Family

That's a big word for me.  Sometimes I joke about "my people" - and yet my people are poets, are bicyclists, are, usually, in some way, not doing that which most do.  And so, it's hard for me not to try to give what I can to them. 

Sadly, the blogging has recently taken a turn for the less frequent, the less introspective, and the less informative (insofar as it ever was at all) and thus I feel that part of the basic reason for the blog, to address things that concern me, is falling by the wayside.  However, there *are* bloggers out there who have the time to address those things I feel passionately about.

Case in point: Two cyclists, Bryce Lewis and Tracey Sparling  were recently killed in Seattle and Portland bicycle lanes by large trucks.  READ THIS blog post from Kent Peterson about these losses and, perhaps more importantly, follow the links from his post to various articles on bicycle lanes and safe riding in general.  Whether you walk, ride or drive, this is something you should know about.  Bicycle lanes are often traps.  I personally hate to ride in them.

Florida, according to Bicycling and Walking in the U.S. (Thunderhead Alliance Benchmarking Report 2007) is one of the worst states to ride in.  Based on a 3 year average from 2003-5, Florida comes in with the following:

Bike trips to work 0.4% (women: 18%, men: 82%)
Annual reported bicycling fatalities: 115
Traffic fatalities that are bicyclists: 3.6%  (under age 16: 8%, above age 60: 13%)

The Carolinas have a higher fatality percentage due to the lower number of riders, but the total deaths there were 44 per year.  California had 110 deaths, and New York, by comparison, averaged 41 deaths.   (As a personal aside, I've been clipped and dinged plenty in my riding history, but the last time I was seriously hit was in CA - it's never any fun.)

All you lovely Floridians I met on the Critical Mass Ride - KEEP SAFE!

Comments

[Jess]

Seems this is a growing problem. Riding to work I saw a guy who got hit by a bus - he was on those big wooden boards with the neck/head brace and the ambulance was cutting off his shirt when I passed. Then a woman in my neighborhood got hit by a taxi in the bike lane this weekend - it "dislocated her spine" (?!) and fractured her collar bone and now she can't walk/work/etc. And no health insurance, to compound the issue. Scary stuff.