Friday, April 27, 2012

Driving is not a right...it is a privilege AND a responsibility!

The following letter was published last week in the Ahwatukee Foothill News,

Dear Editor,

Recently, three competitive bicyclists training in the far East Valley were run into and critically injured by a driver who was reportedly adjusting her GPS device. As a bicycling advocate, I’m very upset by this. But, this story and situation is much larger than cycling. It’s about attitudes and behavior behind the wheel.

Three good guys, competitive athletes and family members are possibly alive today only because another group riding behind them included four medically-trained bicyclists (a doctor, EMT and a couple of dentists was the story I heard…it’s probably mostly correct). It took more than 15 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

But, the main point I want to make is that these guys were riding single file in a bike lane and/or at the far right of the road. They were “Sharing the Road” and respecting motor vehicle drivers’ space MORE THAN required by law (riders can ride two abreast, legally).

With all the technology moving into cars and cell phones, there are a multitude of distractions for drivers that didn’t exist five or ten years ago. Yet, our expectations of drivers, as codified in our laws and as reflected in societal behaviors, have not kept pace. It is inexcusable, in my opinion, that a driver is doing ANYTHING in a car (other than having an uncontrollable medical event) that causes them to drive off the road into a bike lane or shoulder where bicyclists are riding, a couple is walking their dog (narrowly missed in this particular incident, I am told) or young children are walking.

If you are “anti-bike”, think about having your child or grandchild in the same space that these cyclists were riding. Or, think about your parents or grandparents walking there…or you being there with your pet in front of you and being run over.

Again, this is not solely a bicycling issue. However, I will remind our readers that current law specifies penalties and fines for killing a bicyclist or pedestrian which are substantially less than marginally exceeding BAC limits for alcohol, but injuring nobody. I’m not suggesting any lowering of DUI limits, and I fully support what MADD has achieved. I’m simply suggesting that pedestrians and bicyclists don’t have the same “lobbying strength”, but common sense and humanity should provide our legislature and local communities the impetus to create penalties for such behavior at a comparable or higher level…so that drivers begin to get the message. It is beyond time to send a message that driving a potentially lethal vehicle is serious business.

It is not OK to treat driving as a casual endeavor. People’s lives, health, livelihoods and quality of life are in danger of a driver’s lax attitude and inattention. Let’s get people refocused on the concept that driving involves the responsibility of keeping other road users safe, be they other drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians or pets/animals. When you drive, you do not own the road…you share it with others.

Bob Beane,
President, Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists

Bob Beane is an economics graduate of the College of Wooster and an MBA accounting graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is also a bicycling advocate and has been a resident of Ahwatukee since 1992

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Cottonwood 2012 Bike Month Proclamation

Members of Cottonwood Community Development and the Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition are presented with the Cottonwood City Council's 2012 proclamation of May as Bike Month. L-R: Nikki Arbeiter (Community Development), Randy Victory, Devin Dix, Deb Smith, Jim Smith, Mayor Diane Joens & City Councilman Tim Elinski

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Federal Transportation Bill Update

On April 4th, the U.S. Senate approved a two-year blueprint for transportation that gives states greater spending flexibility allows the federal government to set minimum safety standards for subway systems and buys time to find a solution for a funding system teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.

This bipartisan bill was approved 17 days before current transportation funding and authority to collect the federal gas tax that support it, will expire. During the 2012 Bike Summit, our marching orders were to request a clean extension of the current bill. And, we were to ask for approval of the Petri amendment that would have maintained all transportation enhancements. Ultimately, we wanted the Senate to approve the House Bill but the Arizona senators would not see us and furthermore, we learned from insiders that that was highly unlikely to happen.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Place that Pic contest!

Be the first one to correctly identify the location of this picture -- and win a 1yr membership (or extension) to the Coalition. The Maricopa Association of Governments wants to use this photo on the new MAG map, but they need to know where it is.

There's a rumor that it's on AC/DC somewhere.... but you never know!?

Submit cross streets on facebook, or leave a comment here, or email cazbike@cazbike.org

Thanks!