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Wednesday, April 30, 2003
The Kansas State University cycling team is making its first-ever trip to the National Collegiate Cycling Association Road National Championships. The championships are being held the the University of California at Berkley May 9 through 11, 2003.
The Kansas State teams has 4 of the 6 highest-rated individual cyclists, by point ratings, in their conference. Read more in the Kansas State Collegian.
The Standard Democrat reports that a young cyclist and a young pedestrian were injured in separate incidents last week in Sikeston, MO:
The first accident occurred at 4:17 p.m. at 331 N. Main when two children on bicycles were trying to cross Main Street and were hit by a vehicle. One child received injuries and was transported to Missouri Delta Medical Center. . . . Neither injured child received life-threatening injuries. Every spring, with the coming of good weather, there is a rash of car/bike and car/pedestrian collisions. Most of these are entirely preventable. Read MoBikeFed's bike safety press release to find out what you can do to prevent these accidents.
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that a 34-year-old cyclist was struck by a car and killed Friday night. The cyclist was riding after 11:00 P.M. on route AC, which has recently been opened and has bicycle lanes.
The driver fled the scene. Police apprehended him and have charged him with 1st-degree involuntary manslaughter as well as a variety of other charges. KMIZ-TV reported that the driver, Danny Franks, has now been arraigned on the involuntary manslaughter charge.
The Missouri tort reform bill, which includes provisions to protect land owners near the Katy Trail, is advancing through the Missouri Legislature.
"The bill would give landowners along the scenic Katy Trail immunity from liability should bikers and hikers enter their land illegally and be injured because of their own negligence." More details in the KCStar article.
Sunday, April 27, 2003
According to an article in the SEMissourian,
An 11-year-old Millersville boy out riding his bicycle on Highway 72 suffered moderate injuries Wednesday evening after he crested a hill and drove into the path of an oncoming car. The boy's injuries are not life-threatening.
Saturday, April 26, 2003
According to a story in the KCStar, the European Commission will require auto makers to sell automobiles that are less dangerous to pedestrians, starting in 2005. There are two basic approaches: make the vehicles absorb the impact of the pedestrian, so that the pedestrian escapes with less serious injuries, and help the vehicle and driver avoid collisions with pedestrians in the first place. Both approaches are showing some promise.
Of course, this raises the question: What are we doing here in the U.S.? According to the article, Ford has started to do some work on pedestrian safety measures, and the Honda Accord already has a collapsing hood that is designed to absorb the force of impact with a pedestrian. The U.S. government doesn't seem to have any mandates or requirements similar to those imposed by the European Commission.
An article in the Springfield News-Leader reports on Branson's planned 89-mile bike & hike trail network:
The Master Trail Plan was unveiled at a public meeting on Thursday with about a dozen enthusiastic supporters present. Plans call for the trail system to run along the shore of Lake Taneycomo, through town along Roark Creek to the Henning Conservation Area on the town's west side and south to meet the loop at Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery.
Today there are two pieces of VERY good news about the bike/ped provisions that are under consideration in both the Missouri House and Senate:
* The House version of the bill, HB 684, was approved by committee and given a DO PASS recommendation. There is a good chance it will be able to move forward now (probably as an amendment to another bill). * Senator Jon Dolan has withdrawn SB 381, which had the bike/ped provisions as well as other transportation-related provisions. But now Sen. Dolan has inserted the bike/ped language into some other bills that have a very high probability of passing. So the provisions are still alive! Bicyclists and pedestrians from around the state who contact the legislators about the bill can still have a big impact. Click here for contact info for the most vital legislators and more information about the latest developments. Find out details about the bill's provisions here.
Thursday, April 24, 2003
The Army Corps of Engineers and East St. Louis city have proposed and ambitious development plan for the East St. Louis riverfront area. The plan includes and number of linear parks and bicycle trails. Read the details online at STLToday.
An article in The Daily Statesman (Dexter, MO) outlines some of the economic difficulties facing the county and plans for improving the business climate in the area.
The Stoddard County IDA does a number of tasks to try to build up the economic development in Stoddard County, Capps explained. Currently it is leasing a building in Dexter to hold educational courses for members of the community and is working on getting a bike trail to run through the county to increase tourism the area. Bike trails through rural Missouri are, of course, not an economic cure-all. But trails like Missouri's Katy Trail have had a significant positive economic influence on the areas they pass through. Trails could play an important part in the economic development of many rural areas in Missouri.
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
According to a KCTV5 News story, the driver in a hit-and-run accident that seriously injured a Kansas City man has been identified:
Charles Scott, 62, was walking on the sidewalk at 28th and Indiana on Tuesday when a car jumped the curb and struck him. The driver is currently being held on unrelated charges.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released a major study of motor vehicle and pedestrian fatalities.
