Safety & The Right to Drive Like an Idiot

OK, so I was on my bicycle waiting at a light @ Spring Grove Ave. & Crawford Ave in Cincinnati, OH. There was a car next to me. I signaled a left turn - I heard another car pull up behind him so I signaled again, the light changed - I started to pull out - a car heading S on Spring Grove slammed on his brakes ~ his back end fishtailing & the car behind him slammed into his rear.
I stopped & looked around. The car that had pulled up was a Cincinnati police car. I went my merry way & figured the CPD was already on the scene.
Then it dawned on me - Both cars had every intention of running the red light when one or both of them saw the cop sitting there.
An argument behind banning red light cameras was that it increased the number of rear end collisions (although they reduced T - bone collisions) but here, an unsuspecting police officer caused the rear end collision. Granted, if the cars hadn't stopped, I would not be typing this out now, but I am a loser who rides a bike - not a proud car loan paying American Motorist, so, OK.
But the rear ending problem is still with us & our stalwart legislators like Bill Seitz need to solve this once and for all.
Perhaps requiring police to only use unmarked vehicles (and not pursue suspects). Perhaps disbanding whole police departments since their main purpose is government money grabs and, as our governor has pointed out - they are idiots.
The idea that signs painted lines on the road & blinky lights hanging out in the air should trump the skills and free will of the wetware & it's cyborg 4 wheeled appendages is ridiculous.

How Much $%#@! Parking Do We Need ?

The city of Cincinnati requires massive amounts of automobile parking for office space in the basin.
The thing is, we have many residential neighborhoods in close proximity to the basin, a bus system that serves those areas pretty well & a bike system with potential to serve those areas well in the future.
Requiring the additional parking in the basin is counter productive, unnecessary, expensive & redundant.
We need more population in the city - the inner suburbs as well as the basin and eliminating these parking requirements is a good way to go about it. Use the car for things other than commuting and use alternative commuting methods for the relatively short commute within the city.
This rezoning makes perfect sense & the policy is the right direction to take to pull our city, the downtown & neighborhoods, together.
If people need trheir shiny little cars 100% of the time, let them deal with it themselves.

"Protected" Bike Lanes

In a dizzying dissemination of data, Cap'n Fink makes it clear that the introduction of "protected" bike lanes on Cincinnati's Central Parkway has resulted in an approximately 60% increase in car on car collisions but also a 100% increase in car on bike collisions.
While the media has cried about the number of parked cars being clobbered, there were, apparently, only 6.
Could the increase in bike collisions be attributed to there just being more cyclists?
Could the increased number of car on car collisions be due to continuing to issue drivers licenses to the lowest common denominator?
dunno - but this is not the result we wanted & the number of car on bike collisions before the lanes were installed bear out that the infrastructure was unnecessary in the first place.

To find out more and some histrionics about how the bike lanes endanger not just the children but also Cincinnati's finest, click here.

Free Parking

Gotta love it one car in this picture is in the right place. All the rest are parked illegally in a bike lane & on a sidewalk. The drivers even had to navigate between bollards to get to their illegal positions.
Where is this place of infamy you ask? Why in front of the Cincinnati FOP HQ...

Disaster

The Central Parkway 'Protected' bike lanes are making the news. I guess Rob Braun is the 'Reasonable Man'.
I have never supported this plan that's referred to as a 'Disaster' 3 times in about as mny minutes in this WKRC hitpiece but again the useless excuse for a mayor promotes his recreational bike trails over usable public roadways.
As far as motorists careening into parked cars - ya need to pay attention while operating a fast rolling 1 ton death cage. If you don't want to pay attention - walk.
kudos to the union boss for being relatively civil for once.

Central Parkway Protected Bike Path

At about the 1:00;00 mark, the Johnsons, who have run Robin Imaging for over 30 years on Central Parkway & live nearby, point out all the crap I kept pointing out before the thing was implemented.
Putting the fastes stuff in the middle of the road with slower stuff to the curbside is the way we used roads for thousands of years. Parking cars along the curbs goes back to the invention of the auto & even the wagon.
Rearranging the traffic pattern to protect people from a collision that just isn't that common is BULLSHIT
While ridership is up, there's still not a lot. There seems to be some confusion over the number of car accidents. Bicycle / automobile accidents are reported up.
One thing promoters of this silly scheme promised was that the bike lane would be cleared of snow in the winter. There was no clearing and if the snow plow guys had a small plow, they seem to have not received the memo.
Mr Johnson also brings up that debris is not cleared either, resulting blocking cyclists trapped between the curb & parked cars.
About half the bollards have been creamed by zombie motorists (@ $50 apiece) and the Johnsons have lost 1 car. Robin Imaging does photography, art reproductions & framing. That is, people load & unload some valuable stuff on Central Parkway. That being said, they do have a parking lot.
On the bright side, when not careening into parked cars, motorists have not been slowed dowm. Even when slaughtering bollards.

