Berkeley Police Work to Improve Motorcycle Safety

A couple of weeks ago, officers of the Berkeley Police Department were stationed throughout the city on streets with the highest rate of motorcycle accidents.

This operation came out of the growing issue of motorcycle fatalities in California. A CBS San Francisco article said that data has shown the causes of these accidents to be mostly:

• Speeding
• Unsafe turning
• Driving under the influence
• Inexperienced riding

If these are the causes of accidents, it would seem that police vigilance is not going to be the cure-all to our problem. Instead, the best way to decrease dangerous riding might be to improve the manner in which all motorists are driving out on the road. For motorcyclists, rider training is readily available to refresh your memory of the rules of the road. Such training is offered through the California Motorcyclist Safety Program, which can be contacted by visiting www.CA-msp.org.

The police may be able to catch and charge unsafe drivers and motorcyclists, but they can only address half the issue at hand with tickets and fines. It's the motorists that will need to take on the challenge of safely sharing the road.

Sharing the Road Means Sharing the Air

A recent study done by Canadian scientists from Health Canada, Environment Canada, and University of Ottawa warns cyclists of the health risks they take when riding in the streets.

Now, they're not just talking about the everyday fear of being struck by a car, but specifically, the study shows that car pollution and tailpipe exhaust can cause heart problems in cyclists who share the road--and subsequently, the air.

In this study, the scientists attached heart monitors to 42 healthy, nonsmoking cyclists to measure their heart rates before, during, and after their cycling. They also attached air pollution-detecting instruments to their bicycles and assigned some to congested and others to uncongested roads.

It was discovered that those who traversed the more congested roads had a lower heart rate variability after their ride. Heart rate variability, as described in the SF Chronicle article about this study, is a way to indicate how efficiently the heart can respond to stresses like exercising. The heart of a person with a lower heart rate variability has a harder time responding than the heart of a person with a higher heart rate variability.

What is it about congested roads that make the air so toxic? According to the SF Chronicle again, the fine particles of pollution that escape through tailpipes are "small enough to lodge deep in the lungs. Tiny particles can also cross the blood-brain barrier, potentially harming the nervous system." And the cars that are known to emit the most of these toxic particles are diesel buses and trucks.

So now that you are properly worried for your health, keep in mind some simple advice from these scientists: (1) Keep farther away from tailpipes, as the the small particles clump together the further they get away from the car, making them too large to lodge deeply in your lungs; (2) Avoid streets with heavy traffic.

While this advice might seem trivial, it is the common sense of it all that will keep you safe.

Ford to Leave Muni at the End of June

At the end of this month, Nathaniel Ford will be leaving his post as the chief of Muni. And in the search for his replacement, the SFMTA is switching it up from their conventional nationwide hunt and sticking to the local candidates with more intimate knowledge of the city's transit history and needs.

Tom Nolan, the Chair of SFMTA's Board of Directors, revealed the leading local choices to be Chief of Department of Public Works Ed Reiskin and Executive Deputy Director and Interim Boss of the SFMTA Carter Rohan.

Reiskin is described as the more popular and likely choice because of Rohan's time spent in Texas, where his family resides. Friday's SF Examiner Editorial entitled "What the City needs from Muni's next boss", explains the need for a chief that is "in-it-for-the-long-haul" with "100 percent commitment to solving the problems." The column specifically criticizes Ford for displaying a lack of investment into his post other than using it as a "stepping stone to some even-larger city's better-paying transit post" as exemplified by his recent dalliance with DC's Airports Authority.

It should also be mentioned that these changes bring some potentially good news for the taxpayers. The SFMTA is looking to negotiate the salary with its next chief, which will hopefully mean that he won't be making Nathaniel Ford's preposterous $308,000 annual salary. Not only was Ford the highest-paid city official, he is also receiving a $384,000 severance check along with three months of $3,000/month family healthcare coverage. On top of that, he will also be cashing in $67,000 worth of deferred compensation and unclaimed bonuses.

Source: SF Examiner

Plaintiff Magazine: Bike Law 101 by Shaana Rahman

As those of you who follow us on Facebook may know, our very own Shaana Rahman recently wrote an article for Plaintiff Magazine in which she outlines 4 key tips to bike law and to representing cyclists.

As explained in the article, the attention directed on cyclist-motorist collisions--and the laws concerning them--is a direct result of the rise in urban cycling.

While I highly recommend reading the article itself, here is a brief summary of the 4 tips Ms. Rahman offers:

1. Remember that the California Vehicle Code applies to cyclists: "It is important to ascertain whether or not your cyclist was in a riding position that comports with the Vehicle Code."
2. Get to know what type of cyclist your client is: "The best client will be someone who is an experienced rider, riding a bicycle that has all the requisite safety equipment, meeting the requirements of Vehicle Code sections 21201 and 21201.5 and who is wearing bright, reflective clothing (including a helmet) to maximize their visibility."
3. Evaluate differently each of the 5 most common car-versus-bike collisions: "1) A vehicle making a right turn across the cyclist's lane of travel; 2) A vehicle executing a left turn at an uncontrolled (or non-dedicated left turn) intersection; 3) Dooring; 4) The failure of the cyclist or motorist to stop at a red light or stop sign, and 5) A vehicle or cyclist passing on the right."
4. Identify the other causes of the collision, including defective roadway collisions: "If you can identify a dangerous roadway condition, you will need to pursue a claim against any public entity that owned, possessed or maintained the roadway. If the public entity retained a private contractor to perform the road work which gave rise to the defect, the contractor will also be a defendant."