According to the report, pedestrian and motorist safety in Missouri cities is poor, compared to other cities in our region. St. Louis was ranked as the 19th most dangerous city in the nation for pedestrians, with an average of 13 pedestrians killed per year, 1998-2000, and a pedestrian fatality rate of 3.73 per 100,000. St. Louis's vehicle fatality rate is also rather high--about 13 per 100,000. The worst U.S. cities had vehicle fatality rates of about 20 per 100,000 while the best had rates of 2 or 3 per 100,000. Kansas City, MO, is the 56th most dangerous city for pedestrians, with an average of 11 pedestrians killed per year and a pedestrian fatality rate of 2.42 per 100,000. Kansas City's vehicle fatality rate is also very high: 15 per 100,000. On the other hand, of the U.S. cities with over 100,000 population, Overland Park, KS--part of the Kansas City metropolitan area and nestled right up against the southern part of KCMO--is the 11th safest for pedestrians. A summary of pedestrian and vehicle fatality rates for area cities for the years 1998-2000:
Of the U.S. cities with over 100,000 population, Overland Park is the 11th safest for pedestrians. KCMO vs. Overland Park The difference in both vehicle and pedestrian fatality rates between Kansas City, MO, and Overland Park, KS is particularly telling. Overland Park is part of the KC metropolitan area and Overland Park is separated from the southwest section of KCMO by only a mile or two of continuously populated metropolitan area. Yet KCMO's pedestrian fatality rate is about 10 times Overland Park's, and KCMO's vehicle fatality rate is about 3 times higher. Much of the difference must be attributed to the more modern road design techniques employed by Overland Park, which uses many design techniques known to reduce conflict points between motorists and between motorist and pedestrian. For instance, in an Overland Park commercial area with 10-15 businesses, all of these businesses might share just 2 or 3 driveway entrances to the street. In KCMO, each business would likely have its own driveway--or perhaps even two driveways. Each driveway cuts across the sidewalk, creating a conflict point between pedestrians and motorists, and between motorists on the roadway and those entering or leaving via the driveways. Overland Park uses common-sense pedestrian facilities--like sidewalks, crosswalks, and dedicated pedestrian signals at stoplights--with much greater consistency than does KCMO. KCMO citizens have identified walkability as a major problem in the city. KCMO has recently approved an important Walkability Plan. If the city follows through with this plan, pedestrian safety in the city should gradually improve over the coming years. Springfield vs. Wichita and Topeka The comparison among Springfield, MO (pop. 152,000), Wichita, KS (344,000), and Topeka, KS (pop 122,000) is also telling. The pedestrian fatality rate in Springfield is almost double the rate in the Kansas cities, and Springfield's motor vehicle fatality rate is substantially higher, as well. One would expect cities of similar size, character, and region to be much more alike pedestrian and motorist safety. Again, much of the difference must be attributed to road design along with driver education and enforcement of good driving practices. More information Read NHTSA's summary of the research report here. The full research report is available on the NHTSA's website [PDF format].
Monday, April 21, 2003
According to a story today on KOLR10, the transportation bill in Missouri's senate--which included several important bike/ped provisions--has hit a serious snag:
It seemed like a done deal. After extensive debate over two days, the Senate was on the verge of passing a bill making several changes in Missouri's traffic safety laws. See another, older story about the transportation bill (about a different provision of the bill, which makes it more difficult for cities to make a lot of money from "speed traps" on state highways) here.
This year the Missouri Bicycle Federation has been working with Missouri legislators and bike/ped groups around the state to create legislation that will improve the environment for walking and bicycling in Missouri.
The bill has made some significant progress in both the House and the Senate, but now key Missouri lawmakers need to hear from cyclists and pedestrians who support the bill. Click here to find out more about the bill and what you can do.
C.V Kersting wrote a letter to the editor of the St. Louis-area South County Times (Jan 31-Feb 6, 2003). The letter asked whether government money should be spent on rails-to-trails project and whether bicyclists pay their way on the roads: The letter asked whether government money should be spent on rails-to-trails project and whether bicyclists pay their way on the roads:
Why is it that motor vehicle drivers pay thousands of dollars in taxes and licenses to maintain the roadways they use? These bicycle riders not only complain about the motor vehicle traffic they must contend with, but at the same time pay nothing for using those streets or for the cost of purchasing and maintaining their bike trails. Transportation engineer Luis Porrello (LPorrello @ HNTB.com) wrote this response: It pleases it me very much to see that bicycling has become an important enough issue that letters like that by Mr. Kersting are being written to editors of media such as the South County Times. This level of attention in turn reflects what friends of bicycling have been trying to say for years: Bicycling IS a legitimate mode of transportation. I also appreciate Mr. Kersting positions on the issues noted on his letter, for it would be unjust to expect everyone to agree with any other person. However, I would like to take this opportunity to ask him and other readers who may feel the same way to consider the following information and perhaps understand - not necessarily concur with - why I disagree with his position. After all, I have yet to make an honest assessment of an argument I have had or observed without concluding that it wasn't a fight of principle, but a lack of factual information on one or both sides that culminated in said confrontation.
