Monday, August 01, 2005 - 10:31 PM PST
On the bike ride to work today, I spotted two cycles in separate locations painted completely white, with a sign reading "A cyclist was struck here." The URL on the sign led me to GhostCycle.org:
We began to use this website to collect data from cyclists in the Seattle-area who have been involved in an accident while bicycling. [...] On August 1, “ghostcycles” were placed in each of those trouble locations to make people start asking questions and direct them to our website where all of the information we collected is readily available.
I ride 3 miles each way to work every day (before taking a bus), and am very happy that most of that is on a dedicated, road-free trail. Still, it intersects roads a few times, and it's definitely useful to have visible reminders to myself that bikes aren't exactly the safest form of transportation around (meaning: slow down, and watch for crazy drivers).
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I'm not a big fan of bikers being on the road, no matter what the laws say. It isn't a matter of bikers being a nuisance, but a concern for their own safety.
Having people around me who have either been killed in bike accidents or been in near death experiences makes me believe that biking on roads without a bike lane is reckless endangerment of their own lives. Biking on roads with bike lanes isn't totally safe either.
Anyways, stay safe Brian, so we can "mountain bike" together.
Leo
The same can be said for cars. They're far from the safest way of travelling, as stats show. Sure, car vs. bike in a collision definitely has a clear loser, but banning bikes from the road definitely isn't the solution to making things safer for everyone.
# Posted by: Brian at August 10, 2005 10:19 PM
I'm not arguing for a perfect solution, just telling you not to get run over silly. Make all the rules you want, but the reality is there is never a perfect solution.
Just be careful. No point in getting run over for principles