Bicycle Safety
Basics
Why Helmets Aren’t the Answer to Bike Safety — In One Chart
Better street design and getting more people on bikes -- not blind faith in helmets -- are the keys to making cycling safer, recent research has shown.
June 2, 2016
Insane Comic Books Warn Phoenix Children That Biking Will Kill Them
Hey kids, the Phoenix Department of Street Transportation has a fun message for you: Riding your bike is likely to result in a gory horror scene. If you don't wear your helmet, of course.
April 21, 2016
Finally, a Little Accountability for State DOTs on Bike and Pedestrian Safety
In a win for bike and pedestrian safety, the Federal Highway Administration announced yesterday that it will require state transportation agencies to do something they have never had to do before: set goals to reduce bike and pedestrian fatalities, and track progress toward attaining those goals.
March 15, 2016
How Cities Clear Snow From Protected Bike Lanes: A Starter Guide
This post is by Tyler Golly of Stantec and Michael Andersen of The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes.
February 11, 2016
Study: Sharrows Don’t Make Streets Safer for Cycling
Sharrows are the dregs of bike infrastructure -- the scraps cities hand out when they can't muster the will to implement exclusive space for bicycling. They may help with wayfinding, but do sharrows improve the safety of cycling at all? New research presented at the Transportation Review Board Annual Meeting suggests they don't.
January 14, 2016
What Happened When a Newspaper Became an Advocate for Bicyclists
In too many cities, newspaper coverage of bicycling has stoked some of the darker aspects of human nature. Opinion pieces about bike lanes tend to cater to the reactionary opposition, goading the trolls of the comments section, where casual death threats are standard fare.
January 6, 2016
Federal Report: Bad Street Design a Factor in Rising Ped/Bike Fatalities
A new report from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office [PDF] examines why people walking or biking account for a rising share of traffic deaths in the United States. While the conclusions aren't exactly earth-shattering, one culprit the GAO identified is street design practices that seek primarily to move cars.
December 11, 2015
Zig Zag Road Striping Calms Traffic in Virginia
At 11 points in northern Virginia, the familiar straight dashed lines on the road gives way to a series of zig zags. The unusual markings, the result of a pilot project from the Virginia Department of Transportation, are meant to alert drivers to be cautious where the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail intersects with the road -- and bicyclists and pedestrians frequently cross.
November 20, 2015
Awesome 11-Year-Old Defends Road Diet, Calls Out LA’s “Bullying” Drivers
In case you need a reason to feel confident about the next generation of livable streets advocates, check out this viral video of 11-year old Matlock Grossman, standing up for a road diet in his Los Angeles neighborhood.
September 21, 2015
You Won’t Soon Forget These Photos of Ghost Bikes. That’s Exactly the Point.
You’ve seen them, locked to signposts on the side of the road. Maybe you’ve helped install one. Maybe you’ve cried at the sight of them.
September 11, 2015