"Bicycle Infrastructure Promotes Observance of Bicycle Laws"

On Sunday, January 26, 2014 8:12:59 AM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Sunday, January 26, 2014 10:46:16 AM UTC-5, sms wrote:



Somewhere I may have one of the first editions, self-published by

photo-copying at a copy center.



Actually, self-published by running them off on a mimeograph machine in his

garage. Only later did MIT Press take notice of it and decide it deserved

a much wider audience.



It was given to me by a close friend of

John Forester. Hopefully the newer editions have improved over the years

as he's become more educated about the realities of cycling.



The edition you have would have been from the 1970s. I have one.

The book has improved much over the decades, but was particularly

groundbreaking when it first came out.



That was a time when the '70s bike boom had gotten millions of (mostly)

young adults on bikes, but there were very few in America who were really

experienced cyclists, and almost none who were capable of Forester's deep

understanding of traffic principles and laws.



Back then, "bike safety" consisted of "Always stay out of the way of cars,

always pretend you're invisible, put a tall flag on your bike" etc. Even

"Always wear a helmet" came later.



(Of course, some people are still giving those same bits of advice!)



Forester's observations, logic and analysis were good enough that they

became the basis for almost every modern cycling education program.

They informed cycling rights advocates in most U.S. states and at the

national level. And they've allowed many of us to ride wherever we

choose to ride, with far greater safety and comfort than before.



There are those who mock Forester, pretending his accomplishments are

worthless. ISTM that those people are similar to freshman physics

students who say "Newton's laws of motion aren't so special. An object

in motion stays in motion, duh!" In both cases, the critics can't

comprehend how abysmal was the ignorance before the respective publications.



- Frank Krygowski

How abysmal was the ignorance before "Effective Cycling?" Maybe it was abysmal in Ohio, but we already had "bicycle drivers" and "vehicular cyclists" in south-Bay California in the early '70s -- birthplace of UVC 11-1205(a)(narrow lane exception). Forester wrote a book and filed a lawsuit which popularized the approach, so kudos, etc., but he is no Newton or Mozart.

Oddly enough, I had a delivery job in Palo Alto in 74-75 and used to ride to Palo Alto on my bike pretty regularly -- up to PAB to spend my hard earned money. I rarely saw other bicyclists (even when in my delivery van), and I never had a problem on the El Camino, University or elsewhere, which was kind of the belly-button of the whole "I am traffic" (hear me roar!) deal -- along with outrage over some stupid sidewalk lanes, which I never saw or used. Yawn. I just rode back to Los Gatos or San Hose with my parts -- right down the treacherous El Camino, or even worse, up Page Mill and home on Skyline. Worse because its a long f****** exposed climb.

Now I just follow the Oregon UVC, which is different from California and the model act -- in ways that are pretty good and which keep traffic flowing. I selectively ignore the one bad provision(mandatory use of bike lanes, so long as they have been deemed safe by faceless, unnamed person). I pay attention to traffic, take the lane when necessary and throw on my punishment flasher if anyone gets out of line. I'm going to write a book soon called "Passive Aggressive Cycling." Chapter One: "Taking the lane . . . just because!" The book will come with a vintage cycling cap and a tiny U-lock that can be hung from a belt loop -- and maybe an ear gauge.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Sunday, January 26, 2014 7:11:08 PM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:

How abysmal was the ignorance before "Effective Cycling?" Maybe it was abysmal in Ohio, but we already had "bicycle drivers" and "vehicular cyclists" in south-Bay California in the early '70s...

Well, I was living in the rural deep south at the time. But from what I
can tell, the general level of road cycling knowledge is still pretty
abysmal. I've mentioned racers who take pride in riding atop the fog line,
inches from a dropoff on their right and a dump truck in the narrow lane
on their left. I've mentioned watching a cyclist dive into the grass off the
pavement to avoid slowing a pickup on a rural road. And here, riding anywhere near lane center is disparaged as "hall monitor" behavior.

But I don't doubt that you had some vehicular cyclists in the early '70s.
Forester never claimed he invented the techniques. Quite the opposite; he
says that he was merely explaining to American how cycling was long done in
countries that had an unbroken tradition of cycling according to the rules
of the road.

He did, however, disseminate the knowledge, in part by making the logic of
the techniques clear and easy to understand. He also coined the term
"vehicular cycling," the term now used for cycling according to the rules
of the road for legitimate drivers of vehicles. The common use of that term
gives some testament to his effectiveness in teaching the techniques.

(And the common misuse of that term shows there is still a lot of abysmal
cycling being done.)

I'm going to write a book soon called "Passive Aggressive Cycling." Chapter One: "Taking the lane . . . just because!" The book will come with a vintage cycling cap and a tiny U-lock that can be hung from a belt loop -- and maybe an ear gauge.

Have at it, Jay. We can't have people using the wrong style of hat!

- Frank Krygowski