Life is better on a bike!

Category: advocacy (Page 2 of 10)

Good and Bad Times on the Bike

I wish I could talk to every single one of them. I wish I could put them on a bike riding on the same road with drivers behaving toward them as they did toward us. I wish they could really get how easily it could have ended tragically for us because of their impatience and frustration that we were on the road!

Yesterday was an interesting day as a cyclist in Edmond, OK.

We took a bike ride in the perfect fall weather in the afternoon. We rode out east on Sorghum Mill and Coffee Creek roads for about 2 hours. We rode from home although more often we park at a school and ride from there to avoid bad experiences we have had in the past riding on Coltrane between Coffee Creek and Covell.

It was a perfect weather day as I’ve said and we enjoyed our ride immensely. Up until the last 3 miles when we turned onto Coltrane heading south. Suffice it to say that the drivers were aggressive, irresponsible and dangerous towards us and other drivers. They sped past us with oncoming traffic present and one car passed us with less than a foot of clearance. If it had been a truck or van with protruding side mirrors we would have surely been hit.

408915_10151284233763268_2026895766_nIt was the worst experience I have had on the road in the last 5 or so years. We had probably 10 cars blow by us with oncoming traffic (two lane road) on a hill no less! We were riding single file far to the right but not on the “white line of death”. I was riding just to the right of where a car’s right wheel would be so we were riding in a way that should have told the drivers behind us not to attempt to pass until they could change lanes to do so. And would have told them that (as it almost always does) if they had not been asshat drivers!

I saw one of the oncoming cars get far to the right of their lane to avoid getting hit by the car passing us. They may have had to leave the roadway, I couldn’t tell. The worst offender mentioned above was reported to the police when we got home. We caught up to him, and 75% of the other asshat drivers that had narrowly blown by us, at the stop sign at Covell and Coltrane because although they chose to put us at risk they still had to wait at the same stop sign as us. So much for rushing.

Their behavior was completely inexcusable. They could have hit us and would have I believe in one case when thanks to my mirror I could see what they were doing and I was able to move to the right edge of the roadway to avoid them.

Thanks to my mirror I was also able to pick the right time to take the full lane without losing sight of what was happening in front of me. Mark pulled up alongside me and we rode that way until it was safe for cars to pass us and then returned to our previous single file positions.

I have not felt that threatened on the road in forever and I can’t ever remember having so many drivers behave so recklessly at one time. They had either all been at the same bar drinking or coffee shop getting hyped up on coffee.

I wish I could talk to every single one of them. I wish I could put them on a bike riding on the same road with drivers behaving toward them as they did toward us. I wish they could really get how easily it could have ended tragically for us because of their impatience and frustration that we were on the road!

Mark did make a complaint about the worst of the horrible drivers to the police including their tag number. The policeman told Mark they had been instructed by the city attorney not to issue citations unless they had observed the offense. Mark then asked if the police would at least contact the driver and inform them of our complaint and they were required by law to give a person riding a bike at least 3 feet of clearance when passing. The police officer was cordial and said that he would attempt to contact the driver of the vehicle. Mark requested to be notified of the outcome of that contact.

We quickly inhaled a recovery shake and showered  because we had an important city council meeting to get to. There was a large representation of area bicycle riders on hand as the Edmond City Council voted unanimously to accept (adopt) the Bicycle Master Plan!

City-of-Edmond-Bike-Plan-logoThe plan is comprehensive including both short and long term goals which will be prioritized for implementation. I encourage you to visit the website for the Edmond Bicycle Master Plan, view the bicycle plan network map and read the Edmond Bicycle Master Plan.

We now have a framework and some community will to improve bicycling here in Edmond to hopefully reduce the likelihood that any cyclist experiences what we did yesterday afternoon.

Arcadia Lake Trail

Shoreline at Arcadia 4

Mark and I attended the meeting last night on the proposed trail around Arcadia Lake in Edmond, OK. We are very excited about the prospect of the trail which will be around 20 miles in length and paved. As cyclists we would use the trail frequently and take pride in having it in our community. So many people I talk to here would ride bikes or walk more if they had a separate and safe way to do so. The trail would certainly offer that – and more.

Although the trail will be quite the boon for local cyclists, runners, families, seniors and most any nature lover, the people that are less than thrilled about it are some of the nearby home and property owners and those that ride horses at the lake.

The Arcadia Lake Coalition working to bring the trail to fruition, has been proactive by meeting with stakeholders and has accommodated and amended the proposed trail when possible.

It seems one of the big issues has nothing to do with the proposed trail, but rather is a current problem with the area surrounding the lake – namely, trash. Not the type of trash that people leave, but trash that was dumped by the lake when it flooded and has never been cleaned up.

