So a big topic I've recently read about on the blog BikingInLA is the issue of who's to blame when it comes to car-bike accidents. Most recently, an anti-harassment ordinance has come up at the LA City Council that would give the right to bikers to file a lawsuit for the harassment of drivers. Also, the "Give me 3" campaign is in full effect around the county with advertisements along the roads that recommend drivers to give cyclists 3 feet of space between each other. However, the issue of driver sentiment towards cyclists hasn't changed, and if anything, has angered drivers who feel more entitled to be on the road than bikers.
In the LA Times post entitled "Talk Back LA," drivers expressed their obvious rage that bikers are being given more protection as users of the roads as do the drivers.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Social Bookmarking Soulmate
So I've been looking for a soulmate. Well not in real life, but at least for someone on this wild internet that has minimized the infinite amount of web pages to sites that interest them. Using the great social bookmarking website Delicious, I've found my soulmate. Under the name "Urban Velo," this
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Not So Side-View Mirrors
On Monday, the 25th of October, I was riding down Venice Blvd for my normal commute. The ride was going well, no real problems on the way, just typical things - cars veering into the bike lane, dealing with Metro buses that can't always see me, awful road conditions in some parts. But then it finally happened - I rode into someone's side-view mirror. Although its not at all the worst thing that can happen on my bike ride, its definitely not a good thing.
As I was approaching Western Avenue, there was a 550 line bus turning right onto Western Avenue ahead of me with its signal for the right. Because its illegal and clearly safer to pass the bus on the left, I signaled to veer to the left, and as the light turned greened, I thought I was going to easily make it through the bus on the right line and the car on the left lane. But the closer I got, and as the bus was going to make the right, it had begun to creep to the left just to make the wide right. In reaction, the car in the left lane that was supposed to have just gone on her green light, decided to suddenly brake, thinking the bus was cutting into her lane. But thats when it happened.
I realized in that instant that there was no way I was going to make that tight space, and pressed on my brakes as hard as I could, but it was too late. Luckily, my handlebars had first contact and I was holding on tight enough that even when my arm hit the mirror, I was completely stable and unhurt. I was noticeably angry, and yelled on over to the driver to stop up ahead.
I was glad that she was initially worried about me, although she blamed me for the incident. Her point was that she had no idea I was coming because she could not hear or see me because I'm a biker -- whats new. Anyways, the moral of the story is the same as its always been - never trust anyone else on the road.
As I was approaching Western Avenue, there was a 550 line bus turning right onto Western Avenue ahead of me with its signal for the right. Because its illegal and clearly safer to pass the bus on the left, I signaled to veer to the left, and as the light turned greened, I thought I was going to easily make it through the bus on the right line and the car on the left lane. But the closer I got, and as the bus was going to make the right, it had begun to creep to the left just to make the wide right. In reaction, the car in the left lane that was supposed to have just gone on her green light, decided to suddenly brake, thinking the bus was cutting into her lane. But thats when it happened.
I realized in that instant that there was no way I was going to make that tight space, and pressed on my brakes as hard as I could, but it was too late. Luckily, my handlebars had first contact and I was holding on tight enough that even when my arm hit the mirror, I was completely stable and unhurt. I was noticeably angry, and yelled on over to the driver to stop up ahead.
I was glad that she was initially worried about me, although she blamed me for the incident. Her point was that she had no idea I was coming because she could not hear or see me because I'm a biker -- whats new. Anyways, the moral of the story is the same as its always been - never trust anyone else on the road.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Annotated Bibliography for Article on Safer Road Conditions
“Cyclists and pedestrians are sacrificed for the greater safety of motorists, says campaigner.”
In this British Medical Journal article, Joseph S. argues that the government in the UK has done very little in helping victims of road accidents. Using several data from sources ranging from the Red Cross and official UK figures as evidence for his arguments, Joseph’s main point is that governments should not only continue to enforce more stringent laws on drivers but should also increase funds to organizations that promote alternative transportation. For Joseph, the fact that cyclist and pedestrian casualties have increased as a result of measures put in place that have made road conditions safer for only drivers is proof that the government has neglected other means of transportation.
