Friday, February 17, 2012

More Bicycle News

A few weeks ago, I talked about bicycles as a component of new urbanism.  I posed the question of whether bicycle should be bound by the same traffic laws as motor vehicles.   Since then, I’ve noted other bicycle news that seemed worth sharing.

From Europe, there is news that Parisians were asking the same question about bicycle laws.  Following in the tracks (pun intended) left by other French cities, the Paris councilors decided to implement new traffic laws that allow bicyclists to ignore red lights at selected intersections.  The bicyclists are still required to yield to pedestrians and cross-traffic.  They will be held liable for any accidents they cause, but otherwise they can proceed through red lights.  The initial intersections are considered a trial.  If the trial is considered successful, the change will be rolled out across the city.

Not unexpectedly, there are recalcitrant elements, including one councilor who grumbles that the change could reduce respect between motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.  And there are no reports of possible traffic law changes by the less-adventurous Brits.

From Southern California comes a report that a green-painted bicycle lane is causing consternation  among producers of commercials.  The producers have decided that Spring Street, which was previously used to represent Anytown, USA, no longer looks like Anytown with the green lane.  They’ve moved their shooting over one block to Main Street and are trying to prevent Main Street from the same green-painted fate as Spring Street.  Do they really think that bicycle lanes are a turn-off to the average American consumer?

As always, your questions or comments will be appreciated.  Please comment below or email me.  And thanks for reading. - Dave Alden (davealden53@comcast.net)

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