Posts Tagged: bike commuting
Posted by Anthony | May 13th, 2012 | 5 Comments »
At the beginning of May, the Vancouver Police Department announced that – in conjunction with other police departments across the province – they were going to be “targeting” high-risk driving during the month of May. VPD Staff Sgt. Jack Sarna was quoted in the article that the most common high-risk activity that he observes is distracted driving. The media focused on motorists, but “distracted driving” — in particular using a cell phone while driving — is a behaviour you can see in cyclists too.
On one day on my ride to work last week, shortly after the announced “crackdown,” I saw three motorists with cells to their ears as they drove by me on the bike route. On a ride home the very same week, I had to deal with two cars stopped at green lights because their drivers were looking down at their mobile instead of up at the light.
For some reason, the place I notice the most people on cell phones are those who have just dropped their kids off at one of the many schools that I drive by on my ride to work. They drop off little Johnny or Jane at school then reach for the phone as they pull away. Clearly “distracted driving” by motorists is a safety issue for cyclists.
But what about cyclists themselves? I occasionally see cyclists riding along, usually pretty slowly, with phones pushed up to their ears. Rarely I see the odd person texting. Last week (it was an odd week) I saw a guy remove his cycling jacket and stuff it into the backpack he was wearing while continuing to cycle along the bike route. It was both remarkable and frightening. Clearly these cyclists can’t react to sudden problems on the road with sufficient reaction time. And the path that they follow, meandering here and there as they maintain a generally forward motion, is hard for both bikes and cars that might want to pass or just avoid running into them.
Probably the biggest issue in “distracted cycling”, though is the issue of headphones. read more »
Posted by Anthony | April 30th, 2012 | 7 Comments »
Earlier this week, an upset cyclist turned to me as we were riding along the Off-Broadway bike route and asked, indignantly, “Don’t bikes have priority on the bike routes?”
It turns out that she had approached the intersection at Hemlock and 7th and pushed the bike-button on the side of the road. This is one of my least favourite intersections as it has one of those makes-no-sense configurations: Stop signs east/west on the bike route and a flashing green light on Hemlock north/south.
Anyone in Vancouver will recognize this as a typical “pedestrian-controlled intersection,” and I think that it borders on negligence to have them on this part of the bike route.
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Posted by Anthony | April 16th, 2012 | 5 Comments »
For the past three weeks, my wife and I were living at the BC Children’s Hospital while one of my kids dealt with a serious infection. This, of course, made commuting by bike pretty impractical. Things are better now, and last Wednesday I got back on the bike to ride to work. I was expecting the worst — my commute includes climbing the hill to UBC — but it was pretty good.
I had driven to work a few times over those three weeks, and while in “motorist” mode I felt the same irritation that many motorists feel about cyclists. There was the cyclist riding down Broadway that vehicles were gingerly working their way around, only to have the cyclist ride up along the side of the line of vehicles stopped at stop lights and proceed to ride right through the red light. Everyone had to gingerly try to pass again.
There was the cyclist that was a cyclist until the red light, then became a pedestrian on a bike as she rode across the intersection in the crosswalk, then reaching the far corner, rode across the street against the red light and down the sidewalk.
There was the cyclist who didn’t even look for traffic, never mind stop at the 2-way stop sign. You know what? Cyclists like this ruin the reputation of all cyclists around the city. read more »
Posted by Anthony | April 2nd, 2012 | 13 Comments »
Although bikes obeying stop signs is a close second, there is no more divisive issue related to cycling than that of the law requiring all cyclists to wear a helmet.
It amazes me how heated emotions get on this one issue. Helmet use has been in the news again after a helmetless man struck a pedestrian on Vancouver Island and died as the result of his injuries.
On April 1st this year, the Vancouver Observer took the helmet law to a “logical” place and suggested (tongue firmly in cheek) a helmet law for pedestrians.
In BC, the provincial helmet law was enacted in 1996 -the first in Canada. The City of Vancouver highlights the relevant parts of the Motor Vehicle Act. The Vancouver Police Department may issue helmetless bike riders $29 fines.
