does bikes, amplified by their increased volume.
I ride a lot, mostly for commuting and utility anymore, not as much with groups as it's nearly impossible to get a group to ride in a fashion that doesn't either bend or totally break the legal rules governing vehicular cycling (my soapbox and quandary). I can honestly say that it has been well over a year since I've been yelled at, have not had anything thrown at me or have been threatened in a very hostile manner. I know that it does happen and I've often wondered why I'm not experiencing it as much as others. Ok, I'm a big guy so not as many will risk confrontation but I have a funny feeling that it's more tied to my riding in a predictable manner, riding confidently as a vehicle in traffic and also, probably a significant factor is my wonderful, small, light weight but BRIGHT LED lighting system. It really IS hard to see bikes and there are so many distracted drivers out there. I'm seen, I'm allowed for and in the end, quite happy about that.
Cheers and many miles of happy, safe pedaling!
Allen
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Permalink Reply by Tim Bergsten on
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There are some great points being made here. This part of Allen's remarks caught my eye. He says: "Education for car drivers is a much more elusive target to hit but I really like Brian's suggestions above. All of these things need to occur during a very coordinated campaign."
I thought Bian nailed it with his four points about a "Share the Road Campaign." Solutions are where it's at.
Allen, do you have any thoughts about a local campaign that promotes cycling safety/education? Anything in the works? Is there a task force or organized group working to create this? And if not, where do we begin?
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Tim,
Funny you should mention that. While finishing up the reply to this, I was on a conference call related to a task force of sorts that CDOT is wanting to implement here in Colorado Springs that will tackle just this topic. I thought the timing was priceless.
Along with learning a few of the effective things they are doing in Pueblo pertaining to the education side, we will be putting together a local education campaign to tackle this issue and how it can positively shape our future infrastructure and encouragement efforts. Bike Colorado Springs will work with many partners throughout the process and our goal will be safer streets, increased access/ ridership and a city that embraces all forms of transportation as viable.
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Hey Allen, that's great news. Is the the website for Bike Colorado Springs http://www.bikecoloradosprings.org/? If so, I see that's it's under construction. I"m happy to offer up my services as a web designer and developer to get the website up and running. I'm sure you know that having a communication tool that can inform, educate and interact with the community is a very important piece to this puzzle. Let me know, I'm happy to help where I can.
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Brian,
You and Tim are excellent!
Yes, I'll gladly accept your offer of your web skills...I have none but I've started the educational process.
Now that the typical cycling season is starting to wind down (I say typical because let me tell you about Nokian studded tires and Salsa Mukluks!) I am turning my attention and efforts to Bike Colorado Springs and the Colorado Springs Cycling Club, the wonderful organization that is hosting the advocacy group. Did I mention CSCC www.bikesprings.org will be celebrating their 25th anniversary next month?
We'll be in touch!
Allen
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I can see where driver's ed. would be a good place for an hour or two on cycling safety. If more drivers know that cyclists are essentially just another vehicle on the road, they might be more accepting. Also, if more young people are introduced to the idea that cycling is part of our culture, that it's one of the very cool and unique characteristics of our city, as drivers they may be more at ease sharing a narrow road.
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I like Allen's light weight and bright LED lighting system. I can see how this would make bikes more visible. I think this could have helped in my case where I narrowly missed hitting a cyclist this past summer. Something like this could be a part of a larger solution.
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