| UFOs landing in Morristown?
Aliens from another world? Sort of ... beware of the Bike-tivists, hard-core pedal-pushers who invade Morristown roads en masse on the final Friday of every month. The best way to avoid getting run over, they believe, is by riding in traffic on cold, dark nights in the dead of winter . . . defying bewildered motorists to run them over. "Maybe people will notice us, and then when they see a solitary rider, they will take notice again," and share the road, said Samantha Rothman, a member of the town environmental commission who pedaled Friday with husband Dave and a pack of other hardy souls. We tried to count them all, but our fingers and toes were shivering too violently in the sub-freezing evening air. Samantha is an advocate for bike lanes, bike racks and other advances to make the area friendlier to bicycle commuters.
Very risky to fiddle with the squiggle
Oh dear. The marketing boffins at the ABC have got their hands on the squiggle because they believe it doesn't communicate effectively in the 21st century. The iconic brand identity with its superb design represents an organisation with a reputation for excellence and leading-edge intelligence. By all means play with the brand identity as it is expressed in different media and enjoy the flexibility that the mark allows, but please don't go back to the drawing board to create other designs that will only undermine the squiggle. That would be an act of corporate suicide, as it will only create confusion among those of us who instantly recognise and respond to the brand mark. BMW makes engines, cars, racing cars, bicycles and motorcycles, and you only ever see the one BMW badge.
IDB approves US$176.7 million for urban transportation program for ...
The Inter-American Development Bank today approved a US$176.7 million loan to Brazil for an urban transportation program for its Federal District, where around 2.8 million commutes are made each day. “This initiative will improve the mobility and accessibility for the population of the district, particularly its low-income segments, by further integrating its communities through financing of a modern Bus Rapid Transit System," said IDB team leader Rosana Brandao. “This will help to improve the circulation and safety of motorized and non-motorized forms of transportation." The program will invest in road and urban infrastructure, including bus transfer stations, roadway and pedestrian safety, the construction of ramps at crosswalks, sidewalks and pedestrian walkways for persons with physical disabilities, the modernization of the traffic light system, bicycle paths or lanes, and the strengthening of institutional and management capacity in the area of transportation.
Dublin police to ride three-wheeled scooter
DUBLIN Police will soon be patrolling the city's busiest shopping center on a three-wheeled, clean-energy scooter. The T3 scooter, which has a top speed of 25 mph, looks like a beefier version of a Segway. It runs on batteries that need recharging every 30 miles. The police department now uses patrol cars and bicycles to navigate the shopping center on Hacienda Drive and Dublin Boulevard. The scooter, which was donated by center businesses, will give officers a good option, said Dublin police Lt. Glenn Moon. Patrol cars have more visibility, a good deterrent to bad behavior, but they are harder to use in crowded areas, Moon said, while bikes can be used when officers don't necessarily want to be seen. The motorized scooter is the best of both worlds, he said. "It has the (visible) deterrent of a patrol car, but somewhat of the stealth" of a bike, Moon said.
Vietnam to consume more motorbikes in 2007
HANOI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is estimated to consume 2.5 million motorbikes this year, up from 2.2 million units last year, a local industry association said Monday. Foreign-invested motorbike firms in the country, Honda Vietnam, Yamaha Vietnam, Suzuki Vietnam and SYM, recorde d total domestic sales of 174,000 motorbikes in January and 128,000 units in February, posting respective year-on-year rises of 29 percent and 28 percent, according to the latest statistics from the Vietnam Motorbike and Bicycle Association. Vietnam spent 572 million U.S. dollars importing motorbikes, components and spare parts in the first 10 months of this year, up 34.6 percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office. Specifically, it imported 105,000 motorbikes worth 111 million dollars, seeing respective year-on-year surges of 124.2 percent and 87.7 percent.
