LAT - Bicycle Brawl debate
Bicycle Brawl
Pedal-powered transportation is good for your health — no disagreement there. But should local governments and motorists accommodate it as a means of commuting equal to cars? L.A. blogger and cyclist Will Campbell and Cato Institute Senior Fellow Randal O'Toole (also a cyclist) debate bicycle infrastructure, planning and activism.
DUST-UPSan Francisco has Critical Mass; L.A. has the Midnight Ridazz -- both can be nightmares for motorists. Do these gridlock-inducing bike rides help or hurt cyclists’ cause? Will Campbell and Randal O’Toole conclude their debate.
DUST-UPShould local governments encourage bike commuting as a way to alleviate the area’s chronic traffic congestion? Cyclists Randal O’Toole and Will Campbell continue their weeklong debate.
DUST-UPWhat other city (or cities) provide a good model that would allow Treks and Toyotas in L.A. to happily coexist? Cyclists Will Campbell and Randal O’Toole continue their debate.
DUST-UPLast year, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said that building bike lanes and paths isn't a good use of federal transportation dollars. Is she correct? Cyclists Randal O’Toole and Will Campbell continue their debate.
DUST-UPBike riders and auto drivers frequently come into conflict on L.A.’s roads. Who’s to blame? All week, cyclists Will Campbell and Randal O’Toole debate bicycle infrastructure and planning.
2 comments:
Great find, Gary! I have two initial thoughts. First, FYI, Randal O'Toole is the author of a pretty controversial book that disparages the idea of "smart growth."
Second, I would take issue with any statistics about accident fault percentages (bike at fault vs. car at fault) based on citations. The inherent bias against cyclists often comes into play when a police officer "decides" who is at fault in such an accident. The Bike Portland blog had some great articles on this very issue when recently addressing cyclist fatalities in that city.
I thought the same thing about the accident stats being skewed. I also thought it pretty odd that Randal O'Toole took issue several times with his old hometown of Portland, OR being "notoriously" bike-oriented:
One result: Portland and a few other cities are installing "bicycle boxes" at many intersections. The bicycle box expands a bike lane to the full width of the auto lane at the intersection. Even if no bikes are present, cars are not allowed to enter the box or turn right on a red light.
Instead of treating bikes and cars as legal equals, the bike box gives bikes preference at the expense of delaying autos by limiting right-hand turns. Good for cycling — bad for respecting each other's rights.
Yes, Mr. O'Toole, bad for respecting the car's or truck's right to steamroll over the cyclist at the intersection...
I also found these posts today, which do a really good job of discussing 'cycling perception'.
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