Sunday, April 20, 2003
Today's KCStar reports that a 49-year-old cyclist was struck by an SUV about 8:00 PM Friday evening near 115th and Nall in Overland Park, KS. The cyclist's injuries are reported to be non-lifethreatening.
Friday, April 18, 2003
The Post-Dispatch reports on the new Metro East Levee Trail, which recently opened just five minutes from downtown St. Louis. According to the article, the trail
stretches from the Cahokia Old Courthouse site to Illinois Route 163. In other trail news across the state, near Sedalia one of the few remaining gaps in the Katy Trail is being partially closed with some new trail construction and work is progressing on the Riverfront Heritage Trail near downtown Kansas City.
Thursday, April 17, 2003
Parents of Pei Chen, the UMKC music student who was called while crossing a crosswalk in a school zone, have sued KCMO, Rockhurst University, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, according to a KCTV5 story. The lawsuit claims that the city and universities
knew the intersection where their daughter was killed was dangerous and should have worked to prevent accidents there. . . . See previous MoBikeFed News coverage of this story here, KMBC's coverage of the lawsuit here, the KCStar's more detailed coverage of the lawsuit here, and coverage by UMKC's University News here.
From Aaron Bartlett of the Mid-America Regional Council:
If you are over 30 years old you may remember as a kid walking or bicycling to school. Today the situation is very different. Transportation Planners Mayer Hillman John Adams and John Whitelegg reported in their 1991 work "One False Move... A Study Of Children's Independent Mobility," that in 1971, 80% of 7 and 8 year-old children went to school on their own, by 1990 only 9% were making the journey unaccompanied, with more than four times as many 7 to 11 year-olds being driven in 1990 compared with 20 years earlier. Several reasons are leading to this trend. Find answers to difficult questions in a new program appropriately named "Safe Routes To School". Register and pay online today! What is it? Safe Routes To School (SR2S) training is an opportunity to join school officials, local planners, transportation officials and others at a one-day workshop that provides a clear blueprint for how to create a SR2S program in your community. Some of the topics that will be covered in the hands-on program include encouragement and education approaches, enforcement and engineering approaches, and how to map routes to schools in your community using the interactive Safe Streets Toolkit. Safe Routes To School is part of a growing movement to improve opportunities for youth travel to school by bike or on foot. The renewed interest in non-motorized travel is the result of increased concern over student health, including childhood obesity and diabetes, dwindling budgets to transport students by bus, and concern about traffic safety for children walking or bicycling to school. Nationally Recognized Speakers Wendi Kallins, Marin County Bicycle Coalition, authored the National Highway Traffic Safety Association Safe Routes to School guide. David Parisi, PE, has 17 years experience in multimodal corridor design and recently developed a toolbox of solutions to common school-related issues titled Transportation Tools for Improving Children's Health and Safety. He will present this plus other state-of-the-art developments related to SR2S at several upcoming national conferences this year. Kallins and Parisi will present the four-pronged approach that SR2S uses: engineering, encouragement, education, and enforcement. The Mid-America Regional Council and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services have teamed up to offer this innovative training as a way to encourage a local grassroots approach to the health and safety issues that SR2S addresses. As part of the workshop, participants will receive given a guidebook and a packet of SR2S information, including the names of those who participate locally and from across the state. Register Today! The SR2S workshop will be held Friday, April 25, from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM at the Doubletree Hotel, 1301 Wyandotte, in downtown Kansas City, Mo. Parking is provided beneath the hotel. Training costs $55 and includes lunch, a guidebook and other program materials. Registration options: Register online with an agency purchase order Register online and pay with a credit card Call Beverly Werden at 816/474-4240 ext. 234, fax to 816/421-7758 or e-mail gti @ marc.org. Please register by April 21. Aaron Bartlett Bike/Ped Transportation Planner Mid-America Regional Council 600 Broadway, Suite 300 Kansas City, MO 64105-1554 abartlett@marc.org 816.474.4240
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Police officers in some Kansas cities have been citing bicyclists for drunk driving. Now a case is before the Kansas Supreme Court that will decide whether the Kansas DWI laws apply equally to bicyclists.