If you are a regular reader of our blog or Facebook, or even if you have just been in the city streets, you are probably more than aware of how important bike law and safety is becoming. These tips, particularly the 4th, are critically important to follow when defending your client, not only to aid the individual, but to prevent future accidents from occurring by improving the condition in which our cyclists are riding.

Make it your mission to protect and speak up for these cyclists if you want to see some real change to our city.

Folding Bikes on Muni

Muni has recently decided to allow folding bikes aboard all buses and streetcars, excluding the historic cable cars.

Bike advocates including Bert Hill, chairman of the SF Bicycle Advisory Committee, have been lobbying for all bikes to be allowed onto Muni buses. Nevertheless, Hill and others see this as a step in the right direction. Spokesman Paul Rose of the MTA believes this policy will promote the city's transit-first policy which, according to the Chronicle, "aims to get people out of their cars to cut down on air pollution and traffic congestion."

However, Rose also warns that officials need to keep an eye on how this change will affect commuters. Because while Hill and other bike advocates have responded positively to this announcement, many comments on this article--by mostly non-biking commuters--are not nearly as welcoming. The topics of criticisms range from demanding bikers pay extra to complaining that bikes will overcrowd already overcrowded buses. Such comments included:

JuniperoSerra: Bad idea! Who wants to get dirt from their tires or grease from the bike's chain on their clothes when these folks take their folding bikes onto a crowed [sic] bus or streetcar.

ender_of_sf: Things are bad enough on our too often overcrowded busses [sic] as it is, espeically [sic] during commute hours. Why do bike riders think the public transit should haul their vehicals [sic] around at no extra charge when they don't feel like riding them.

sfnative650: So now some guy rides his bike up to the bus and everybody has to wait for him to fold up his bike? And then they get to trip over it trying to get in or out the bus? Looks like lawsuits here...Aren't bikes to be ridden and not ride on a bus? How about the bus tow a trailer behind it so you can store your car and ride the bus?

qframer: I'm a folding bike rider. I love them. I am a member of bicycle advocacy groups, and I want transit options for bikes.

But this is INSANITY. There is no way I can fit comfortably in any Muni vehicle with my folding bike unless it is nearly empty. I can't believe both Muni and Bicycle Coalition people put this much effort into something that will only build resentment toward cyclists.

What are your thoughts?

Muni Overtime Budget Exceeds Expectations

Muni's budget for overtime this year was $30.8 million out of a total budget of $775 million. Now overtime has gone up $18 million to $48.3 million. Why?

A normal day for Muni requires 1,491 operators to run all services. And also on any normal day, they are short 300 of those required operators (which might explain why your bus never seems to be coming). Muni officials say that if they were to decrease the budget for overtime, buses would have to run less frequently, angering more passengers.

However, passengers are already angry. Comments in Chronicle article say things like, "The riding public will not miss the runs as it'll just be normal riding Muni" and "Is anyone working for this agency competent? Problems with drivers are well known, but it's pretty clear that management (especially the absentee Nat Ford) are a pack of idiots as well."

And the criticisms aren't just coming from the public, but from city officials as well. Board President David Chiu is accusing Muni officials for not taking their budget mishaps seriously, saying, "The years of promises remind me of Groundhog Day. Management is far better at providing excuses than delivering results."

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cityinsider/detail?entry_id=88891

Speed Limit for Bikers on the Golden Gate Bridge

The Plan

In the past couple of weeks, there has been a lot of talk about how officials with the Golden Gate Bridge District are planning on imposing a biking speed limit of 10 mph on the regular path and to 5 mph near the towers. Highway patrol will be using radar guns to monitor passing cyclists' speed. Violators will be fined $100.

GGB spokeswoman Mary Currie told the Chronicle that this plan is to prevent bike and pedestrian accidents that are, according to GGB officials, commonplace on the bridge. A study showed that in the past ten years, there has been a total of 164 accidents, 39% of which involved excessive speeding. The solo bike crash happened 5 times more often than collisions between bikes and pedestrians.

The GGB's Board of Directors will vote on the approval of this new project on May 13th. If it's approved, the limit would most likely be in effect by the end of the summer.

Cyclists' Criticisms

So far, the response has been generally negative. Hunter Ziesing of local cycling group ZTeam calls the plan a "smart" idea, but thinks the fine is too high and the speed too slow.

However, most others are not so agreeable. In contrast to the safety concerns raised by the GGB officials, many cyclists are arguing that this speed limit is unwarranted and unnecessary. In another article by the Chronicle, recreational cyclist P.J. Gallagher, who often bikes the Golden Gate, calls this plan "a joke" because "it's a solution for a problem that doesn't exist."

Other cyclists have raised the complaint that it will be difficult for them to know what speed they're travelling because most bikes are not equipped with speedometers. According to the study, the current average speed of cyclists on the bridge is 13-17 mph.

And even more have complained about the singling out of bicyclists when tourists are "the real problem" because, according to daily-commuter Lew Ketcher, "There are people coming right at you with a camera in one hand, looking out at the water. There are people stopping right in the middle of the path to take a picture."

It's too bad that, with money as the concern, tourists and unnecessary fines are the city's best friends.