I understand their frustration at having to live with that and also their expectation that it be cleaned up by the city of Oklahoma City or Edmond, but it is a separate problem from the proposed trail and should be handled as such in my opinion.

Another main concern of the home/property owners, who are by far the biggest part of the voiced opposition, is safety and security and the fear that the trail will attract people that engage in criminal activity.

There will be further meetings and discussion to work through any outstanding issues or concerns.

Trail completion is currently slated for November 2014.

My Day in Court

After getting the ticket for “disregard of a red signal light” back on May 25th, I commented to my husband Mark that I would give up the $119 fine, but I wanted something good to come from it.

Something good did – meet the new ordinance for affirmative defense for cyclists passed by the Edmond City Council Monday, September 10, 2012:

Affirmative Defense Ordinance Page 1

I can’t begin to convey how pleased I am that this was accomplished. It is a big help for cyclists and I’m thankful that my experience helped to bring it about.

Today I finally had my day in court. I found the Judge to be both fair and empathetic; finding me guilty of the offense, but waiving the fine and court costs. Most meaningful to me was that she stated several times that she admired my riding and that she wished our community could be accessed better on foot or by bike. She genuinely seemed sorry that she had to find me guilty because she understood the dilemma I was faced with.

The Affirmative Defense ordinance for bicyclists will go into effect next month. Although I got the ball rolling we would not have this ordinance if not for the efforts of the Edmond Bicycle Committee, particularly Jan Fees, Steve Murdoch (City Attorney), and of course the City Council.

This ordinance is an accommodation for cyclists which recognizes that not all traffic signals detect cyclists and gives us an affirmative defense should we receive a ticket – if all conditions are met. 

I would like to state here for the record that my incident met all of the criteria specified in this ordinance – in other words I did not roll through a red light. Mark and I waited through two cycles before proceeding safely through the intersection.

There seems to be some belief out there that this ordinance gives cyclists the license to roll through stop signs or red lights. It does not and it is imperative that every cyclist obey traffic laws. If you’ve spent much time here on my blog you know one of my pet peeves is cyclists who blow through stop signs or red traffic signals.

The fact is I recognized the red light and stopped and waited; unfortunately the red light didn’t recognize me and change. As every cyclist knows, the infrastructure is geared towards motorists not bicyclists, and presents us with a myriad of challenges where we must do our best to act safely and responsibly.

Edmond is moving forward on becoming a bicycle friendly community, this is just one step toward that. The Bicycle Master Plan is a huge step as is the proposed Arcadia Lake Trail. For local cyclists, please support and acknowledge Edmond’s attempts to better accommodate and encourage people to ride bikes.

Keep riding and stay safe.

Affirmative Defense Ordinance

100817a5351There’s a new ordinance in town!

An ordinance allowing for a cyclist to have an affirmative defense should they proceed through a red light that fails to recognize them was unanimously passed by the Edmond City Council tonight. This ordinance resulting from my ticket back in May goes into effect in 30 days.

Thanks to the Edmond Bike Committee and local cyclists for working with the City Attorney and others to get this done.

A big victory for local cyclists!

I can’t speak for everyone, but my advocacy efforts on behalf of cyclists with the City of Edmond and the Edmond Bike Committee have been successful both times – back in 2007 to get the 3 foot ordinance adopted and now the affirmative defense ordinance.

Edmond is obviously motivated to be a community that is safe and supportive of bicycling. In addition to the ordinances mentioned above Edmond is in the process of developing and implementing a bicycle master plan, as well as working with private sector partners to build a paved trail around Lake Arcadia.

The future looks brighter for those of us who ride bikes or would ride with better infrastructure and safer roads.

(Updated 9-10-12/10:00pm)

Court Date

My day in court to contest my ticket (for proceeding through a traffic light that failed to detect me on my bike) is almost here – finally.

Originally scheduled for July 12, 2012, it was canceled and rescheduled for August 9th which didn’t work for me (out of town) so rescheduled again for September 13th.

In the meantime I’ve been busy working with the City of Edmond’s Bike committee, the City Attorney and fellow cyclists to get an ordinance passed similar to the Affirmative Defense statute in Missouri. It isn’t a city ordinance yet, but we’re close.

Once again I have found the Edmond Bike Committee and city officials (in this case the city attorney) to be responsive and willing to take necessary action to correct problems.

All that I wanted when I posted the $119 bond to have “my day in court” was to have something good come from it for those of us that ride bikes.

I hope to have the fine waived because given the circumstances I feel a ticket was not warranted, but if not, having an affirmative defense ordinance in place as a result of my ticket will be a positive outcome for me and every other cyclist navigating through traffic lights here locally. 

With any luck and some justice I’ll get my $119 back and the ordinance!

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