I very nearly bit the dust this morning on Dairyland, about 1/2 mile west of Old 86.
While on my morning bicycle ride, minding my own business along the road's virtually nonexistent shoulder, a driver whipping past me clipped my left hip and the edge of my left handlebar. Miraculously, I was not injured physically, although I am pretty shaken up. Two more inches and I wouldn't be here to type this right now.
I mention this out of a growing frustration with the gaping disparity between the image that this area has of itself (as a place that facilitates active, healthy lifestyles and encourages alternative transportation methods) and the reality of our local roads, which are for the most part very unfriendly to bikes and pedestrians.
I think of the often-expressed desire to limit parking spaces at Carolina North in order to encourage other modes of transport, and then I think of my experience this morning, and I ruefully laugh. The truth is that we do not have the road infrastructure to support anything other than cars and buses on our roads, and, so far as I know, no comprehensive plan to change that.
Issues:
Comments
Somewhere in this thread I
Somewhere in this thread I talked about how I got from campus to dogwood acres on a bike every day for 2.5 years.
Bike lanes, sidewalks but no new lanes for cars on Smith Level.
Some great news! Kudos to the Carrboro board for holding out for the right result. It is a shame that it should be so controversial and difficult to add bike lanes and sidewalk space for walkers without also adding car lanes.Source for the following: UNC News Services.DOT agrees to walks and bike lanes in CarrboroThe News & Observer (Raleigh) The town of Carrboro stuck to its guns, and the state Department of Transportation blinked. DOT said Thursday that it would yield to Carrboro's demand to add bike lanes and sidewalks along a hectic stretch of Smith Level Road - without adding lanes for automobiles. ...Townsfolk had been eager for years to add bike lanes and sidewalks along the road on the south side of town. Three public schools are in the area. Children and UNC-Chapel Hill students often walk or ride their bikes along a narrow shoulder. http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/02/417599/dot-agrees-to-walks-and-bike-lanes.html James Coley
At Bottom of Thread: Hatred of Bicyclists Still With Us
Here is a picture of a traffic sign on Dairyland Road, near the intersection with Dodsons Crossroads. It was Dairyland Road Eric Muller wrote about in this thread years ago.People who bike regularly know that the defacement of this sign is an indication of a larger problem than just one childish individual.There are many motorists who deliberately endanger cyclists, and their animosity stems from the car culture which sees the cyclist as an interloper where the automobile should be allowed to dominate.This is why there was, and still is, a need for regular demonstrations for bicyclists like the critical mass rides. James Coley
Defacement of signs of many
Defacement of signs of many different kinds is a common occurrence in this area. The notion that many motorists deliberately endanger cyclists seems pretty silly considering the consequences (to the cyclinst AND to the driver) if the cyclist is harmed. And considering it's dangerous for cyclists even when motorists don't deliberately endanger them, if there are many motorists deliberately endangering cyclists then the motorists are pretty bad at deliberate endangerment considering how few cyclists are injured or killed. As far as car culture goes, I hear a lot of talk against "car" culture around here but the action is see is against "cars I have to see" culture. Sometimes eliminating cars you have to see just creates even more cars you don't have to see.
Question
Has anyone ever known of a bicyclist being ticketed for violating traffic laws or being found at fault in a collision with a car? Several years back, I was in downtown Chapel Hill making a left turn across 2 lanes of traffic. The 2 lanes of traffic were backed up due to a light but they had left an opening for me to turn left. A bicyclist came up between the 2 lanes at a high speed and ran into the hood of my car as I was turning left. I think the bicyclist recovered faster than I did (he didn't want to call police/get checked out while I wanted to). But I was left with a huge dent in my hood -- which was not my fault. But I wouldn't want to argue with my insurance company (and bicyclists aren't required to have insurance).
Answer at bottom of thread.
Here's one example that answers your question, Jan. A friend of mine
was riding his bike in Carrboro on Hillsborough Road and came upon a pedestrian crosswalk.
Suddenly, a man stepped into the crosswalk and my friend kept riding,
safely passing behind the pedestrian. The man turned out to be a
police officer taking part in a sting operation to ticket motorists who
do not stop for pedestrians at that crosswalk. By screwy pseudo-logic,
the police said that my friend's bike was a vehicle just like a car, and
they actually gave him a ticket for not coming to a stop at the
crosswalk!The absurdity of this, of course, is that the whole
point of requiring cars to stop at crosswalks is that they pose a mortal
danger to pedestrians (and bicyclists). My friend on his bike posed no
such danger, but still got a ticket. James Coley
Absurdity of the ticket?
James, thanks for your response. I am glad to here that it is not impossible. But I disagree that it was absurd. A fast moving bicyclist is a great danger to a pedestrian. I have had many close calls with a bike. Even worse, I am horrified at how close bicyclists pass my dog (while going very fast, with no warning). If my dog startled and moved slightly, both my dog and the bicyclist would be hurt badly.