With a succinct article that quickly states the facts and offers solutions to the problem presented, Joseph’s article provides the general discontent of those who prefer alternative transportation to driving. In his final paragraph, Joseph even states that more people have died on the road in the UK than have died in most wars in the 20th century. Although the evidence is not provided, Joseph’s article, although almost a decade old, presents the current and ongoing discussion still active in the cycling community.
For those who are writing for the advocacy of safer road conditions for cyclists and pedestrians, this article provides the viewpoint of a medical doctor in the UK who believes that it is the responsibility of the government and the motor industry to initiate policies for safer roads for all.
Joseph S. “Cyclists and pedestrians are sacrificed for the greater safety of motorists, says campaigner.” British Medical Journal 324.7346 (2002): 1117. Print.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Comments
Check out my comment on Biking in LA's post entitled "Riding in the gray area of the law":
In response to whether or not bikers should be able to bike through cars to get in front of them in an intersection, I shared an experience I had on one of my commutes:
"Just the other day, as I was biking down Venice Blvd. on my daily commute, there was literally a police officer yelling at a cyclist who had biked up to the left of a Metro Bus because I assume he knew that the bus was going to be stopping at the other side of the intersection and just wanted to get a head-start in front of the bus. The officer, however, was threatening to ticket the cyclist if he literally did not turn his bike around and get behind the bus. The ludicrousness of this situation blew me away, and reading your post here reminded me of this story. I feel that sometimes cyclists are treated under the same law that has no rationality or explanation but is simply categorized as such based off of the already present automobile laws."
In response to whether or not bikers should be able to bike through cars to get in front of them in an intersection, I shared an experience I had on one of my commutes:
"Just the other day, as I was biking down Venice Blvd. on my daily commute, there was literally a police officer yelling at a cyclist who had biked up to the left of a Metro Bus because I assume he knew that the bus was going to be stopping at the other side of the intersection and just wanted to get a head-start in front of the bus. The officer, however, was threatening to ticket the cyclist if he literally did not turn his bike around and get behind the bus. The ludicrousness of this situation blew me away, and reading your post here reminded me of this story. I feel that sometimes cyclists are treated under the same law that has no rationality or explanation but is simply categorized as such based off of the already present automobile laws."
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Biking at USC
At my university, the University of Southern California, biking is a hot topic. With literally thousands of bikes rolling down the streets of my campus every day, the university's Department of Public Safety (DPS) has been forced to crack down on biking. In two main locations on campus where bike traffic is most a problem, there is a "bike ban" in place during certain hours during the day from Monday through Friday. However, the fact of the matter is that the university just does not have the resources or simply the ideas in order to counter this issue. To me, this is only just a microcosm of biking in LA at a whole - the local civil government in this city has to deal with this same problem of a larger number of bikers on the streets, and the issue is trying to figure out how to promote biking while at the same time imposing laws and restrictions that other forms of transportation have.
In the on-campus organization SCAT (SC for Alternative Transportation), there has been much pressure put on the administration to respect the rights of all bikers on campus. Of course bike bans, at certain times and restricted to the worst areas, are needed to allow for a flow of traffic within the campus. But an entire school ban for a substantial portion of the campus does no good to the students, and forces DPS to be overloaded with work constantly telling students to get off their bikes.
Although in LA bikers have to deal with cars, buses, stoplights, awful road conditions, etc. etc., the local government needs to step up in granting more privileges to bikers, as they are environmentally friendly in a city known for its awful smog and for providing income to local businesses (such as bike shops and restaurants) rather than to gas stations.
In the on-campus organization SCAT (SC for Alternative Transportation), there has been much pressure put on the administration to respect the rights of all bikers on campus. Of course bike bans, at certain times and restricted to the worst areas, are needed to allow for a flow of traffic within the campus. But an entire school ban for a substantial portion of the campus does no good to the students, and forces DPS to be overloaded with work constantly telling students to get off their bikes.
