Okay, this guy doesn’t faze me, but he would scare the dickens out of a novice cyclist…and probably has a long history of intimidating cyclists to ride in the gutter or through puddles just for his own convenience. The whole video is 45 seconds long. By speeding past me, he gains maybe 10 seconds.
The license plate looks like WA 405-XKF.
[edit: Thanks to Claire for the language correction of faze vs. phase.]
[edit 2: Upon more review of the footage, I am convinced that I have the license plate correct and thanks to RJL20 in the comments, we have an owner of the car who has a very poor driving history.]
It seems like drivers have been increasingly commenting that since cyclists don’t pay the gas tax or pay for licensing their bicycles they shouldn’t be using the road at all; cyclists don’t “pay their fair share” in other words. Well then, how are our roadways (interstates, highways, and city streets) are funded? Roadway funding may differ slightly from city to city and region to region but generally the funding sources are similar across the country.
Bottom line, the “gas tax” and other “transportation taxes” do not pay the true costs of roadways. [1] [2] [4] [5] [6] [7] [9] [11] [16]
Let’s look at the funding of highway construction and maintenance first – from the “gas tax.” This “gas tax” does not come solely from a tax on gasoline. Of the total state/federal funding for highways in the western states, 33% of the total funding for highway construction and maintenance “gas tax” ($.0193/gallon of the total $0.583/gallon) comes from sources other than a direct tax on gasoline purchases; sales tax, gross receipts, oil inspection fees, county and local taxes, etc. contribute to the federal highway dollars distributed to each region. [1] [17] Read the rest of this entry »
There are between 2,000 to 4,000 cyclists in Seattle on any given day. I think. Depending on what count I look at. How do we get a consistent, accurate count of cyclists in a city? This is essential in order to understand where cyclists are riding from, what the destinations are, what infrastructure is needed to support them, what maintenance needs to be done and how to get more people cycling.
Right now there is little consistency between count locations from year to year (if the counts are even conducted on a yearly basis). Perhaps one group needs to step up – SDOT I’m looking at you – and conduct multiple counts per year, say spring, summer, winter and fall. Consistent locations need to be chosen in areas that cyclists use which may include multiple locations in areas with challenging terrain. We need better volunteer outreach which starts by giving volunteers enough lead time to arrange schedules and the count organizers should contact local community news sources to promote the need for volunteers. And finally, bike count reports and charts should be complete, easily searchable and located in one place. SDOT should also post historical bike counts on the site, not just the most recent count. If the Bicycle Master Plan implementation is to continue, shouldn’t we really know exactly how many cyclists travel the streets?
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We like cars, they are flashy, have powerful engines, and are a sex symbol, but so often they betray us. They are the hare in the childhood fable.
I’ve been counting how many cars pass me and how many cars I catch up and pass while riding along the Shilshole section of the Burke Gilman Trail Missing Link. In the 0.6 miles along Shilshole between 17th Ave and 24th Ave, I ride my bicycle against my normal habit to the right of the lane edge so cars can freely pass me.
As I get near to 24th, I always pass a stack of cars queued up at the stoplight. The last 4 times I counted, the counts were:
8 cars passed me, I passed 20
12 cars passed me, I passed 25
6 cars passed me, I passed 11
5 cars passed me, I passed 15
These counts were made between 5pm and 6pm on weekdays. I was traveling between 14 MPH and 16 MPH.
So, remind me again, why isn’t there a 3-way stop sign at 17th? Why is the speed limit above 15 MPH? Traffic would flow so much smoother if we all just slowed down.
On the bicycle, I am the tortise winning the race in competition with the car driving hares.
It is easy to speculate and get it wrong. On Tuesday a bicycle hit the rear side panel of a police car on Jackson.
It sounds like the police officer made a left hand turn across oncoming traffic (the bicycle) and passed through the right of way of the bicycle too closely for the bicycle to stop. The mitigating factor is that a stalled van in the middle of the road was blocking visibility.
We hope that for full transparency the police report on this incident will be shared with the public. Already the talkback forums on news sites are full of anti-cycling venom. Let’s make it clear, either way, who was at fault and why.
It is reassuring to hear that the driver of the police car was unharmed. Those bicycles can cause a lot of damage. For evidence, just see the dent in the back of the police car.
Okay, this particular pothole only cost the bicycle owner $150, but Soma is generous and he is still without his vehicle for a good deal of time. I’ve broken two frames, one purchased from Craigslist wasn’t covered, the other took two months to ship to the manufacturer in Italy and get a replacement. Now I own a primary bike and a backup bike.
In Jonathan’s case, this pothole broke his frame. At the time that he crashed, it was covered with water and looked like just a puddle on top of the pavement, not a deep pothole.
How upset would you be if you totaled your car in a pothole?
Could you imagine what we’d be saying now if Jonathan hadn’t been wearing his helmet? He hit is head so hard that his helmet cracked, so he would have either died or been in critical condition in the hospital right now.
Would the city be facing a lawsuit over a pothole?
How would the lawsuit be colored by the fact that this is on an official bicycle route and adjacent to the most used trail in the region?
Seattle, please keep repairing the pavement. It can be a killer.
Cyclists, use extreme caution around puddles. We often can’t tell how deep they are.
2009 was a bad year for bicycle fatalities, which is one of the reasons why bicycle advocacy groups are pushing for a vulnerable user law, but for as bad as any year is for bicycle fatalities, it is worse for pedestrians.
In January of 2010, Seattle saw four police reported vehicle collisions that injured pedestrians. One of those caused a pedestrian fatality. January saw no cyclist vs. car crashes reported on the SPD Blotter Blog
That is just the police-view of the world. Most crashes don’t get police reports. These statistics don’t include all of the crashes that police don’t respond to. BikeWise lists two self-reported motor vehicle vs. bicycle crashes in January. This is why we would like to see lower speed limits, pass a vulnerable user law, expand BikeWise to collect pedestrian crash statistics too, and increase driver license test requirements and require re-testing when renewing licenses.