Such cases can have serious ramifications for right of bicyclists to ride on the roadways. All states, including Kansas, either consider bicycles as vehicles or give them all the rights and duties of vehicles, except those rights and duties which, by their very nature, do not apply to bicycles. Taken at face value, most on-road cyclists hold that ordinary traffic laws such as driving while intoxicated would apply equally to motorists and bicyclists unless the language of the DWI law clearly specifies otherwise. Court ruling in such cases, however, have been decidedly mixed. Such rulings can seriously confuse the issue of which traffic laws apply to cyclists. Research shows that riding a bicycle while intoxicated is a very dangerous business, because the bicyclist's most important bit of safety equipment is his or her skill and good judgment. One study in the Washington, D.C., area concluded that in fully one-third of bicycle fatalities, the bicyclist had elevated blood-alcohol levels. Riding with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 increased the rider's risk of serious or fatal injury by 2000%. According to a story in the Topeka Capital-Journal, here are the details of the incident that sparked the Supreme Court case: Hackett knew he would be drinking on the night of March 3, 2000, so he took his bicycle instead of his car, Owens said. Hackett was charged under the municipal DUI ordinance. The state DUI statute applies specifically to motor vehicles, but Wichita's municipal DUI ordinance has different wording. Police indicate that DUI charges have been brought against very, very few bicyclists in Wichita.
Monday, April 14, 2003
Once again, Kansas City is on its way to becoming a cool city (if only we should all live that long!):
Walkability Friends: The Missouri Bicycle Federation extends congratulations and sincerest thanks to all who were involved in KC's Walkability Plan, but especially to Lynnis Jameson of KCMO who has been key in shepherding the proposal through, and Ed Ford, chair of the key Kansas City Council committee, who stood up for the proposal when it really counted--and when it would have been easy to knuckle under to political pressure. Both Jameson and Ford are leaving KCMO--Jameson is retiring and Ford didn't stand for re-election. Congratulations to both on a job well done!
This letter appeared in today's Webster Kirkwood Times:
A Cyclist's Apology
According to an article in the Kansas City Business Journal, a re-definition of clean air rules means that Kansas City has been out of compliance with ozone standards for the past three years.
The area will have some time to attempt to meet the new standards by voluntary compliance. This includes encouraging people to drive less and use alternative transportation, especially on days when the ozone is predicted to be high. If voluntary compliance does not work, other measures may be put in place, such as requiring employers to encourage employee carpooling, car pool lanes, use of more expensive low-emissions gasoline, and emissions test of automobiles.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
There has been some recent discussion in the St. Louis BikeFed email list about businesses that do not allow bicyclists to use the drive-up window. Sometimes this creates a real problem for those who use bicycles as their transportation, because the businesses often to do not provide bike parking or allow bicycles to be brought inside.
Bob Foster, MoBikeFed Chair, wrote this today: Just got off the phone with the [U.S. Bank] Branch Manager, who is very nice and genuinely concerned about cars that scream thru the parking lot and the attendant risk to cyclists.
When the question of on-road bicycling comes up in Missouri, a common question that is asked is: "Why should we allow bicycles on the road at all? Bicyclists don't pay for the roads they are riding on, do they?"
If you haven't thought about this issue before, the answer might surprise you . . .
Valet Bike Parking at Earth Day in St. Louis
On Sunday, April 27, 2003, if you ride your bike to the Earth Day festivities in Forest Park at the Muny you'll be treated like royalty. While motorists are sitting in traffic jams and searching for parking spaces, cyclists will be able to ride up to the festival, get their tires inflated or other minor repairs from a mobile repair unit courtesy of Bicycle Zone, and park their bikes at the front of the Muny worry-and-cost-free courtesy of The St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation (Bike Fed). Bob Foster, chair of the Bike Fed, said, "Encouraging people to ride their bikes rather than drive their cars to the Earth Day Celebration in Forest Park is a way to promote cycling as a form of transportation. Not only is it a fun way to get exercise, but you help the environment too." Cyclists are also encouraged to ride Metrolink, which has stops every 15 minutes on Sunday, and then bike from the Forest Park stop to the Muny. A non-profit, all-volunteer organization, The St. Louis Regional Bike Federation shares a vision of a bike-friendly region. Its vision includes, but is not limited to the ideals of: bicyclists have a right to safe, well-planned roadways; proper equipment and training is important to safe riding; and education of cyclists and motorists is needed.
Louise McKeon Belt of Wildwood had a letter in today's St. Louis-area suburban journals. Excerpts:
[Are we ready for problems caused by oil production shortfalls?] John Droste of St. Charles wrote a letter to the St. Charles Post in regard to the recent hit-and-run accident involving cyclist Valerie Schremp: I feel Ms. Meyer's pain. On Feb. 11, 2001, I was also involved in a hit-and-run accident of Fox Hill Road. My accident yielded the same result. The man who inflicted so much pain also could not be found.
Monday, April 07, 2003
St. Charles cyclist Theresa Meyer was struck Wednesday, March 26th, by a motorist who drove off, leaving her injured in a ditch.
Area police are still trying to locate the driver, who left behind nothing but a broken-off mirror. As of April 7th, police are still asking for the public's help in locating the perpet |