You can see a better version of the WKRC segment here

Drive Your Bike

In this bike safety clip, where English seems to be a second language for the cast, we see the elements of traffic safety discussed from a bicyclist POV.
Note that "Taking the Lane" is never mentioned and stupid mushroom cap helmets are never mentioned. You see, these aberrations are only recently introduced to our society by militantly entitled pencil neck geeks.
The anti Dobbsian approach to cycling will eventually be the last nail in the tire of the bicycling movement but it won't be seen til everyone is tethered to a driverless car and then it will be too late.

One Man Wrecking Crew

Cranley caught breaking the law & endangering the general populace.Why was the mayor of Cincinnati out trying to mow down pedestrians? Arrogant? Ride? Mean? Assholism? Madman? Belligerent?
Or is it just part of his alien species diabolical plan to annihilate the human race?

Who Needs Red Bike ?

Cincinnati's bike share program has always seemed odd to me. Who makes it downtown and, smacketoblowety, needs a bike to go somewhere else downtown?
In a Fishwrap article, a downtown worker states:

"I never bike to work. Ever. But I bike at work, from meeting to meeting several times a week. That’s not captured in the census data," McVay said. Her office in City Hall always has a bike around for that very purpose.

So, like I have mentioned before, just buy a cheap bike for your short trips around downtown…
But then this letter writer pointed out:

While it is an honorable endeavor to attempt to increase bike usage in Downtown Cincinnati through the new Red Bike bike-sharing program, it has one screaming problem: The system is incredibly economically exclusive . Requiring the use of a credit or debit card to use the bikes leaves out a portion of the city who may, ironically enough, have more use for increased city accessibility options.

This actually makes some sense.
This UrbanCincy article describes the extremely rare instances where the program makes sense and has a map of real and proposed stations. None of the stations are located by the homeless shelters, City Link, nor the new women's center on Reading Road. It might be hard for an individual to obtain an annual Red Bike membership on a monthly welfare check but it seems like the social agencies could find a way to pay the $80 lump payments while the poor people could make installments to pay the agencies back.
Did the bike share people even consider this element of the population?

Churches and Bicycles

Living in an older American Community, Cincinnati, Ohio, I see an issue that I want to correct but don't know how.
In the rust belt cities a crucial element of their development was the church and a significant remnant of the built environment are the churches.
With population decline and people (like myself) being less inclined to attend churches they are increasingly being abandoned or floundering.
Stand in front of First Lutheran on Race St & look around. You can see about a half dozen churches and when blocked from view, you can see even more steeples. Some of these churches are active, some abandoned, and some active churches are desperately floundering. One is being transformed into a bar.
In the Northside neighborhood of Cincinnati there are about a dozen churches but only about 3 still minister to their original denomination. One is a cookie factory, one is a home (but used to be a pickle factory, GAR HQ and, I think, a Turner HQ).
Churches minus religion are, essentially community centers but how many community centers do we need? People who do attend churches are more likely to go to mega churches located in big box hardware stores & movie theaters & such. Don't get me started on the sacred & the profane on these matters…
So, what do we do with them?
Religion is not immune to the free market & is constantly evolving to remain relevant to the evolving societies it is in. When the Protestants split off from the Catholic Church, the Catholics didn't just sit on their hands. When American Protestants flocked to the Catholic Christmas services, the Protestant churches started offering them, too. The Catholic church begrudgingly accepted divorce & now some churches are accepting same sex marriage.
I've been meaning to address this issue but it goes beyond one post. What got me to actually typing today was an announcement made by the Queen City Bike club listing their Bike Friendly Destinations. There is one church on the list. Dunno why - maybe QCB didn't reach out to the churches. But, with the rise in popularity of bicycling, maybe just reaching out to cyclists might be a way for existing churches to remain relevant, infuse some new blood & maybe thrive again.
A long time ago I ran across a group called The Out Spokin'. Yeah, corny…
They were a Christian group that did group bicycling/camping trips. They seemed almost military in their organization but they all had to rely on each other to do their chores, repairs & stuff so they built some kind of bond (kinda cultish, maybe…).
Anyway, I know chasing bicyclists isn't going to fill the pews up anytime soon but I will likely have more lame ideas to revive the churches & revitalize midwestern cities.
PS, I might be out soon to attend The Bilderberg meetings. Dunno, my invitation appears to be lost in the mail
dang...