City's two-wheel transformation
London is likely to become one of the most cycle-friendly places in the world, with a series of two-wheeler superhighways cutting a swath through traffic and congestion. Plans for the super-cycleways will be unveiled next week as part of an initiative to stimulate a 400% increase in the number of people pedalling round the capital by 2025. At a cost of £400m, the 12 routes are intended to be the motorways of cycling and are likely to be emulated by other cities across the UK. Londoners without bikes will be able to use one of the city's free bicycles. "We want nothing short of a cycling transformation in London," said the mayor, Ken Livingstone. "We are announcing the biggest investment in cycling in London's history, which will mean that thousands more Londoners can cycle in confidence, on routes that take them quickly and safely to where they want to go." The cycle scheme is one of several environmental announcements expected in the capital over the coming weeks, including a decision on plans for a £25-a-day congestion charge on the highest-polluting vehicles and a proposal to re-fit 900 civic buildings across the capital to make them more energy-efficient.
Letters to the Editor (Feb. 21)
It is drivers with this attitude who make the roads dangerous, not cyclists like me.Wendy Byrne, CorvallisLots of considerate motorists, bicyclistsAs cycling season starts to heat up, it seems that the rhetoric between some motorists and cyclists does as well.This is unfortunate, because the vast majority of confrontations seem to be caused by relatively simple misunderstandings.By law, we all have a right to the roads and an obligation to follow the rules, even if some people don't like bikes and some don't like cars.We all pay taxes. Although there are vehicle use fees, most road funding is provided for by general taxes, property assessments, and the like. Besides, few cyclists don't also drive cars.To be certain, being held up behind a bicycle can be annoying.But how often do you get stuck behind someone who insists on turning left across a busy lane of traffic rather than continuing to a light or holding up an entire line of cars to wait for a parking spot?Anyone who drives into blind corners and other situations faster than he can react will eventually encounter a line of vehicles stopped for construction/accident, a kid running out to get a ball or on a bike, large debris, farm equipment, someone turning out of a driveway he didn't know was there, or a number of other common situations.Likewise, anyone who regularly blows through lights and stop signs on a bicycle will eventually cause an accident.As good luck would have it, there are a lot of considerate drivers and cyclists out there who practice defensive driving/cycling.Kyle Banerjee, MonmouthLet's talk solutions, not debate scienceJohn Jones ("Climate change has occurred in the past," Letters, Feb.
Jury awards $350,000 in Blacksburg triathlon lawsuit
A Montgomery County jury late Tuesday night awarded $350,000 to a woman involved in a crash that killed a bicyclist during a Blacksburg triathlon more than seven years ago. Sharon Knight, a Blacksburg resident, had filed a civil lawsuit against the town and the director of the third annual Greater Blacksburg Triathlon, claiming they were negligent in failing to warn passing motorists of the race course. Triathlon participant Gary Wayne Taylor, a 30-year-old sports promoter from Lynchburg, died midway through the June 18, 2000, competition after his bicycle crashed into Knight's car. Knight was heading to church east on Southgate Drive toward Lane Stadium about 9 a.m. that morning when Taylor crashed into the side of her car at the intersection with Tech Center Drive.
Driver gets probation in bike collision case
VIROQUA, Wis. A Viroqua motorist accused of hitting and injuring a bicyclist in Vernon County last July received a year's probation after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge.Vernon County Circuit Judge Michael Rosborough withheld sentence Monday and handed down probation to Alan Sagler, 52, for misdemeanor reckless driving causing bodily harm.
Sagler also must pay a $300 fine and perform 100 hours of community service.Sagler was driving a pickup truck pulling a trailer July 7, 2007, on Hwy. K near Chaseburg, Wis., when he struck bicyclist John Raub, 35, according to the criminal complaint.Raub was thrown from the bicycle and treated for a compression fracture to his back and a fractured ankle.Raub and three other bicyclists said they were traveling between 40 and 45 mph on the steep and winding road and Sagler was driving at 50 to 55 mph, according to the complaint.
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