More Blaming The Victims
The odd thing is that one so often hears complaints about pedestrians, skateboarders or bicyclists, when by far the greatest danger affects these groups and its source is automobiles, trucks and buses,One thing the car culture does is make us think that, while of course other drivers are "idiots" whenever you are on the road (as George Carlin pointed out), driving cars per se must remain above real criticism, since it is the "normal" or "natural" mode of transportation. It is neither.Look around you! Cars are constantly driven in downtown Chapel Hill at speeds in excess of the 20 MPH speed limit, which is high for a downtown area. That sort of thing should be our primary concern.James Coley
Absolutely
James, I agree completely that cars are dangerous. I try to teach that lesson every day to my 16 year old.But bicyclists are not always the victim. One ran into my car through his own car. Others have nearly clipped me or my dog.It talking to my 16 year old about driving, I try to stress that safety comes through predictability but to always be prepared for the unpredictable. We all know that car drivers can be horribly unpredictable and underprepared. But bicyclists can too. If a car driver had argued that they don't have to follow traffic laws on this thread, they would have gotten hammered. But some bycyclists honestly feel that they don't have to follow the laws -- but want to be accorded the rights due them under the laws. If you want me to treat you with respect when I'm driving then you have to treat me with respect, both when I'm driving (act like the vehicle you are, i.e. don't come up between lanes) and when I'm walking (give the right of way to the pedestrian and don't speed silently by within inches).
Skateboarder with a banana
Sorry, but I just can't resist telling this story not about bicyclist stupidity and arrogance, but about a skateboarder. I was driving in my truck on Manning Drive one morning last spring, and stopped at the red light at the corner of the road that comes down the hill from Morrison Dorm. A UNC student on a skateboard comes down the hill, and with the green light, rolls right through the intersection. In his left hand he was holding a cell phone to his ear. In his right hand, he was holding a half-peeled and half-eaten banana. I was impressed in equal parts by his skill and by his stupidity.
New pedestrian signal on Franklin St
I live on both sides of this issue -- when I drive I hate pedestrians and bikers crossing Columbia St (for example) willy-nilly and when I walk I hate cars who don't yield to cross-walks. I don't like that we need more (inefficient) lights to make us all get along, but I'm glad the town is being proactive here before somebody else dies.http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?recordid=3708&page=22
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Mediterranean Deli.
The funny thing is that this seems to be the place on West Franklin Street used as
an example in the thread on jaywalking, for example when I wrote that “it is
clearly unreasonable to expect someone to walk all the way down to the
intersection near Panera, wait, and then double back to get from … the
Internationalist to the Mediterranean Deli.”
James Coley
Footpath and Lack of other Permeable Blocks Drives Traffic
This location was well chosen. The brick path leading back from the
parking by the hardware store is the most direct through-route for
pedestrians to come to Franklin St from the Rosemary Village area and
probably all blocks of Northside in three directions. Otherwise there is not a clear break from Aveda to IP3 in this stretch. (Yes I know you can walk byWB Yeats, but that is less pleasant.)To the
extent that pedestrians coming from that area immediately want to cross
the street once reaching Franklin, making it safer to do so and legal
here is a good thing.
only safer IF ALL FOLLOW THE RULES!
I was driving down W Franklin St last night, taking my car to CH Tire because the power brakes don't work. This new light was clearly green, but the pedestrians thought - hey, we have a crosswalk, we have right-of-way! Good thing I was going less than the speed limit because braking was a real workout - I had to stop hard to avoid hitting them in my big van. We have plenty of situations where car drivers are not being safe -- we don't need more by pedestrians ignoring the rules.
Pedestrians in Crosswalks are in Cross-Hairs.
With all due respect, Mr. Barrett, has the thought occurred to you that a contributing factor to the near-accident was that you were driving a big van with bad brakes?A related point is that many studies and reports, including a recent column in the Chicago Tribune, have shown that crosswalks are dangerous places for pedestrians.James Coley
This is not a crosswalk
Once they added the traffic signal, there isn't really a crosswalk. Ignorance of that might get somebody killed. Whether it is my fault or not, I would really rather not be a part of that, but it seems inevitable in this town where we have so many car/pedestrian interactions. I don't like that van and having to drive it around town, but the Town does not provide any bus service within a mile of my house and I do not have the funds to purchase a newer, smaller car. Brakes will be fixed today.
There should be bus service within a mile of your house, James.
I'm sorry if I misunderstood your post. You wrote that "Pedestrians thought - Hey, we have a crosswalk, we have right-of-way!" so I thought you meant that there was a crosswalk.I'm guessing that you are talking about the new mid-block traffic light that has been planned for West Franklin Street. I have not been there recently so I have not seen the light you might be making reference to.I don't think automobile drivers (including drivers of big vans) are to blame for the enormously harmful consequences of automobile dominance in the urban environment. The problem is, as you indicate, that there are not enough alternatives. And that cars and so on are expensive to own and maintain.There should be bus service within a mile of your house, James. There should be 24/7 bus and van service 365 days a year throughout Chapel Hill and Carrboro. James Coley
I Agree
"There should be bus service within a mile of your house, James. There
should be 24/7 bus and van service 365 days a year throughout Chapel
Hill and Carrboro."James Coley, I hope you're planning on joining the effort to not only identify those services in Chapel Hill that are lacking or need improvement but also to figure out how to pay for them in the most equitable and just manner. We will need as many citizens as possible participating in this effort if it is going to result in a plan that we can all feel comfortable about.http://orangepolitics.advantagelabs.com/events/chapel-hill-2020-our-town...
I agree
I live at the bottom of Morgan Creek Rd. GoTriangle reports the nearest bus stop is 1.05 miles from my house and that includes walking across Fordham Blvd. I wish there was a better option -- I do it when I have the time.
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