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US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians

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Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians

#61

Post by dmonagha »

sethhochberg wrote: post #24
jbarberu wrote: post #20

Having recently moved to Florida from Sweden, I was shocked at how biker/pedestrian hostile it is here. I naively thought I'd be able to live a more active lifestyle because of the nicer weather, but instead I'm driving a car everywhere as I wouldn't feel safe on a bike. It seems to be a pretty vicious cycle of the infrastructure being hostile to biking so nobody does it, nobody is biking so the roads are optimized f…

Florida is a perfect storm of retirees who should have had their licenses revoked years ago, car-centric exurban non-planning, big trucks as culture, and weather so hot and prone to unexpected storms that few people cycle for anything other than recreation and thus most riders are seen as ridiculous wannabe racers, or just some drunk who lost their drivers' license. Everything is spread out and connected by 6-lane di…

Native and lived in Florida most of my life as well. Everything you just said was true. There was a guy in my hometown, very well known surfer who was killed by a speeding car simply while waiting to cross the street. We have ghost bikes everywhere as well.

Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians

#62

Post by nmc »

chasd00 wrote: post #21

heh a couple summer's ago in Dallas i got hit by a police officer while crossing the street. Ironically, while he was on his cell phone. I had to do the whole ninja-roll thing over the hood and on to the pavement. Came out of it with only a sore wrist and a funny story for the conference call i was late to. a buddy of mine grabbed a guy and pulled him out of the way of a city bus. The guy had the light to cross and t…

Wow! OK so Today I Learned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_on_red

Turning right on a red light is prohibited in many countries, unless indicated by a separate, arrow-shaped (green or orange) light. Surprised to learn that it is however allowed in most of the USA.

Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians

#63

Post by gruez »

chasd00 wrote: post #21

heh a couple summer's ago in Dallas i got hit by a police officer while crossing the street. Ironically, while he was on his cell phone. I had to do the whole ninja-roll thing over the hood and on to the pavement. Came out of it with only a sore wrist and a funny story for the conference call i was late to. a buddy of mine grabbed a guy and pulled him out of the way of a city bus. The guy had the light to cross and t…

>heh a couple summer's ago in Dallas i got hit by a police officer while crossing the street. Ironically, while he was on his cell phone.

did the officer get disciplined for this?

Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians

#64

Post by cr1895 »

chrisseaton wrote: post #44
baud147258 wrote: post #28

Why the article doesn't mention of distracted and inattentive pedestrians? It might be possible that the sudden increase in deaths is due to the rise of handheld distractions. Also the same could be true of drivers and cyclist using their handheld.

> Why the article doesn't mention of distracted and inattentive pedestrians? I don't know what you mean - it shouldn't matter how distracted and inattentive a pedestrian on the sidewalk is, because the cyclists shouldn't be in the same space as them in the first place.

Clearly you haven't visited the Netherlands.

Distracted pedestrians (and cyclists!) is a significant problem.

Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians

#65

Post by cr1895 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #48
chasd00 wrote: post #21

heh a couple summer's ago in Dallas i got hit by a police officer while crossing the street. Ironically, while he was on his cell phone. I had to do the whole ninja-roll thing over the hood and on to the pavement. Came out of it with only a sore wrist and a funny story for the conference call i was late to. a buddy of mine grabbed a guy and pulled him out of the way of a city bus. The guy had the light to cross and t…

Here's the thing drivers - if you turn right and don't check over your right shoulder for the bike or pedestrian , then one day you will be that guy that kills somebody. Its just a matter of time. Always, always glance over your right shoulder when turning right.

This is one of those things that makes it difficult to replicate the traffic safety of the Netherlands elsewhere...drivers are just way more aware of and respectful of cyclists in their environment. It's cultural.

Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians

#66

Post by seanmcdirmid »

jbarberu wrote: post #20

Having recently moved to Florida from Sweden, I was shocked at how biker/pedestrian hostile it is here. I naively thought I'd be able to live a more active lifestyle because of the nicer weather, but instead I'm driving a car everywhere as I wouldn't feel safe on a bike. It seems to be a pretty vicious cycle of the infrastructure being hostile to biking so nobody does it, nobody is biking so the roads are optimized f…

You would have been better off in California or anywhere out west actually. The humid weather alone makes Florida not a great place for cycling, and the culture dooms the rest of any aspirations.

Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians

#67

Post by eat »

everdev wrote: post #54

In the Bay Area it's popular for cyclists to bike on narrow, winding, steep roads with no shoulder like Sand Hill Rd. or Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Regardless of how you feel about bikes the conditions are inherently unsafe for bikes and cars and there are multiple annual fatalities. I can't think of another form of exercise where a participant puts themselves and non-participants in legal danger.

s/exercise/transportation/

Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians

#69

Post by ahoy »

anonymou2 wrote: post #23
maxsilver wrote: post #9

The safest infrastructure are ones that split pedestrian / bicyclist / motor traffic as much as possible, for obvious reasons. But that infrastructure has fallen out of favor as of late. "Complete streets" are the new fashion trend, and are significantly more dangerous, by combining these forms of traffic altogether and just sort of hoping it all works out. But, "complete" streets are super cheap, and give the illusi…

No, cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles: http://www.johnforester.com/

This is plainly wrong. The biggest threat to a biker is being hit by an automobile. If that biker is in a lane completely away from automobile traffic, that threat vanishes.

Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians

#70

Post by jhbadger »

nkrisc wrote: post #29
chasd00 wrote: post #21

heh a couple summer's ago in Dallas i got hit by a police officer while crossing the street. Ironically, while he was on his cell phone. I had to do the whole ninja-roll thing over the hood and on to the pavement. Came out of it with only a sore wrist and a funny story for the conference call i was late to. a buddy of mine grabbed a guy and pulled him out of the way of a city bus. The guy had the light to cross and t…

Honestly I think right turns on red should be illegal at more intersections for this reason. At least busier ones. It's these cases where a right turner has to carefully watch for oncoming traffic that pedestrians are exactly opposite of where they're looking. God forbid you're trying to cross from the same side of the street as the right turner.

Exactly. A lot of drivers seem to think that right-on-red gives them the right of way over pedestrians crossing with a walk light and it doesn't. I've been hit once (fortunately not seriously) and honked at many times while crossing a street on foot completely correctly.
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