Not so hard to avoid the streets with tracks. And if the rest of you would just fork over your leaf removal "fee", all would be fine.

It's interesting that Congress' biggest bike advocate is also a heavy promoter of cyclist-deadly streetcar tracks.

Is there an implication here that bi-cycles are unstable and dangerous? Is being un-safe considered sustainable?

Bunch of damn fool dare devils!

hey all you superior people (bloggers included) who lump all bikers in with developers, streetcar groupies, and Sam Adams... go die (by streetcar of course).... just kidding, I mean let's try and keep it civil and all........if you read bikeportland you'd see that a good many bicyclists are critical of all that....

Large seams in the road left after work, dogs chasing you, doors being opened on you as you approach,left turn drivers who didn't see you, right hook drivers who thought they were faster/farther ahead thanb they were,debris in roadways, joggers running against traffic in the bike lane who force you out onto traffic,
the list goes on and one.
Yet,cyclists still keep riding. Ever wonder what the attraction is?
I know.

if you read bikeportland

It would be better if you read it and checked back in with us "cagers."

I kind of like how Abe hyphenated "unsafe" and "bicycle". Strunk & White redux!

Two years ago I was right-hooked by a driver that was not paying attention (I swore the driver was on a cell phone). I was more worried about the truck coming up behind me than the car next to me and, wham, I flew over the car into the road and somehow walked away from it with deep bruises and a busted up bike. What little riding I have since done on roads has been fraught with paranoia. I wish I could be like those arrogant pukes I see carrying on without a care in the world, trusting that we drivers have their back. I want to tell them that not everyone is as careful as, well, most of us. Judging from that article, some of them will see the pavement just as I did. And I hope it works out just as well for them. For now, it’s closed courses or mountain biking for me.

Flat residential streets on a grid are still fun, if they're wide enough to keep you away from doors on both sides. But arterials? Trucks? Buses? That's a whole different ballgame. One near-death experience at the Rose Quarter Transit Center was enough for me.

I have to wonder if some of the aggro cyclists have never had a driver's license, hence have no idea what we're talking about when we refer to "the rules of the road". Combine that with too many hours spent playing Grand Theft Auto and you would have a good recipe for the persecution complex we see, as well as the pride in riding wildly and unpredictably.

Maybe what is needed is an evidence-based safety program. Perhaps many simply do not know how much being visible, being where you are expected to be and being predictable contribute to safety.

What worked for me on the prairie years ago was a bounty on coyotes. No reason why it wouldn't work here on...

Does anyone know where to find data on the death rate of bike riding per passenger-mile? (per capita is easy to find.)

(I know one European chart implies it as about TEN times a deadly as cars, but I have not seen any solid data.)

Thanks
JK

Those numbers seem a little low, actually. And I really wonder at the numbers of children injured in accidents. The making and marketing of cars is safety obsessed. Vehicles are tested and rated on safety. We have seatbelts, airbags, bumpers and rollbars. We have laws demanding children ride in special seats until they are at least 8. And yet parents drag kids behind them inside cloth and aluminum tubed boxes, with a plastic hat to keep them safe.
How is that actually legal?

I love the headline: "Bicycling in Portland is good for you -- except when you crash, study says." It is similar to "Robbing Banks in Portland is Good For Your Income -- Until You Get Arrested, Study Says."

So the odds are that a cyclist will skin a knee once every 5 years. Wah. Bikes are dangerous! See!? Live in fear of a skinned knee... we're Americans afterall...

These days any fool can own a car. Frequently they do so uninsured. Oregon has amongst the highest uninsured rates in the country.

Any fool can ride a bicycle on city streets. They carry no insurance.

As a recent graduate from the Motorcycle Basic Rider Training, I can say that the very same rules apply to bikes as they do bicycles. You simply must be more aware because friction, the elements, obstacles, and traffic put you at greater risk.

After taking that course I am much more aware of motorcycles on the road as a cager because I know how much more advanced planning/scanning they must do just to drive. In addition, a biker knows that they have a serious job to do when simply riding in a straight line on any road. I don't believe that the same thinking goes on with most bicyclists and that creates a false sense of security and more frequent accidents.

Here's how you fix it:

Cagers must be more aware of there surroundings. It must be more difficult to own a car and enforcement of insurance laws should be very strict at least while the law exists. Fail to carry insurance and injure someone? Serve jail time.

Bicyclists must adhere to the rules of the road. This includes yielding to traffic if you are unable to match traffic speed. Be careful on corners, particularly where you cannot plan your turns or cannot maintain speed. These are the rules followed by cars and motorcycles. Don't like slipping on tracks in Portland? Join the motorcyclists who always complain about the hazards of on-street tracks. They are a safety hazard. That bright green paint Sam Adams likes to put down - that stuff is so slippery just walking on it when it's wet is hazardous. Textured paint or NO paint people!

Walt, did they teach you it is ok to split lanes? I bet not.

I'd be for allowing motorcycles to do it as, unlike bicycles, they almost always can accelerate faster than the cars so they don't slow anyone down at lights.

How about some more traffic enforcement on bicycles please.

I was inches from being run over by bike on the Pearl sidewalk at 5 yest eve , just as I predicted the diversion of the bike lane off of Lovejoy is going to drive the west bound bikes onto the sidewalk. This guy was wearing a burley bike jacket , so we know it was a serious bi8ke rider , and he like many will flaunt the stupid re-routing of Lovejoy bike traffic and hit us walkers on the sidewalk. As I said I will sue COP for this Design Error if I am hit , and yest it was only a few inches.

One in five Portland bike commuters hits asphalt during year

yeah, well the asphalt probably deserved it.