News

Those on the sharp end of cycling injuries want to keep the laws, writes Steve Dow.

A COUPLE of times a month, the neurosurgeon Jeffrey Rosenfeld operates on a cyclist who has suffered a serious head injury. They've almost always been wearing a helmet, removed by paramedics who bring it into the hospital. The helmet is often "crushed and messed up".

In half of severe brain injury cases there is a poor outcome. Haemorrhaging is bad enough, requiring urgent surgery to relieve the blood clot, but brain swelling is worse, and 70 per cent of patients with...

FROCKS on Bikes member Isabella Cawthorn is one of 10 (out of 12) submitters in favour of lowering speed limits along the Golden Mile. She believes it will make the city safer and more cycle-friendly.

“This is the kind of trend that Wellington would be wise to encourage,” she says. “[Cycling] saves money, and that disposable income can be spent in the local economy or saved. A policy that provides for increased urban cycling will be celebrated for generations to come.”

The proposal, which will be discussed by the Wellington City Council on Thursday, is part of the “...

Commuter on Victoria St

CAN's Annual General Meeting will be held on the Saturday afternoon (30 October 2010) of the CAN Do.

The venue will be the Petone Central School, 16 Britannia St, Petone, Lower Hutt. For more details, see the CAN Do page.

For your information, here are the minutes from the 2009 CAN AGM.
Also, here is a copy of CAN's Rules (aka Constitution).

#Agenda Item1Welcome/Apologies/Proxies.2Review of Previous Minutes.3Matters arising....

Google the phrase "war on cars" and you will find that across North America, people are using the phrase to defend the happy motorized way of life. As one blog put it:

Hiding behind the veil of environmentalism and "sustainability," a small number of activists are having a big influence on tax policy, urban planning, and government regulation with the hope of shifting our society away from the individualism and freedom afforded by the automobile.

Yup, that's us, and a whole lot of urban types in a fight with suburban types who we slow down with our streetcars and bike lanes....

I've had a soft spot for Puerto Rico since taking a work trip there four or five years ago. I'd heard some negative things about the island, which many people seemed to think of as a third-rate part of the Caribbean, but I found much to enjoy -- the natural beauty of its coastlines and rainforests, the charming and lively capital of San Juan, not to mention the mofongo and the rum. Fending with the traffic, however, was hardly a highlight. "People complain about traffic jams, but they see congestion as a sign of progress," an environmentally minded priest told me at the time...

When the New York Police blamed cyclists for causing 75% of accidents -- without offering supporting data, the organization Right of Way struck back with a report showing only 25% of bikers at fault, and that only on the assumption that the drivers responsible for bicycle fatalities testified fairly, in the absence of the victim's point of view. In a Toronto study, a convalescing bicyclist demonstrated that cyclists cause less than 10% of bike/car accidents. The Berlin study delivers another big surprise -- that blows in the face of common perceptions.

So how did a...

Cycle Aware Wellington is here.

8 Sep 2010

Scotland’s first public bike hire scheme that is backed by the Government was launched in Dumfries yesterday in a bid to mimic the success of similar initiatives across Europe.

Under the Bike2Go scheme, 30 bikes have been made available at nine automated docking stations around the town, which users can access on a 24-hour basis by entering a PIN and riding them away.

After a faltering start in the 1960s, bicycle-sharing schemes have enjoyed a comeback over the last five years as cities in Europe and North America have developed...

A couple of years ago Kristin Rule, alias 'The Unconventional Cellist' undertook a 20 week music tour, toting her cello on a motorbike with a solar trailer. With a new album recently released, she is soon to be touring again, but this time by bicycle accompanied by a solar-powered, electric-assist trailer.

The 30 watt solar photovoltaic panel on the 'Mechanarchy 'Watt-Bot' trailer stores electrical energy in a pair of 12 volt batteries. These provide up to three hours of electrically assisted riding for pedalling a cello laden Yuba Mundo up hills. The assistance offered by the...