Although in LA bikers have to deal with cars, buses, stoplights, awful road conditions, etc. etc., the local government needs to step up in granting more privileges to bikers, as they are environmentally friendly in a city known for its awful smog and for providing income to local businesses (such as bike shops and restaurants) rather than to gas stations.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Paper 1
Voice Post
In this new blog I found entitled BikingInLA, a cyclist in LA chronicles his experiences on the road of LA as well as posting news stories that typically deal with the death of a cyclist on the road. In the two posts that I read, the author of this blog sets a voice similar to a casual conversation, where he is able to make his audience feel comfortable with him, while at the same time frequently asking rhetorical questions in order to get the reader thinking. His main intent, from this style of voice, seems to be that he wants to have a dialogue with other cyclists in Los Angeles about what he experiences on the road as an avid cyclist himself.
Because the dangers of biking in LA are quite present, the author of this blog definitely has a very defensive voice, as he feels that the local city government as well as all the millions of drivers on the roads of LA seem to be out to get us cyclists. However, as a fellow cyclist who rides on these wild roads every day, I can definitely relate to his perspective and defensive voice.
He does a good job though, at the same time, in being reasonable as well with drivers in LA. In one of the posts I read about a recent experience he had of an angry driver, he does take the perspective of the situation from the other view: "Or from his perspective, how he barely had time to see what I was doing and tap his brakes before I was in front of him and gone again. And how he could have overreacted, potentially risking a collision with the car behind him."
However, in another post, his voice changes into an angry and frustrated cyclist upset at an article of another cyclist, who proposed that cyclists should be more courteous on the roads. In this post, the blogger frequently uses quotation marks in reference to the article he is responding to in order to show the absurdity of the language of the article. This sort of sarcasm, then, seems especially effective on the part of this blogger in order to show that what he is saying is correct, and other viewpoints are simply ludicrous.
When looking at his specific techniques, the blogger effectively uses block quotes when referencing other bloggers or articles. Also, at the end of every post, he continues each one with a series of several links that may deal with the subject of the post, along with many more links simply dealing with cycling news across the globe. What is very helpful about these links is that it gives the audience proof that the cycling world is alive and well. On a very serious note, his links to news articles of deadly bike accidents also shows that the dangers of biking are real, and that more support for bike laws is needed to protect cyclists.
Profile Blog
"Bikeside LA" is a site dedicated to posting news articles on bike laws, fatalities, victories, etc., along with opinion articles by LA bikers on issues of their choosing. According to Technorati, it is ranked 41153rd, so it is not a terribly popular blog, but one that is read by numerous people nonetheless. The two articles I read to profile this blog include one of a protest held on by bikers for bike safety (http://www.bikesidela.org/hit-and-run-hits-everyone/ ) and the other one is basically about proving the mayor of Los Angeles wrong (http://www.bikesidela.org/mayor-villaraigosa-declares-helmet-war-on-california/).
The subject of the first post I read spoke of the Mayor of LA's desire to enforce the wearing of a bike helmet on all ages in order to lower the number of head injuries in cycling crashes. The author of the post, Rach Stevenson, is a member of an organization called "Blood in" that has demonstrated for the rights of bikers in Los Angeles. Her qualification for blogging the post is that she is also an active cyclist in the city, which is enough, in my mind, to qualify her as enough of an expert. It was in fact her first entry in the blog.
The focus of her post argues that issuing a mandatory helmet law for all ages does not necessarily result in a reduction of traumatic brain injuries. She continually claims that the mayor has immediately jumped to the last resort and does not want to spend more money to fix what cyclists are in actuality complaining about. While using research studies and a chart to support her argument, Rach is more bothered by the fact that at the summit in which the mayor had spoken, he had ignored the cyclists' suggestions of safer road conditions. Her references to numerous studies is certainly very academic and professional, and thus, this post is very rich and very detailed, along with the rest of the blog.
For the audience, which are primarily cyclists seeking more safety on Los Angeles streets, the authors understand the difficulty cyclists have to face and to show that actions are being taken. Overall, I would say that the blog will feed a good portion of my work as it is the most well-known blog on my issue of cycling in Los Angeles. Although my viewpoint would differ in that I will discuss my immediate experiences of the week of my bike rides, I will use this blog as a guide for what is being to help me have a safer ride.
Hello, World
"Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia."
