Re: Accident Stats - the US Difference

i have lived in the Appalachians of Virginia....it is a place unto its
own...and poverty brings along with it ...its brother of trash, filth,
sickness, .....just another world that is what i experienced

On Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 10:02 PM, Keith Ley <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2011 21:12:17 +0100
> > From: Nathan Wajsman <[email protected]>
> > Subject: Re: Bicycle Accident Stats
> > To: touring <[email protected]>
> > Message-ID: <243382BA-A1CB-4617-B13E-E8BCE7922F04-+cDRpMZVDdI@public.gmane.org>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> >
> > That's the key. When I was taking my driving lessons in Denmark back in
> 1978, one of the things that were drilled into our heads was to look over
> the right shoulder before turning right, to make sure there was no cyclist
> in the blind angle. This became such a habit that even when I lived in Tampa
> in the late 80s, when NOBODY cycled there, I still looked over my shoulder
> before turning right.
> >
> > Some Dutch towns are experimenting with a new and radical approach: they
> have gotten rid of traffic lights, zebra stripes, bike paths etc. Everyone
> is simply expected to share the road. Guess what? In many of those towns
> accidents went DOWN. In fairness, these tend to be smaller towns, we are not
> talking Amsterdam or Utrecht or Rotterdam here.
> >
> >
> > Nathan Wajsman
> > [email protected]
> >
> > Alicante, Spain
> > http://www.frozenlight.eu
> > http://www.greatpix.eu
> > http://www.nathanfoto.com
> > PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
> > Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog
> >
> > YNWA
> >
> > On Feb 11, 2011, at 3:59 PM, David Whitmon wrote:
> >
> > > The thing about the Netherlands is that motorists know how to drive,
> are far better trained to drive with the idea that there are other road
> users who have the right of way.
> > >
> >
>
>
> I would believe this. During my TransAm last summer I rode for about 3
> weeks with two guys from the Netherlands. They often commented on both the
> poor driving skills and poor condition of many of the cars in the US. As we
> rode through the Appalachians one my favorite lines - " I don't understand
> every other store we pass sells car parts but all the cars are pieces of
> junk."
>
> I think what you said here illustrates why the "stats" discussed recently
> appear confusing or conflicting. We have a problem one symptom of which is
> cyclists getting into accidents with automobiles. We're treating this
> symptom by adding bike lanes, creating separate bike-ways, painting
> right-of-ways, lane dieting, etc. There is something to be said for this.
> However, at some point unless you are just riding a recreational bike path
> you will need to cross busy intersections and ride on streets that don't
> have protected bike lanes. The separate bicycling infrastructure reinforces
> the idea that bikes have thier own place and I (as a car driver) don't have
> to worry about them- a sort of "out of sight out of mind".  If the same
> lanes, signage, signals, etc. were both universally adopted and consistently
> implemented across the country (or even just from city to city in the same
> states) it would have a very positive impact. Rigth now I suspect that areas
> with well conceieved and con
>  structed cycling infrastructure are safer than areas that don't have this
> but places that have only partially implemented this stuff (some streets
> have bike lanes, many don't or the lanes come and go, or some areas of town
> are much more bicycle friendly than others) have done little to increase
> cycling safety.
>
> The real problem in the US is that drivers neither expect or respect
> cyclist on the roads.      Your statement "one of the things that were
> drilled into our heads was to look over the right shoulder before turning
> right, to make sure there was no cyclist in the blind angle" explains the
> difference. You were trained to EXPECT cyclists on the road and in doing
> this the country (in making sure you were trained) was showing a certain
> RESPECT for cyclists. The mind set in most of the US is that roads are for
> cars and bicycles have no business being on them.
>
> The real issue is the lack of consideration by motorists which we are doing
> little to change- especially when you see cases like that farce a few months
> back in Aspen were the big-money Mercedes driving banker pretty much ran
> over a cyclist and got off with nothing but a slap on the wrist. I don't
> expect this to change in the US. Eventually (many years from now) cycling
> will become safer in America not because American drivers will become more
> skilled, aware, or considerate but because automobiles will become
> "smarter". The technology and imaging systems now being installed on very
> high-end cars will improve and eventually trickle down. The drivers will
> still be distracted and stupid enough to run down cyclists and pedestrians
> but hopefully the cars will be too smart to let them do it in most cases.
>
>
>
>
>
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