when there is a cycle lane, motorists drive within their own marked lane with less recognition of the need to provide a safe and comfortable passing distance to those using the cycle laneSource: CTCNew research supported by CTC – the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation shows that motorists give cyclists less room when they are riding in a cycle lane. Using a bicycle with instruments that measure the distance of passing vehicles, Ciaran Meyers from the University of Leeds Institute for Transport Studies undertook the research on roads with and without cycle lanes. Ciaran said: “The analysis shows that significantly wider passing distances are adopted by motorists on a 9.5 metre wide carriageway without a 1.45 metre cycle lane and with speed limits of 40mph and 50mph.” The same finding was not found on a carriageway with a 30mph speed limit, but that location had more side road...
News: December 2009
Dec
Bicycles and summer go together, and kids of all ages will be heading out on new bikes this week. Cycling Advocates' Network spokesperson Anne FitzSimon, says a bicycle is always near the top of the Christmas wish list. "This year is no different with TradeMe reporting bikes in the top 10 searches for November." For those lucky enough to find a bicycle at the foot of the Christmas tree, Cycling Advocates' Network has some tips: Cycling is fun; having fun is more important than going fast Learn about your brakes and how to use them Mount and dismount your bike from the left hand side away from the chain; this keeps your clothes clean Get started with firm tyre pressure Get a bell and use it Be courteous when sharing bike paths with walkers Give yourself space - stay out of the car door range In 2005 a British poll put the bicycle as the favourite...
Dec
Had a near miss on your bike? Feeling steamed up?Here's a guide on what to do.1. Take a deep breath. Write down what happened: time, location, rego of any vehicles involved, details of any witnesses.2. File a Police roadwatch report athttps://forms.police.govt.nz/forms/online-community-roadwatch-report/9 Police write to the owner of the vehicle. You need rego, time, place, description of vehicle (make and colour if possible).3. If you want charges laid, visit a Police station and lay a complaint.4. If a commercial vehicle was involved, call / email / write to the company, asking for a response.5. Call your City Council, ask for the road safety coordinator. Describe the problem and ask them to take action. If that gets nowhere, call your city councillor. Keep a record of your efforts.6. Join CAN and get in touch with your local group of bike advocates.Emphasize it's a safety issue and...
Dec
New Zealand needs to put its money where its mouth is if it wants to become a true ecotourism destination, says a family of cyclists scared off the roads. European couple Wouter van Wezemael and Vanessa Mudarra are calling for more cycle lanes after being forced to use public transport on their charity bike ride, traversing the length of New Zealand to raise money for Forest & Bird. But Transport Minister Steven Joyce says work is being done, and it is a matter of logistics and money. The family began their journey in Cape Reinga on November 1, but by Taupo they swapped their bikes for buses and trains, after becoming terrified for the safety of their 15-month-old daughter Ella. Ella travels in a trolley towed behind Mudarra's bike. The lack of cycle lanes meant cars were passing the family too close and at high speeds, Mudarra, 30, said. "With a baby we don't...
Dec
Cyclists' lobby group CTC said the report needed to focus on driver behaviour rather than issues such as cyclists wearing helmets. Photograph: Antonio Olmos A tiny proportion of accidents involving cyclists are caused by riders jumping red lights or stop signs, or failing to wear high-visibility clothing and use lights, a government-commissioned study has discovered. The findings appear to contradict a spate of recent reports speculating that risky behaviour by riders, such as listening to music players while cycling, could be behind a near 20% rise in cyclist deaths and serious injuries in the second quarter of this year. The study, carried out for the Department for Transport, found that in 2% of cases where cyclists were seriously injured in collisions with other road users police said that the rider disobeying a stop sign or traffic light was a likely contributing factor...
Dec
20 is Plenty New proposals will allow councils in England to bring in more 20 mph (30km/h) speed limit areas without having to introduce traffic-calming measures such as speed humps. Road Safety Minister Paul Clark encouraged councils to introduce the 20mph schemes into residential streets and other roads where there are lots of cyclists and pedestrians. He also renewed his call for a review of speed limits on rural roads. CTC campaigns for 20 mph and is pleased The Department for Transport is changing its guidance to give a stronger backing to the use of 20 mph zones and speed limits. CTC also wants to see Wales, Scotland and NI do more to promote 20 mph too. The consultation follows evidence as to how 20 mph zones in London have reduced casualties and a new report on traffic speeds from the UK Noise Association, which calls for lower speed limits as the best way to reduce traffic-...
