Recognizing the tremendous global burden of fatalities resulting from road crashes, as well as the 20 million to 50 million people sustaining non-fatal traffic-related injuries each year, the General Assembly today proclaimed the period 2011-2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety, with the goal of stabilizing and eventually reducing the number deaths and injuries.

By the terms of a draft resolution on improving global road safety, one of three texts introduced by the Russian Federation and passed unanimously this afternoon, the Assembly called on Member States to implement activities in the areas of road safety management, road infrastructure, vehicle safety, road-user behaviour, road-safety education and post-crash care.

Also by the text, the Assembly requested the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations regional commissions, in cooperation with partners in the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration and other stakeholders, to prepare a plan of action for the Decade. It invited Member States to set their own national road traffic casualty-reduction targets, to be achieved by the end of the Decade.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck told a group of bicycle advocates that department-wide training would be implemented to highlight the rights of bicyclists on the road and ensure that officers know how to deal with incidents involving bikes.

“I don’t believe a bicycle is a transportation device. I think it’s a recreation device. The big problem is people don’t want to ride their bike in the rain or get sweaty before work.”

At a time when cities are cutting expenses across the board, Long Beach has raised $17 million in state and federal grants to improve its bike system through traffic improvements, education and bike share programs. In the next six months, the city will be resurfacing 20 miles of streets to include new bike lanes, part of a plan that includes painting and paving more than 100 miles of bike infrastructure.

I curse the Bixi, and Mayor Gérald Tremblay along with it.

Until the inauguration of the bike-sharing system and its annoyingly jovial trendsetting two-wheelers, plus Tremblay’s Stalinesque obsession to enlarge Montreal’s bike-path network, the roads of the city were my own personal cycling domain.

With the exception of the strange cult of sociopathic bike couriers, a few green nuts and some impoverished student-types, there were not many like me pedalling to and from work all year round.

Friends and colleagues marvelled at my strength and courage, my dedication to single-handedly saving the planet. Yes, I would concur modestly, I am great. And, by extension, you are not.

In October 2008, an association of U.S. state-highway officials approved the concept of a national Bicycle Routes Corridor Plan — the first step in potential American bike Interstates. But this amounts to little more than a go-ahead for states to put bike-route signs on existing roads.

“Some cities will go for the bicycle highways and let people fend for themselves once they reach the city,” he says. “You get off the highway, and then you’re in the desert. In Copenhagen we have first irrigated the desert, then built the highways.”

On December 7, 2009, the Administrator signed two distinct findings regarding greenhouse gases under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act:

• Endangerment Finding: The Administrator finds that the current and projected concentrations of the six key well-mixed greenhouse gases–carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)–in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations.
• Cause or Contribute Finding: The Administrator finds that the combined emissions of these well-mixed greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle engines contribute to the greenhouse gas pollution which threatens public health and welfare.

New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Department of Buildings (DOB) Commissioner Robert LiMandri today announced the City is prepared to implement the Bicycle Access to Office Buildings Law (Local Law 52), which aims to increase bicycle commuting by helping cyclists gain access to secure parking at their office buildings during the workday. The legislation was signed into law by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in August 2009 and was sponsored by Council Member David Yassky and shepherded through the City Council by Council Member John Liu, the Transportation Committee Chairman. DOT and DOB will jointly oversee the Bikes in Buildings Program and overall compliance with the law, which is expected to lead to a broad expansion of bike parking at commercial office buildings across the City and encourage continued growth in the number of commuter cyclists on City streets.

After many years of being against the law to ride on the K Street Mall, the Sacramento City Council voted unanimously to rescind the prohibition. Near the beginning of the new year, the signs will change to indicate that bicycle traffic is allowable in the center part of K Street Mall (between the yellow tiles) from 13th and 7th Streets. The “tunnel” section between 4th and 2nd Streets will also be open. Bicyclists will always be required to yield to pedestrians, and not ride on the sidewalks, which, in the case of K Street Mall, is the area between the the building walls and the row of trees.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia opposes bills that are being introduced today by Councilman Frank DiCicco and James Kenney to increase penalties and require license plates on bicycles.

“This is the wrong approach,” said Sarah Clark Stuart, Campaign Director. “Bicyclists shouldn’t be singled out when the problem is all road users – motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians – bending the law to suit their own needs, with little if any consequences. The absence of adequate enforcement has led some road users to develop bad habits that endanger themselves and others.”

“These bills won’t make Philadelphia’s streets safer,” said Advocacy Director John Boyle. “The problem is not that penalties are too low, the problem is that tickets are rarely given out. It is pointless to increase penalties as proposed by Councilman Kenney when the current penalty system has existed only on paper,” he added. Other cities, including Los Angeles, Houston, Washington DC, Detroit, Albuquerque, and the states of Minnesota and Massachusetts have all repealed laws similar to Councilman DiCicco’s proposal. Los Angeles’ Police Department Chief directly recommended to LA’s City Council that their program be discontinued. Said Boyle, “Bicycle license plates are impractical and unworkable. Let’s learn from other cities’ experiences and not waste time and resources on an ineffective program.”

The new counts bolster the evidence linking safer bikeways to increased cycling. New York’s bike network expanded significantly in the past 12 months, including protected paths on Broadway, Eighth Avenue, the Sands Street approach to the Manhattan Bridge, Allen Street, and Kent Avenue in Williamsburg.

DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan touted these improvements in announcing the new stats. “Cycling in the city continues growing rapidly as our bike network expands and becomes safer,” she said in a statement.

The number of pedalcyclist fatalities in 2008 is 6 percent lower than the 760
fatalities reported in 1998. The highest number of pedalcyclist fatalities ever recorded in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) was 1,003 in 1975. Pedalcyclists accounted for 14 percent of all nonoccupant traffic fatalities in 2008.

Over one-fourth (28%) of the pedalcyclists killed had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .01 g/dL or higher, and nearly one-fourth (23%) had a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher.

Important Safety Reminders
All bicyclists should wear properly fitted bicycle helmets every time they ride. A helmet is the single most effective way to prevent head injury resulting from a bicycle crash.

Bicyclists are considered vehicle operators; they are required to obey the same rules of the road as other vehicle operators, including obeying traffic signs, signals, and lane markings. When cycling in the street, cyclists must ride in the same direction as traffic.

Drivers of motor vehicles need to share the road with bicyclists. Be courteous – allow at least three feet clearance when passing a bicyclist on the road, look for cyclists before opening a car door or pulling out from a parking space, and yield to cyclists at intersections and as directed by signs and signals. Be especially watchful for cyclists when making turns, either left or right.

Bicyclists should increase their visibility to drivers by wearing fluorescent or brightly colored clothing during the day, dawn, and dusk. To be noticed when riding at night, use a front light and a red reflector or flashing rear light, and use retro-reflective tape or markings on equipment or clothing.