NBC News: Growing number of Americans going carless!
This is a friendly reminder to drivers who complain that cyclists are slowing cars down and a reminder why bicycles ultimately benefit everyone, even those who don?t ride.
The vehicle code clearly states that bicycle riders have the right to ride in traffic, so long as they obey all traffic laws.
Bicycle riders and automobile drivers follow the same rules and have the same rights. Example: Cars must stop at a stop sign, and bicycles must stop at a stop sign.
Bicycles must always ride with traffic. Bicyclists must travel in the same direction as cars.
When moving slower than the normal traffic speed, bicycles must stay near the right edge of the road, except when passing another bicycle or vehicle, or when getting ready to turn left, or when passing a parked car, or to avoid other objects.
In other words, whenever it is NOT safe to ride on the far right of the street, bicycles can legally ride in the traffic lane.
Drivers need to keep in mind that our narrow, rural Ojai roads are not designed for fast moving SUV?s and other large vehicles. On many streets bicycles are forced to ride in traffic ? there is no space to safely ride to the far right, and there are no designated bike lanes.
This is the price I hope drivers willingly pay for living in a beautiful small town. Slow down?enjoy the journey!
To soften the aggravation you may feel when behind the wheel, keep in mind that when you get to your destination there will be more car parking spaces, thanks to those who arrive by bike.
May is National Bike Month?a perfect time for our community to recognize and celebrate all the benefits of bicycling.
Bicycling keeps us healthy, carries us efficiently from point A to point B, saves us from high gas prices, and makes our air cleaner and our roads less congested. All of which also improves property values.
Bicycling is good for our community and helps address many of our most pressing health, societal and environmental problems. Plus bicycling is fun and rejuvenating!
All of May is National Bike Month. This week (May 13-17) is National Bike to Work Week. I encourage you to think of any week in the year as Bike to Anywhere Week.
According to the national bike group PeopleForBikes, half of all trips Americans make are three miles or less?an easy biking distance.
If more people in our community bike, even just once a week or once a month, we?ll all be better off ?even those who don?t ride. If you have not done so already, this month, dust off your bike and give two wheels a try! There is safety in numbers, the more bicycles, the more drivers need to pay attention and slow down. Which ultimately, is a good thing!
Note: Letter to the Editor, Ojai Valley News, May 15, 2013. I?m a little late posting this, but judging by the Comments on Facebook about the $200 fines for riding on the sidewalk, it?s still timely.
My mom, Mary Diets (now age 92) on her bike in Holland in the 1940?s
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An Oldie but Goodie Reminder: Ten Reasons Why Bicycles Are Good!
Listing the benefits of bicycling makes it sound like one of those old patent medicines: ?guaranteed to cure all your ills.? But the simple truth is that bicycling is good for the air, the water, the earth, the quality of life in our community, helps to conserve energy, increases property value, increases business, and makes our streets and highways more efficient and, at the same time is good for our health, makes us more fit, and its fun!
Here is a quick look at the ten top reasons why bicycles are good!
1. Bicycling is good for family-friendly communities. A recent survey of potential home buyers found that 93 percent said ?quiet, low traffic areas were very or extremely important? in selecting the type of community they want to live in. More than 70 percent of the home buyers cited bicycling facilities as important to their decision. Parents recognize that children are more independent in bicycle friendly communities. Women between the age of 30 and 50 tend to make far more vehicle trips than men?largely due to the ?chauffeur? role they play in delivering children to various after-school destinations. Safe bicycle routes liberate both parents and children.
2. Bicycling increases property values. Studies have shown that property values climb in neighborhoods near newly built bicycle-pedestrian trails. ?Community designs that deliver low traffic and quiet streets. ? ?Lots of natural, open space? and ?Walking and biking paths? were the top three priorities among 39 features identified by home buyers as crucial factors in their home-purchasing decision.
3. Bicycling contributes to community safety. Streets full of cyclists have a calming effect on motorists. Communities with high rates of cycling tend to have reduced rates of traffic deaths and injuries among bicyclists and pedestrians. It is estimated that for every dollar invested in bicycle and pedestrian improvements, we save double this amount in medical costs from averted traffic accidents. Many successful community policing programs around the nation is the bicycle -mounted police squad. Placing cops on bikes (as we do here in Ojai) has proved effective in fostering goodwill among residents of crime-plagued neighborhoods, while the crime-fighting virtues of the bicycle ? stealth, speed, all-terrain mobility ? are well-established.
4. Bicycling improves air quality and the health of the community. Place any living creature in a closed system and turn on even a brand new combustion engine and death is the result. Our Earthly atmosphere is a closed system about 10 miles high. The burning of fossil fuels, primarily from cars, busses and trucks is contaminating the single most important ingredient for human health?clean air. An average four-mile round-trip bike trip prevents nearly 15 pounds of air pollutants from contaminating the air.
5. Bicycling conserves energy and resources. Bicycle trips are most likely to displace short car trips, which are less fuel efficient than longer trips. Bicycle transportation saves an estimated 700 million gallons of fuel annually. By making our communities safe and practical for bicycling, bicyclists could save the U.S. as much as three billion gallons of fuel each year.
6. Bicycling helps relieve traffic congestion. Bicycle improvements can encourage motorists to shift some of their short automotive trips to bicycling. Approximately 40% of all car trips are less than two miles in length.
7. Bicycling is economical. Bicycling is the most-cost effective mode of transportation. The cost of operating a car has climbed 300 percent in the last 20 years. Growing numbers of families find that the replacement of a commuter car with a commuter bike can restore thousands of dollars annually to the household budget. Critics point out that we make a grave error by measuring time gained by speed as miles per hour while sitting in our car. We forget the time spent in earning money to pay for the vehicle, insure it, and maintain it, which in an overall view of our lives is the real measure of our time. From a broader perspective (calculating the hidden costs of driving), it is estimated that cars actually deliver us at speeds of about five miles per hour. One quarter of our waking lives are spent in performing the involuntary activities associated with the automobile-transportation system.
8. Bicycling is good for the economy. Besides increasing property values, we cannot afford to overlook that Ojai has a tourist based economy. Tourists love to visit places where they can conveniently park once and forget the stress of driving. ?Car-Free Vacations?, ?Carless Vacations?, destinations known as a ?Bicycle-Pedestrian Paradise? or ?Walkable Cities?, are recognized as both desirable for visitors and local residents who find noise and congestion from traffic to be the single most annoying side effect from tourists. Retailers are recognizing that healthy revenues do not depend on heavy car traffic and lots of parking. Cars don?t shop?people do! Studies show that bicycle-pedestrian friendly street designs creates a shopper friendly atmosphere which increases retail business. Plus bicycles free up valuable car parking spaces for those people who must drive.
9. Bicycling promotes health and fitness for people of all ages, including our older population. Bicycling is a lifelong, low impact aerobic activity available to almost anyone. Modern gearing allows every user to find his or her own level of effort. Three wheelers with large baskets can be used by older adults riding for the first time. The role of the bicycle in keeping older people healthy and independent is just beginning to be explored. One study suggests that if one quarter of the nations sedentary adults ? 20 million people-would exercise moderately on a regular basis, savings to the healthcare system would exceed $5 billion.
10. Bicycling is fun! Actually, bicycling is more than fun. It is a spiritually uplifting, consciousness raising, mind expanding experience. Riding your bike connects you to the earth and everything you see all around you.
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Source: http://www.ojaipost.com/2013/05/ojai-bicycle-update-slow-down-enjoy-the-journey/
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