Tag Archives: collision

The “Dutch Reach”

I have sent the following message to Dr. Michael Charney, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, promoter of the “Dutch Reach”. The “Dutch Reach” is motorists’ opening the driver’s side door with the opposite hand, so they must look back for bicyclists riding … Continue reading

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Duck Boat crashes

We had a duck boat run into a motor scooter from behind on Saturday, May 7, 2016 in Boston, killing one of the riders. It isn’t clear from the news story why this happened, though I expect that the poor … Continue reading

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Helmet disparagement and ethics

To quote the late, great Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman, “Never treat anyone in the public sphere like an idiot. If you treat him like an idiot, he will act like an idiot.” Providing helmets is difficult when bicycles are … Continue reading

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Another crosswalk confusion, and a fatality

In response to my post about confused yielding requirements where shared-use paths cross streets, Ryan Reasons has published comments on a recent fatal truck-bicycle crash in the Seattle, Washington area. The photo below is from the KOMO TV/radio station news … Continue reading

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Some thoughts about self-driving cars

Google’s report on its self-driving cars: http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/us/selfdrivingcar/files/reports/report-0515.pdf Most than half of the collisions reported in this document are slow-speed rear-enders of the Google cars. That’s unusual. It might be that the behavior of the Google cars is more cautious than … Continue reading

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When slow is too fast

The basic speed limit, not to go too fast under the existing conditions, is often lower than the posted speed limit. When facilities like the bike lane in the video are built in which 10 mph, or even 5 mph, … Continue reading

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Monsere, Dill et al. — Not Yet a Review, But…

M. Kary, who prepared a review of the Lusk et al Montreal study, has had a preliminary look at the Monsere, Dill et al. study of barrier-separated on-street bikeways (“cycle tracks”) which the bicycle industry lobby PeopleforBikes is promoting as … Continue reading

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Is the NACTO Guide a Design Manual?

In cities around the USA, politicians, under pressure from populist bicycling advocates, have pointed to the NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) Urban Street Design Guide and directed their engineering staff to install treatments which it describes. I’ll say … Continue reading

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Truck side skirts: reliable way to prevent cyclist fatalities?

No, not reliable, though some are better than others. Some are also supposed to confer an aerodynamic advantage. Some have a smooth surface which can deflect a cyclist. That is still no guarantee that the cyclist will escape serious injury … Continue reading

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Cycle track mania on the slippery slope in Somerville, Massachusetts

My attention recently was drawn to a proposed project for Beacon Street in Somerville Massachusetts, a couple of towns away from where I live.. A presentation from a public meeting is online here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1Y_jIpLYtpycEZNOUVTNUYxQVU/edit (I was unfortunately not able to … Continue reading

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