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Sidewalks, bikes, & civil engineering
James wrote:
Dan O wrote: On Sep 22, 10:21 pm, James wrote: damyth wrote: NPR had some coverage today regarding federal funding of bike infrastructure. http://www.npr.org/2011/09/22/140709...ture-hits-cong... The report itself wasn't all that interesting, but in the comments section, a purported civil engineer (JaredParker) "specializing in traffic engineering and transportation" said this in response to another comment: "@Greg Smith (jatodog) 'Sidewalks are the most dangerous place for bikes, for both cyclists and pedestrians. If you ever rode a bike more than a few hours a year, you'd know that.' Actually Greg, I'd like to see your data regarding cyclist and pedestrian "dangers". I am Civil Engineer specializing in traffic engineering and transportation planning. The data that the NHTSA has released and data in studies that my company has conducted show that sidewalks are, on average, actually much safer for cyclists, at a rate of 60-75% less injuries and fatalities sustained by cyclists who use the sidewalk vs. the road. To more appropriately address the issue of cyclists and transportation, sidewalks could be converted into bike lanes much more readily than attempting to dedicate lanes of road to the cause, considering the easement and space is already there. Asphalt overlays and striping to separate pedestrian and bike traffic on the sidewalk is a very cost effective and safe alternative to exposing bikers to traffic in most urban and suburban settings. And by the way, I am an avid biker; and, I bike a minimum of 20 miles per day, weather cooperating. And I use the sidewalk." What the hell? Every driveway is a blind intersection. With civil engineers "specializing in traffic engineering and transportation planning" like this, who needs enemies? Yup, I agree. I guess if you ride very slowly, like at walking speed, the footpath might be ok, but for most people who ride regularly, the footpath is not an option. I'd like to see how long this civil eng. would survive at 40 km/h on the footpath. Riding on the sidewalk introduces some profound hazards of its own, but offers unique protections and conveniences as well. As long as the rider is cognizant of the implications, sidewalks are a great option to *include* in panoply of choices. I know there are times when it becomes useful, the question is, would you ride exclusively on the footpath, for a minimum of 20 miles per day? I might ride a short distance on the footpath, to avoid for example a traffic jam, road works, or open street festival like: http://www.hispanicfiesta.com.au/ But once the road is clear of obstruction, it's the safest place to be at any sort of reasonable riding speed. Here's a blog that analyzes Phoenix Arizona's latest bike crash report. http://azbikelaw.org/blog/listening-...ision-summary/ The author's major points: Sidewalks seem MUCH more dangerous than roads, and cycling by vehicle rules seems MUCH safer than being, um, creative. That's shown by the table, indicating whether the cyclist's action pre-crash would be deemed "good" or "bad" by VC standards. Only 10% of crashes involved "good" VC behavior. A full 70% happened to sidewalk cyclists. Unfortunately, there's no exposure data, which means it's possible that only 10% of the cycling in Phoenix is done according to the rules of the road, and that 70% of Phoenix's cycling is done on sidewalks. But I think that's highly unlikely. I also think it's likely that most of the rule-flouting cyclists figured they were being really smart - i.e. much smarter than those cyclists following normal traffic rules. -- - Frank Krygowski |
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