Helmet-law proponents
Helmet-law proponents cite studies that show wearing a helmet reduces the likelihood of brain injury when falling off your bike. Countless people who have fallen off their bike, struck their head, and not had a brain injury cite their helmet as the reason and emotionally support the requirement that everyone wear a helmet to save themselves and not become a burden on the public health care system. read more »
Posted by Anthony | March 19th, 2012 | Leave a comment »
Daylight Saving Time has imposed itself upon us and spring is right around the corner. It’s a perfect time of year to give your bike some TLC. Unless you’re obsessive about keeping your bike in perfect working order, riding through the winter has resulted in dirt and grime building up on your bike. Grit from the wet roads has worn down the brakes. Your cables are stretched and worn. Generally speaking, the bike has seen better days.
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Posted by Anthony | March 5th, 2012 | 15 Comments »
Last week, I wrote about travelling northbound on the Burrard St. bridge. Comments on the post brought up some concern over the use of a bike horn instead of a bike bell. I admit that I was surprised at the opposition to the bike horn. To me, a bike horn is an essential safety device when commuting in Vancouver.
My bicycle is equipped with both a bell (an MEC Universal Bicycle Bell) and an Air Zound bicycle horn. The bell is a typical thumb-actuated rotary bell; it makes a satisfyingly stereotypical ring-ring sound. The horn is an air-pressure horn that has an air reservoir that you pump up with a tire pump and then activate with a thumb switch. It’s about as loud as a car horn, but pitched a bit higher. read more »
Posted by Anthony | February 27th, 2012 | 18 Comments »
My daily commute takes me east-west through Kits, but a large number of people commute north-south, mostly along the Cypress bike route and over the Burrard Street bridge. The controversial Burrard Bridge Lane Reallocation Trial has made travelling from Kits to downtown much easier and safer, but it still has some issues.
Heading northbound into downtown, there are four options: north-bound straight down Burrard St., east along 1st Ave. (turning north on Burrard), west along 1st Ave. (turning north on Burrard), or east bound along Cornwall to the bridge. All these approaches are along busy roads with lots of pedestrians, motorists, and other cyclists.
Last week I had to head downtown and videoed my trip over the bridge. It wasn’t a bad trip, but punctuated by a number of bad behaviours that discourage people from riding. read more »
Posted by Anthony | February 19th, 2012 | 3 Comments »
ICBC runs a campaign in the Lower Mainland with signs that proclaim “Car Thieves are Everywhere!”. Last week, a local team of filmmakers and bike enthusiasts got a lot of press on the release of a trailer for their web video series called “To Catch a Bike Thief“.
The crew has created a “bait bike” in the style of the Vancouver Police Department’s “bait car” program. This bike has been outfitted a phone-home GPS hidden in the frame of the bicycle. The bike will be set up in a high-theft location and monitored to see if it is stolen. Motion sensors in the GPS will alert their “intercept team” (and security detail) to the bike’s theft, and using a web app that reports the bike’s location the team will confront the bike thief. You can watch the trailer to the series here. read more »
Posted by Anthony | February 13th, 2012 | 1 Comment »
On February 7 the City of Vancouver, along with partners ICBC, the Vancouver Police Department, and Preventable, launched a “safety awareness campaign” targeting some activities that they call “common yet inconsiderate, risky and illegal behaviours that can cause serious harm to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.”
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Posted by Anthony | January 29th, 2012 | 10 Comments »
Last week I had another “adverse interaction” with a motorist. These seem to be happening with increasing frequency.
It started with the traffic circle at Blenheim St. and 8th Ave. I was heading east along the Off-Broadway bike route (aka 8th Ave.) and two vehicles were heading north along Blenheim St. It was dark, but not raining. I was lit up with my reflective riding gear and 5 blinking LED lights: a bright headlight, one in the spokes of my front wheel, a bright omnidirectional on my seat post, and one hanging from each pannier.
In short, the only way you won’t see me at night is by not looking in my direction. read more »