Dec
Road humps have often been criticised by motoring organisations for causing damage to vehicle suspension and tyres Photo: CHRISTOPHER COX Councils will be allowed to introduce the 'go-slow' zones without also having to install traffic calming measures such as the 'sleeping policeman'. The measure is being considered as part of the Government's push for more 20mph zones, following research showing that they reduce road casualties by more than 40 per cent. Previously, councils wanting to launch 20mph schemes on groups of roads have had to do so in 'zones', backed by traffic calming measures such as humps. But following a successful trial in Portsmouth, where 20mph limits were introduced without humps, the Department for Transport has had a re-think. Road safety minister Paul Clark, said: "The number of people killed and seriously injured on Britain's roads has...
Dec
Hypermobility is now the opium of the people, an obsession that wrecks communities and planet. There are no free trips. Nature loves irony. As Copenhagen's Glastonbury of gloom ended last week and the global warming groupies jetted home, they were greeted by, of all things, a freeze. "Road, rail and air chaos as UK grinds to a halt," cried the Guardian. The Times shrieked, "Worst driving conditions in years." The BBC asked: "Is the government doing enough?" Britain was paralysed by a little ice. It was "the curse of the fluffy French snowflake" – and all the fault of the French. My solution to winter travel chaos? Don't travel. Stay indoors. Build a fire. Live and shop within walking distance of civilisation. Associate with neighbours. See distant relatives some other time of the year. Above all, do not complain if you insist on laying siege to motorways, stations and airports...
Dec
Moves are afoot in the US to make harassment of cyclists illegal (© boogieelephant - Fotolia.com) Laws forbidding the harassment of cyclists could make it into the statute books if plans in Mississippi and Los Angeles come to fruition – following in the wake of similar legislation passed in other US states and cities in 2009. Mississippi cyclists have been pushing for such bike-friendly legislation for three years, and next year they anticipate success at last. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, a similar law seems to be making steady progress ahead of a crucial vote in January 2010. If passed, the Mississippi bill will give riders protection from harassment by motorists, but it will also set out responsibilities for cyclists, such as using hand signals, having the proper equipment (ie. lights) and not riding more than two abreast. Rich Adair, former president of the state's...
Dec
The Copenhagen Wheel Photo - Courtesy of the SENSEable City Lab CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Tomorrow, Dec. 15, at the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change, MIT researchers will debut the Copenhagen Wheel — a revolutionary new bicycle wheel that not only boosts power, but can keep track of friends, fitness, smog and traffic. Though it looks like an ordinary bicycle wheel with an oversized center, the Wheel's bright red hub is a veritable Swiss army knife's worth of electronic gadgets and novel functions. "Over the past few years we have seen a kind of biking renaissance, which started in Copenhagen and has spread from Paris to Barcelona to Montreal," says Carlo Ratti, director of the MIT SENSEable City Laboratory and the Copenhagen Wheel project. "It's sort of like 'Biking 2.0' — whereby cheap electronics allow us to augment bikes...
Dec
New research shows that cycle helmets useful for "simple falls or tumbles" but not for impacts from cars.New research shows that cycle helmets useful for "simple falls or tumbles" but not for impacts from cars. MPs such as Peter Bone have long been clamouring for cycle helmet compulsion following lobbying from Angela Lee, CEO of the Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust. Bone has asked many parliamentary questions of the Department for Transport, asking when cycle helmet compulsion will be enacted. The DfT has always responded by saying it would wait for a new report on cycle helmets by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). This report was published yesterday and made no recommendation for helmet compulsion. The DfT has also previously said it would only push for helmet compulsion once the wearing of helmets was already commonplace. The TRL report has no figures on how many UK cyclists...
Dec
Investing in Public Transport “Investment in public transportation expands service and improves mobility, and, if sustained over time, can potentially affect the economy by providing: • travel and vehicle ownership cost savings for public transportation passengers and those switching from automobiles, leading to shifts in consumer spending; • reduced traffic congestion for those travelling by automobile and truck, leading to further direct travel cost savings for businesses and households; • business operating cost savings associated with worker wage and reliability effects of reduced congestion; • business productivity gained from access to broader labour markets with more diverse skills, enabled by reduced traffic congestion and expanded transit service areas; and • additional regional business growth enabled by indirect impacts of business growth on supplies and induced impacts on...