-H.G. Wells
Awful public transit, smog, high crime, overpopulation, traffic, artificiality & pretentiousness of its population - the list can go on when describing the negative parts of the city of 9.8 million, the city of Angels. And I doubt Thomas More's idea of his Utopia equates to this city of Los Angeles I find myself living and biking in. Nonetheless, here I am, and I've got to say, although cycle tracks, or more appropriately, bike lanes, number only 481 miles of the 6,400 miles of surface streets in Los Angeles, just from my own experience, bikers are slowly taking over this "cartopia" we live in.
So what makes my experience as a biker in LA more unique than others, or at least a legitimate source in this issue? Well, for the past 8 years, I've been a runner, and let me explain. Running in the San Fernando Valley for 3 years was one thing, and it at least made me understand the streets of a quiet and safe suburb, as well as trails deep in the Santa Monica mountains. It was when I began running in the heart of Downtown L.A. that I really got a taste of the "real" streets. In both the suburbs and in the city, drivers don't give a shit about you if you're not in 4,000lb machine. Needless to say, once I began biking, I learned this the hard way.
It was my 18th birthday, and all I wanted was a bike. Hours of convincing and $800 later, I finally got my first bike, a Trek model 1.1. 4 months later, I got t-boned by a car going 45mph on Topanga Canyon Blvd in West Hills. 1 month later, I got my second bike, a Specialized Allez , which I've been able to keep in one piece ever since.
As a Triathlete I had plenty of rides all over the San Fernando Valley, Ventura County, Malibu (PCH rides especially), Los Angeles, and all along the coast. As a college student, I commute from Mar Vista to USC every day, a 10-mile ride down Venice Blvd. (its this commute that has inspired to start this blog).
Riding 20-miles total every day from the West side to Downtown and back for the past 3 years has opened my eyes to the bike culture that is alive and active here in Los Angeles. I will use this blog to share my experience, along with having a dialogue with other cyclists in LA about the difficulties we face as a tiny but fierce minority. I just hope that one day, bike lanes will abound here in LA. It may not exactly be a Utopia, but it sure is one hell of a city nonetheless.
In this new blog I found entitled BikingInLA, a cyclist in LA chronicles his experiences on the road of LA as well as posting news stories that typically deal with the death of a cyclist on the road. In the two posts that I read, the author of this blog sets a voice similar to a casual conversation, where he is able to make his audience feel comfortable with him, while at the same time frequently asking rhetorical questions in order to get the reader thinking. His main intent, from this style of voice, seems to be that he wants to have a dialogue with other cyclists in Los Angeles about what he experiences on the road as an avid cyclist himself.
Because the dangers of biking in LA are quite present, the author of this blog definitely has a very defensive voice, as he feels that the local city government as well as all the millions of drivers on the roads of LA seem to be out to get us cyclists. However, as a fellow cyclist who rides on these wild roads every day, I can definitely relate to his perspective and defensive voice.
He does a good job though, at the same time, in being reasonable as well with drivers in LA. In one of the posts I read about a recent experience he had of an angry driver, he does take the perspective of the situation from the other view: "Or from his perspective, how he barely had time to see what I was doing and tap his brakes before I was in front of him and gone again. And how he could have overreacted, potentially risking a collision with the car behind him."
However, in another post, his voice changes into an angry and frustrated cyclist upset at an article of another cyclist, who proposed that cyclists should be more courteous on the roads. In this post, the blogger frequently uses quotation marks in reference to the article he is responding to in order to show the absurdity of the language of the article. This sort of sarcasm, then, seems especially effective on the part of this blogger in order to show that what he is saying is correct, and other viewpoints are simply ludicrous.
When looking at his specific techniques, the blogger effectively uses block quotes when referencing other bloggers or articles. Also, at the end of every post, he continues each one with a series of several links that may deal with the subject of the post, along with many more links simply dealing with cycling news across the globe. What is very helpful about these links is that it gives the audience proof that the cycling world is alive and well. On a very serious note, his links to news articles of deadly bike accidents also shows that the dangers of biking are real, and that more support for bike laws is needed to protect cyclists.