Bikes in the City
Discussing the joys of riding bikes. Interestingly, Campus Cyclery is missing from this vid…..
While flooring a 4WD sports car is fun, there's nothing like flying down a long hill in Cincinnati on a bike going faster & faster and knowing one little bit of road debris will send you flying, rolling & sliding across the road - it's just   fun.

What's With the Skinny Parking Lane ?
and what's with the placards on the poles ?




Dunno if it's Cincinnati drivers or American sportsmen but when they add NO PARKING AT ANY TIME & a Bike Lane they get really skinny parking lane. It's the new math, I guess.

Cincinnati's New Loop Detectors

while (light red){
bicyclist.wait;
echo "c'mon ya %$@! light, CHANGE !";
}
Cincinnati is coming up with more stuff to make bicycling a little more easy / a little more equal. Every cyclist has encountered traffic lights that are not timed but need to be "tripped" by an automobile. The problem is, the light cyclist can't do the tripping. The cyclist had one option. Walk over to a crosswalk button & hit the button then walk back to the street. Enter the new "loop detectors". When you see the above illustration on the road before an intersection, positioning your wheels onto the 2 stripes should signal the signal to give you a green light.
For more info get the poorly named PDF.
transeng_pdf44277?

MoBo Bike Sale
Interested in bicycling but don't want to make a huge investment? Interested in bicycling but can't make a huge investment? In a world where "entry level" bikes are $400 - $600, it can seem daunting.
Living in Cincinnati has advantages, tho. MoBo Bicycle CoOp is having a sale 4/30 from 11AM to 5PM with refurbished used bicycles that will get you where you need to go without busting your wallet. Most bikes are priced from $40 - $100.
Head on down to 1415 Knowlton Avenue in scenic Northside & put some steel between your legs and feel the wind across your face!

Bicycle Hatred at Findlay Market

Findlay Market makes great use of their shiny bike racks by using the space for garbage cans.
ok. They have bike racks at each end of the cross shaped market. This north end bike rack was the only one that was blocked. All the racks had at least 1 bike.
still....

More Bicycle Friendliness
The other day I rode on a street with "sharrows". Ludlow Avenue. I rode helmetless. It has been pointed out that sharrows increase motorist awareness of cyclists. It has also been proven that helmetless riders are given a wider berth by motorists. Sharrowmagic didn't work for me. Cars seemed to pass closer, actually. On my return trip, sharrowmagic didn't give me any joy with the traffic lights, either.
While in Clifton, I visited the Bender Optical Memorial park. It is a big slab of pavement with a couple trees towards the sidewalk, some black benches & a couple tables. This will, no doubt, be incredibly popular in July and August when visitors can pass out from sunstroke while frying eggs on the black benches. As I looked around for what obviously should have been there, a bike rack, I was left wanting.
So lets go the other route.
Spring Grove Avenue. Much of Spring Grove is nice and wide & pretty accommodating for bikes. On stretch that is not is between Winton & Mitchell. There are wide sidewalks there (between Winton & Clifton) and recent construction led me to think maybe the little used sidewalk would be narrowed & the street widened.

nope. The sidewalk is being narrowed but the street is staying the same & it's looking like grass will be put in. No improvements for anybody but nore maintenance for somebody
When I got to the Kenard Kroger I found the bicycle parking eliminated by overpriced plants.

yay
Kroger's hatred is not limited to just cyclists, however.

They hate their postal customers, too.
So, even with all the well intentioned systems in place, it still isn't getting through to people. Maybe it's because they keep getting clonked in the noggin while trying to send mail. Beats me.

Bike Month
In honor of Bike Month, I have acquired a new Trek 7.1 FX from Team Cycle & Fitness.
My experience with the store has, so far, been excellent. My experience with the bike has, so far, been excellent. My experience with Bike Month has, so far, been pretty much like any other month. Of course in my world it is Bike Month 12 months a year & Halloween 365 days a year so.....
A ride through the cemetery sounds kinda nice about now.
If you want to celebrate bike month with a new used bike, MoBo Bike Coop is having a bike sale Saturday, May 8 from 10 AM to 4 PM @ 1415 Knowlton Avenue in historic Northside, Cincinnati. While you are there you can pick up a tomato plant, too.