Dec
In this webpage you will find the content of the “Ciclovía Recreativa Implementation and Advocacy Manual.” This consists of a basic teaching guide that covers the steps and procedures essential to the planning and implementation of a Ciclovía Recreativa, multimedia tools and an annex of documents. What is Ciclovía Recreativa? The Ciclovía Recreativa consists of the temporary opening of streets to residents so they may enjoy a safe and pleasant space for walking, jogging, skating or riding a bike. Vehicular access is prohibited in the area where the program operates. As makers of public policy, city governments can find in the Ciclovía Recreativa a program to promote physical activity in their communities. From Ciclovía Recreativa
Dec
Updated summary guide for cyclist skills training as at December 2009. Unfortunately it hasn’t quite made it onto the NZTA website yet, but it cant be too far away and when it does the easiest way to access it will be by going here http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/results.html?audid=12
Dec
“The Dutch government is to become the first country in Europe to introduce a green tax to replace annual road tax on cars. Drivers will have to pay per kilometre driven in a bid to end chronic traffic jams and cut carbon emissions. The system, which will use Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to monitor cars, could be used as a test case for other countries weighing options for easing crowded roads. Singapore has a similar scheme for charging according to the amount of travel. When the plan takes effect in 2012, new car prices could fall by as much as 25 per cent with the abolition of purchase and road taxes. Instead, an average passenger car will pay €.03 per kilometre, with higher charges levied during rush-hour and for travelling on congested roads. But the Dutch Transport Ministry said trucks, commercial vehicles and bigger cars emitting more carbon dioxide will be assessed at...
Dec
With a dramatic increase in cycling, comes a plethora of new safety issues on the roads. Doctors, politicians, planners and cyclists agree it will mean changing the way we design, govern and use our roads. A yet-to-be-released study on road trauma in the ACT shows that 98% of cycling injuries aren't being recorded. Radio National's Background Briefing has an exclusive copy of the study, which compares official police reports on bike crashes with hospital admissions. See: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/stories/2009/2758349.htm
Dec
Adonis speech and conference presentations now online Transport Secretary Lord Adonis’s address to the two recent conferences organised jointly by CTC, Cyclenation and Pedals (the Nottingham Cycling Campaign) are now available online. The first conference, ‘Cycling: a local transport solution’, was aimed mainly at local authority planners and considered what makes a good cycle-friendly Local Transport Plan. The following day’s conference, aimed more at campaigners, focused on the theme of Partnerships for Cycling. Lord Adonis told both conferences: “Nothing we are doing is more important than promoting cycling at the local level” – inspiring stuff!
Dec
Cycle safety benefits of 20mph zones The British Medical Journal today published an article confirming that 20mph zones in London have delivered a 17% reduction in cyclist injuries, and a 38% reduction in serious or fatal cyclist injuries. The BMJ article comes 2 days after Road Safety Minister Paul Clark MP gave a speech to a road safety conference acknowledging that 20mph zones and limits are good not just for road safety, but also for encouraging walking and cycling, thus improving air quality. CTC’s Campaigns & Policy Manager Roger Geffen also addressed the same conference here (2.5MB PDF), outlining CTC’s ‘Safety in Numbers’ evidence and what we hope to see in the forthcoming Road Safety Strategy for the next 10 years.
Dec
Curtis "Corky" Miller A Million And One Uses: A cyclist and two boys take one of Metrofiets' cargo bikes for a spin in Portland. December 7, 2009 Picture a vehicle that can carry around your kids and groceries efficiently, and doesn't burn any fossil fuels. But there's one drawback: You have to pedal it yourself. Cargo bicycles are specially designed bikes that can haul several hundred pounds. Long popular in Europe, they're starting to make their way into the United States. On a recent afternoon in Portland, Ore., Carie Weisenbach-Folz picked up her two kids, ages 5 and 2, from school. But instead of loading them into the usual minivan, she's using a cargo bicycle. Between the handlebars and front wheel, there's a stylized wheelbarrow-type box, with a sturdy see-through cover. Bicycles like this can cost a lot — over $3,000. "Random people walk up to...
Dec
Cyclists presented Prime Minister John Key with a special award for services to cycling today. (photo credit: Office of Hon John Key) Cycling Advocates' Network (CAN) Deputy Chair Glen Koorey said Mr Key is a worthy recipient for his personal commitment to leading the New Zealand Cycle Trail Project. “We think the Cycle Trail is an awesome idea.” “A well-developed cycling network is more important than ever before. It is good to see the trail recognised as nationally important. We look forward to a range of other related projects to build on its benefits for local communities.” CAN held its annual workshop in New Plymouth last month, where CAN members enthusiastically agreed to make this award. The award takes the form of a bicycle bell mounted on a wooden base. The presentation was made at 12:45 today at Mr Key's office at Parliament, Wellington....