Missouri Bicycle News

Today's Joplin Globe has an article about the increased interest of bicycle commuting in the Joplin area:

Hoogeveen is one commuter who is battling gas prices by pedaling to work instead of picking up the car keys. Area bike-shop owners are seeing increases in sales and repairs as more people start to consider a more wallet-friendly means of transportation. . . .

More people are coming into Spokes & Spandex Bike Shop, 531 S. Main St. in Joplin, looking for new and used bikes, owner Steve Cooper said. He said the store has seen about a 20 percent increase in sales of late.

He said the store started to see the uptick in sales when gas broke $2 a gallon.

Incidentally the article includes one commonly held but incorrect opinion:

Paul Teverow, a history professor at Missouri Southern State University, said he has thought about biking to campus, but he has not do so yet. Joplin lacks safe bike routes, he said, and if too many people started biking on Joplin's busy streets, safety would be a greater issue.

In fact, every study has shown that an increase in bicycling leads to an increase in bicycle safety--an increase in safety that some have called dramatic.

As the rate of bicycling goes up, the rate of bicycle injury goes down.

The reason is two-fold: drivers who commonly see bicyclists are on the lookout for bicyclists and know how to act around them. And, since most bicyclists also drive motor vehicles, an increasing number of bicyclists on the road means that there is also an increased percentage of drivers who think like and empathize with bicyclists--since they are bicyclists.

Related:

News: MoBikeFed Editorial: Amendment 3 will affect Missouri's transportation future

Tips&Stories: Bicycle safety in a nutshell

permanent link to article: "Joplin-area resident take up bicycle commuting"
posted by Brent Hugh at 9/05/2005 12:22:37 PM |comment on this article