Stephan - 17 hours ago

Also in the Sunset June issue: the 20 best bike paths in the West. Coming in at number 5, San Diego's Bayshore Bikeway.

One of these days we plan to ride the Ventura to Ojai bike trail.

bossvoss:

bikingbill:Why don't we have a bicycle organization that files legal actions in such cases?

At the last SDCBC board meeting, decision was made to form a Legal Committee. If you are intersted in getting involved, let me know. We're definitely looking for lawyers, but others can get involved too. We still need to sort out the mission of the committee, so if you are interested you can help with that too.

My e-mail is bossvoss at gmail period .com

I am not a lawyer, I'm just helping to get this thing off the ground. It was a discussion in this forum that first inspired me to propose the idea of a Legal committee to SDCBC.

batmick:What's even more galing in the report about the two investigations is the part about David Ortiz on Balboa. Unless they omitted a bit about some wrongdoing on Ortiz's partI am not sure how "driver and cyclist share responsbility" for the crash. Even if there is no bike lane, he had a right to ride there and when he gets run over by a car it is the driver's responisbility alone.

Judge Link told the defendant that he had to take responsibility for his own actions.

"You killed somebody, based on stupidity,'' the judge said, "and you gotta pay for it.''

A charge of felony vehicular manslaughter has been filed against Chris Bucchere, the bicyclist who fatally struck a 71-year-old pedestrian in the Castro back in March.
...
Prosecutors concluded that Bucchere, 36, was grossly negligent in his riding before he ran into Sutchi Hui in a crosswalk at Market and Castro streets on March 29.
...
As we previously reported, the problem wasn't that Bucchere ran a red light. Prosecutors believe the light was yellow when he rode into the intersection heading south on Castro.

But before that, a motorist reported seeing Bucchere fly through several red lights and stop signs along Divisadero Street leading up to the intersection, according to police.

Also, a tracker on Bucchere's bike allegedly showed he was riding faster than 35 mph in a 25 mph zone.

Finally, a video from a surveillance camera at 17th and Market streets reportedly showed a hunched-over Bucchere speeding through the intersection, making little or no attempt to stop before hitting Hui.

A posting that originated from Bucchere's e-mail address soon after the accident gave the following account: "I was already way too committed to stop. ... I couldn't see a line through the crowd and I couldn't stop, so I laid it down and just plowed through the crowded crosswalk in the least-populated place I could find."

billd:Lawsuit against Strava:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=8706316
http://www.mobilesportsreport.com/2012/06/lawsuit-jolts-athlete-app-world-is-strava-com-to-blame-for-cycling-accident-deaths/
http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/family-files-suit-against-cycling-website-encourag/nPY3t/

I don't see how Strava can be responsible for someone speeding out of control and hitting a car.

billd:New traffic signs alert drivers of cyclists

Serge2:Jeez. These signs are working faster than I expected. Cannot wait for them to go in in Leucadia. Can. Not. Wait.

In most European countries the onus is on drivers to prove their innocence in collisions resulting in civil law suits for damages. The reverse is true in Britain, where cyclists or their families have to prove that the driver was at fault if they are to win a civil action.

Supporters say that the difference may contribute to casualty rates that are far higher in Britain than on mainland Europe. A British cyclist is three times more likely to be killed than a rider in the Netherlands and twice as likely as a peer in Denmark or Germany. The UK, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus are the only countries in Western Europe without some degree of liability. In the Netherlands, the driver is presumed to be at fault in all civil cases involving children. Drivers are also held liable in Sweden, where compensation payments are paid through a charge levied on car insurance premiums.

Asked what single change would be most likely to improve cycle safety, he said: “The realisation that a consequence will come without looking out for cyclists. If you hit a cyclist there is a life gone. If it is embedded in your culture that cyclists are around it just raises awareness. It has got to be an evolution over time.
“That is the point. They don’t do it to penalise drivers over there. They do it so that drivers have to look. Ultimately in Belgium as well if a cyclist jumps a red light there is a severe punishment. I believe I am the first to stand up and say cyclists have to be more responsible as well. Cutting a red light might just aggravate someone who will take it out on a general cyclist.”

svelocity:Backlash regarding the BMUFL signs in the OB Rag

VeloCafé:One step forward, two steps back. :face-crying:

sykkelspruce:Shitty. I don't do critical mass anymore and haven't in a few years but it seems like this will give cyclists a bad name for a moment. Especially us "brake less hipsters"

VeloCafé:I read a thread on one of the news stories about a push to ban fixed gear bikes from use on streets because they don't have brakes and therefore aren't safe for road use. I only wish we could use that logic to some motorists and their brains.

sykkelspruce:In this reasoning wouldn't a brakeless track bike comply due to the fact that you can skid the rear wheel on dry, level, clean pavement?

I do have a front brake on my bike to avoid tickets and for an emergency if needed. I rode for years without one until I moved here. I don't think there should be a requirement to have even one let alone two.

bikingbill:Well that would mess up all the coaster braked cruisers.

Stephan:
Nice work by SDCBC Executive Director Andy Hanshaw to get the full story across about sharrows.