Midnight Ridazz founder Roadblock has started writing very informative and somewhat cheeky articles for KCET’s online blog. He recently posted this one to help cyclist and motorist understand how eachother work and can co-exist more safely.
Los Angeles is a bike town in waiting. All the elements are there: year-round fair weather, relative flatness, big wide streets, insane traffic delays, the need for exercise in a city that lacks public parks and spaces.
Studies show that 50% of trips made by car are less than a very bike-able 3 miles in distance. We know that not all of those short car trips are to carry lumber and tons of groceries. They’re mostly trips to the movies, to get coffee, dinner, the book store, school, concerts – how about a bike date with peanut butter n’ jelly sandwiches in the park?
So what gives, L.A.? Why won’t you come out and play-ay?
The reason is pretty obvious. Fear. Not many people feel safe mixing it up with the L.A. traffic. I don’t blame them. Our streets seem to encourage a kind of bipolar disorder – motorists slowing and speeding only to stop at traffic jams and red lights. Hitting the gas, then hitting the brakes then hitting the gas.
From a cyclist’s perspective it just seems silly. If you consider the time a driver spends getting from A to B in Los Angeles, the speed averages out to about 20 mph. If drivers were to slow down a bit and time the lights, there would be less stress and death on the streets, not to mention the savings in gas and vehicle maintenance.
So how do we make it safer to ride in L.A.? More bike lanes? Driver education? Cyclist education? The answer is all of the above, plus better care and enforcement from the police and judicial system. There is a lot of work to do and the issues are complicated.
Drivers and Cyclists both need education
Lines of paint on the streets are the most fundamental form of driver education. In L.A., since there are relatively few bike lanes and facilities, cyclists are forced to ride in a vehicular fashion – ride in the lane as a motor vehicle would. But not every driver understands that cyclists have a right to be in the roadway, let alone expects them to be in the roadway. Likewise, not every cyclist knows how to ride in the roadway either.
(…full story)
