Category: share the road (Page 5 of 6)

 From:  Invest in non-motorized transportation | The Salt Lake Tribune

“Transportation studies show that more pedestrians

and bicyclists on our streets make the streets safer

for everyone: As the percentage of trips made by

non-motorized transportation increases,

the percentage of injury accidents per miles

traveled decreases.” 

 

This is because:

1. More bicyclists and pedestrians increase driver awareness.

2. As more people bike and walk, they become more empathetic drivers, better able to anticipate and respect non-motorists.

3. Pedestrians and bicyclists have a “traffic calming” effect. Slower traffic means fewer and less severe accidents.

4. More pedestrians and bicyclists result in more spending on safer infrastructure for active transportation.

“This is a classic chicken-and-egg problem. Do we ignore the safety needs of non-motorists because they are a minority? Or do we invest in facilities to make walking and bicycling safer and more convenient? There is ample evidence that building infrastructure for active transportation substantially increases the number of pedestrians and bicyclists. Build it, and they will come.”

We have signs that bicycling in Oklahoma City is getting better.

Hopefully, getting safer too.

As I posted earlier in “Use Full Lane” there are plans underway to mark 70 miles of designated bike route in Oklahoma City with signage to include the standard green “bike route” signs, sharrows – in the street bike/arrow painted signs, and most impressive – alerting motorists (and cyclists) for cyclists to “use full lane” and for drivers to change lanes to pass cyclists.

These signs are along Hefner Road, just east of the Hefner Parkway.

In light of the news that another cyclist was hit this past Wednesday in Oklahoma City, these signs bring hope to cyclists and their loved ones that roads in Oklahoma City will become safer for those riding bikes.

Part of our struggle has always been to make drivers aware that cyclists have a legal right to be on the road – these signs clearly make that point.  As cyclists, we need to do our part and follow the laws of the road as specified in Oklahoma, which also can only help to ensure our safety.

Adding this signage to designate various bike routes is a significant step toward making Oklahoma City more bikeable.

In Oklahoma City there are plans underway for “Use Full Lane” signage to be installed along 70 miles of designated bike route.  This is a huge step forward for our bicycling community toward making the roads safer and more rideable.

Photo provided by Mike Flenniken, Team Bike Buddies

Unfortunately, when you have progress you sometimes encounter opposition to that progress.

Mike Flenniken,Team Bike Buddies, notified TBB members this morning that someone had vandalized by running over the very recently installed “Bicycles Use Full Lane” signage installed on a four mile section of Hefner Road between Morgan Road and Cemetery road in Oklahoma City.

Flenniken reported that the signs were singled out as it appeared the driver had to cross from one side of the road to the other to take them all out.

No good deed goes unpunished as they say.

No bad deed should go unpunished either.

In an effort to apprehend the person or persons who destroyed the signage, a fund has been established for a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

To donate to the reward fund, please contact Mike Flenniken at [email protected] or call him at (405) 613-9767.

Mark and I donated to the fund this morning, hopefully the biking community will contribute what they can, and with any luck the person(s) that did this will be caught and convicted.

Until then, ride safely and take satisfaction in the fact that here in Oklahoma City, we are getting signage installed along 70 miles of designated bike route that spell out our legal right to use the road.

The following is an excerpt from the website “Bicycling Law” maintained by attorney, Bob Mionske.

“A week after Bradley Walck killed Ardie Lewis in Oklahoma, Illinois governor Pat Quinn signed Matt’s Law—named for cyclist Matt Wilhelm, who was killed in that state by a texting driver—which bans composing, sending and reading any “electronic message” while driving. In Utah, drivers who kill while texting face up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine; in Alaska, the sentence can be as much as 20 years.

Still, only a handful of states have banned texting. What’s most remarkable is that 20 states, including Oklahoma, have considered texting legislation, but have failed to act.” 

(Mionske article continued here).