Profile Blog
"Bikeside LA" is a site dedicated to posting news articles on bike laws, fatalities, victories, etc., along with opinion articles by LA bikers on issues of their choosing. According to Technorati, it is ranked 41153rd, so it is not a terribly popular blog, but one that is read by numerous people nonetheless. The two articles I read to profile this blog include one of a protest held on by bikers for bike safety (http://www.bikesidela.org/hit-and-run-hits-everyone/ ) and the other one is basically about proving the mayor of Los Angeles wrong (http://www.bikesidela.org/mayor-villaraigosa-declares-helmet-war-on-california/).
The subject of the first post I read spoke of the Mayor of LA's desire to enforce the wearing of a bike helmet on all ages in order to lower the number of head injuries in cycling crashes. The author of the post, Rach Stevenson, is a member of an organization called "Blood in" that has demonstrated for the rights of bikers in Los Angeles. Her qualification for blogging the post is that she is also an active cyclist in the city, which is enough, in my mind, to qualify her as enough of an expert. It was in fact her first entry in the blog.
The focus of her post argues that issuing a mandatory helmet law for all ages does not necessarily result in a reduction of traumatic brain injuries. She continually claims that the mayor has immediately jumped to the last resort and does not want to spend more money to fix what cyclists are in actuality complaining about. While using research studies and a chart to support her argument, Rach is more bothered by the fact that at the summit in which the mayor had spoken, he had ignored the cyclists' suggestions of safer road conditions. Her references to numerous studies is certainly very academic and professional, and thus, this post is very rich and very detailed, along with the rest of the blog.
For the audience, which are primarily cyclists seeking more safety on Los Angeles streets, the authors understand the difficulty cyclists have to face and to show that actions are being taken. Overall, I would say that the blog will feed a good portion of my work as it is the most well-known blog on my issue of cycling in Los Angeles. Although my viewpoint would differ in that I will discuss my immediate experiences of the week of my bike rides, I will use this blog as a guide for what is being to help me have a safer ride.
Hello, World
"Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia."
-H.G. Wells
Awful public transit, smog, high crime, overpopulation, traffic, artificiality & pretentiousness of its population - the list can go on when describing the negative parts of the city of 9.8 million, the city of Angels. And I doubt Thomas More's idea of his Utopia equates to this city of Los Angeles I find myself living and biking in. Nonetheless, here I am, and I've got to say, although cycle tracks, or more appropriately, bike lanes, number only 481 miles of the 6,400 miles of surface streets in Los Angeles, just from my own experience, bikers are slowly taking over this "cartopia" we live in.
So what makes my experience as a biker in LA more unique than others, or at least a legitimate source in this issue? Well, for the past 8 years, I've been a runner, and let me explain. Running in the San Fernando Valley for 3 years was one thing, and it at least made me understand the streets of a quiet and safe suburb, as well as trails deep in the Santa Monica mountains. It was when I began running in the heart of Downtown L.A. that I really got a taste of the "real" streets. In both the suburbs and in the city, drivers don't give a shit about you if you're not in 4,000lb machine. Needless to say, once I began biking, I learned this the hard way.
It was my 18th birthday, and all I wanted was a bike. Hours of convincing and $800 later, I finally got my first bike, a Trek model 1.1. 4 months later, I got t-boned by a car going 45mph on Topanga Canyon Blvd in West Hills. 1 month later, I got my second bike, a Specialized Allez , which I've been able to keep in one piece ever since.
As a Triathlete I had plenty of rides all over the San Fernando Valley, Ventura County, Malibu (PCH rides especially), Los Angeles, and all along the coast. As a college student, I commute from Mar Vista to USC every day, a 10-mile ride down Venice Blvd. (its this commute that has inspired to start this blog).
Riding 20-miles total every day from the West side to Downtown and back for the past 3 years has opened my eyes to the bike culture that is alive and active here in Los Angeles. I will use this blog to share my experience, along with having a dialogue with other cyclists in LA about the difficulties we face as a tiny but fierce minority. I just hope that one day, bike lanes will abound here in LA. It may not exactly be a Utopia, but it sure is one hell of a city nonetheless.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)