Road Rights
Is driving a car a right or a privilege? Do bicycles belong on the road?
While pondering these questions I came across another question - Do we even have the right to travel?
Roads are the result of people beating a path through the wilderness. We generally assume these to be common public ground that would fall under roaming rights. Getting in & out of sovereign locales require traveling rights. The Magna Carta granted English citizens the right to leave & return to their nation in 1215. The original Articles of Confederation allowed citizens of the United States to travel freely between the states whose sovereignty was later eroded by the Constitution which grants no such right but gives the government some authority in inter-state commerce.
This was all well & good. In humanity's 6-10,000 year history traveling over land was accomplished by walking or riding / being pulled by a walking animal. Some etiquette of the road developed & some rules codified. Some of our current road rules date back to the horse & buggy that is largely absent from modern roads. Any licensing was pretty much for taxing commercial enterprises.
About 150 years ago, however, the bicycle was born. The bicycle runs on people power but it amplifies it. It was a bit faster than the pedestrian & a little more ungainly. The argument of allowing bikes on the roadways ensued & legislation here & there granted bicycles equal rights & responsibilities to the roads. Or the rights of citizens to freely choose their mode of transportation.
In the late 1800s the automobile started making it's presence known on the common roadways. This was a different beast altogether. It ran on it's own steam or battery or gasoline. It was faster & heavier than the previous modes of transportation that had served humanity well for millennia. The first "license" to permit an auto on the road wasn't due to it's dangers, however, Mr Benz' neighbors were complaining about the noise & smell. Some cities banned motorized vehicles entirely.
As more & more cars hit the roads, fatalities soared. It was deemed that a person wanting to operate one of these contraptions should prove sufficient skill & maturity to do so. Testing & licensing drivers began around 1910 in Germany & was quickly followed, due to public outcry, in the US. Municipalities started, then New York began licensing chauffeurs & New Jersey demanded licensing of all drivers in 1913.
So, it's pretty well established that people have an inalienable right to get around & sharing public pathways is pretty much a no brainer, but using these public thoroughfares carries responsibilities. Using big, fast machines to get around requires greater responsibility than walking. Using animals to get around carries unique responsibilities. :-)
Now, in our car-centric (addicted) society, the roadways cater to the machine more than the animal & drivers bear the brunt of maintaining the roadways. Modern roadways greatly benefit the cyclist. I would be glad to pay a tax to cover the wear & tear my bike puts on the roadway. Such a tax could be put on the bicycle itself at the time of purchase. If cyclists want signs & sharrows & special lanes such a tax should cover that, as well. Licensing cyclists or pedestrians is impractical.

sources, sources, sources, sources....

Cincinnati - Bicycle Friendly ?
The city is closing in on making Cincinnati a more bike friendly place. sort of
They plan on posting signs & painting lines & pictures on the road. You can read about what they are up to here.
Will these images resonate in the skulls of the Cincinnati cage pilot? Given their inability to grasp the concept of lanes marked by painted lines, I doubt it. The common belief that electronic traffic signals mean "accelerate" when yellow & red are displayed further reinforces my skepticism.
Forgetting socio-economic & racial prejudice, education of the motorist seems to be the single most important thing. (Drivers have just continually gotten worse since driver's education was taken out of the schools.)
Slow moving vehicles are supposed to move to the right. You are supposed to adhere to the lane that takes you where you want to go. This means that a cyclist will frequently be out in the middle of "the road" pavementwise but is actually on the right side of "the road" lanewise while making left turns or going straight where there is a right turn lane. This frequently freaks out the cage pilot. With the additional signage & strange road runes proposed, the poor motorist, who doesn't understand the existing lanes, is likely headed for an aneurism.
Signage would be nice for highway exit ramps so motorists know they have to merge with slow bicycles on the surface street while they try to extend the highway speed limit just a little farther. I haven't seen anything about that but it's definitely needed along the interstates. Maybe in the Revive I-75 plan.....
The next & final open house is May 5, 2010 6:30 - 8:30 pm, at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, 3711 Clifton Avenue.

Driving Safety
Advocates for Highway Safety gave Ohio one of it's lowest grades. Why? Because Ohio doesn't see not wearing a seatbelt as a primary offense. You have to be stopped for something else like speeding to be punished for violating the mandatory seatbelt law. Ohio also doesn't have a law banning texting while driving. While Ohio communities lay off police and Sheriff deputies this coalition of insurance companies want them to start poking around & seeing what people are doing inside their cars.
Meanwhile, over in scenic Holland, traffic engineers are trying out using fewer signs, lights and regulations to improve driving safety. Their theory is that drivers are lulled into a sense of safety by all the signage & crap cluttering up the side of the road. They have found that drivers frequently give bicyclists a wider berth when there is no designated lane than when there is one. That is - keeping the driver on his toes, he is more likely to pay attention to what he is doing.
If the driver needs to pay attention one could presume he would be less likely to engage in other activities like texting. If one is more concerned with the total driving experience he will more likely buckle up before starting out.
The ranking is probably hogwash & is just an excuse for the insurance companies to justify raising rates on Ohio drivers - real safety be damned.

Noose Son story here.

Examiner story here