Tuesday, April 24, 2012

How many will it take?

I’m outraged. And I’m getting tired of getting outraged.

Last Wednesday (4/18/2012), Charles Gilbreth was killed riding his bicycle on Montezuma Rd near Collwood. That’s very near where Tom Fudge was hit in 2007, and less than a month since Daniel Ortiz was killed at Balboa and the I-805.

I’m more outraged that in the five years since Tom Fudge was injured, the city has done nothing to improve safety conditions on Montezuma, nor have they made significant progress on building the long-promised I-15 bike path that would provide a decent alternative for Fairmount Ave.

I understand it’s difficult to change infrastructure, but how many deaths does it take before something can be done?

I’m tired. I’m tired of waiting for agencies to provide condolences and little else. I’m tired of these “tragic accidents." I’m ready to make some noise. I hope you are, too. There’s a memorial ride tomorrow (Wednesday 4/25/12) starting at Balboa Park at 4:00 p.m. Come participate if you can. If you can’t make the ride, or if you can and want to do something more, call or email the Mayor’s office (619-236-6330 JerrySanders@sandiego.gov) and Councilmember Marti Emerald (619-236-6677 martiemerald@sandiego.gov) and Councilmember Todd Gloria (619-236-6633 toddgloria@sandiego.gov). Tell them you want them to:
  1. Make a stronger commitment to safer infrastructure and roadway design. They can start with providing traffic calming on Montezuma Rd, fixing the Kearny Villa Rd and I-163 interchange, and breaking ground on the I-15 bikeway in the next three years.
  2. Make a stronger commitment from police department to enforce traffic laws that have an adverse impact on cyclists/pedestrians (failure to stop/yield, distracted driving, etc.)
  3. Make sure the City immediately become a NACTO affiliate.
  4. Make sure that the drivers in the Daniel Ortiz and Charles Gilbreth cases will be investigated fully and that appropriate charges will be filed in both cases. The bicycling community will not be satisfied with a slap on the wrist.
I’m going to make a commitment, and I hope you will too, to not let Charles’ death go by like so many others. That we will band together and use our collective voices to make REAL change and not let apathy and anger stop us. And I’m going to stay outraged until we do.

11 comments:

  1. Join a bike Coaltion, band the coalitions together, get organized, wake-up the political elites in your city. The political resistance to bike mobility is huge so prepare, persist and be positive. Go for it. Les Miklosy LagunaStreets.blogspot.com member OCBC

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  2. I am joining the bike coalition and will be at the memorial ride tomorrow. This must stop.

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  3. I will be riding as well, rain or shine, because riders have been injured by the hundreds in SD county over the past few years. I understand that there are a large # of cyclists that still need to get on board with basic safety practices and rules of the road, but that's no excuse for the city/county to continue to hinder our chances for survival on the streets! I will renew my membership in the coalition as well. Reading the official stats on bicycle injuries/fatalities for the past 5 years (free download) was a sobering experience. More people died in 9 months last year than any of the previous three full years. Now is the time to roll.

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  4. It would help a lot if you would also push education for bikers: that they MUST obey ALL traffic laws as though they were driving a car. That especially means riding on the RIGHT side of the road (not against traffic), STOPPING at stop signs and red lights, SIGNALING before turning. Also, riding WITHIN bike lanes, not on the left-hand line.

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  5. There is no statute requiring cyclists to ride "within bike lanes, not on the left-hand line." That is a personal fantasy which has no codification in the California Vehicle Code. I urge you to read it and understand it before operating any vehicle, including a bicycle, in the public right of way.

    If cyclists were required by the CVC to always ride within bike lanes when present, then it would be impossible to go around a motor vehicle parked in the bike lane or to go around unridable broken pavement, debris, broken glass, tree branches, and other obstacles.

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    1. No, there is no such statute, but when the lane is there, and bikers choose to ride on the line, it makes it more likely they will be hit by a large vehicle. Why not take full advantage of the lane provided? I pass bikers frequently where the lane is fine, no parked cars, and no holes or debris, but they ride on the line anyway. Much more dangerous are those who, for convenience, don't stop at stop signs or lights, but just scoot on through assuming the laws don't pertain to them.

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    2. It is the responsibility and duty of the operator of the large vehicle to not run into slower moving or stationary objects. I get the impression from the "get out of my way" attitude that you do not ride a bicycle and that you support the idea of supremacy of motor vehicles on public streets. This is an outdated and dangerous perspective that leads directly to the deaths of vulnerable road users. Thankfully this flawed paradigm is on its way out. Welcome to the 21st Century, Captain Smith!

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  6. Right on, Les! Our coalitions do need to band together. Thanks C. Arenas and DMack for joining/renewing your membership. It's cyclist support that helps us make the roads safer for everyone. Claire, we do quite a bit of cyclist education. Our classes are free right now, and they teach rules of the road and handling skills. You should check one out or see our resources page for more about cycling laws: http://www.sdcbc.org/Bicycle-Laws-Safety-Tips.html And yes, Eggman is right, cyclists are not confined to bike lanes.

    Thanks for reading, San Diego County Bicycle Coaltion

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    1. I am glad you are doing what you do. Where I grew up (not California) bike safety and traffic laws were taught to elementary school kids on a regular basis, and cops did not hesitate to ticket those not complying. I have no doubt that it reduced tragic accidents significantly.

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  7. We need to put pressure on San Diego city government to make "San Diego Americas Safest City"
    Let's start by forcing traffic laws Under California vehicle code all vehicles including bicycles trucks cars, motorcycles etc. are considered vehicles and their operators be that they're called drivers or riders, need to obey traffic laws.
    The systemic problem is that vehicle operators are not held accountable…therefore they're going to continue to practice bad unsafe habits. It doesn't mater which group is more to blame. the problem is with both
    I am also pointing out that the bicycle or motorcycle will always lose against a car. We all need to obey the traffic laws so that we can share the roads safely and be America's Safest City!
    Talk to your friends family and coworkers, write, email and call let us all demand a safer city on the roads and streets.

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