More in-depth look at the Monon-after-dark issue

Last week, Nuvo commissioned me to write this article regarding the very hot issue of the after-dark Monon policy. It's dropped today, so swing by your local NUVO stand and snag a copy; you can also read it online:

Let’s bring you up to speed: Two weeks ago, a police officer patrolling the Monon Greenway handed out dozens of tickets to commuting cyclists for being on the trail before sunrise. This occurred over the span of a few days.

Michael Armbruster, a teacher at Arsenal Tech High School, received a ticket two mornings in a row along the same stretch of the trail. Each ticket cost $50. Armbruster says he’s been commuting from his home above 38th Street and taking the Monon for almost five years and has never had a problem until the recent incident.

With his principles digging a little deeper into his pocket than he cared for, he took to the streets on the third day. It wasn’t bad, he said, though getting across Fall Creek Parkway at rush hour can be sketchy.

“The Monon is clearly safer, easier, and more convenient,” he said.

Full story here.

As an update to the article, yesterday at an interview for Channel 6 News, I heard Chief-of-Police Spears say that until the city has resolved this issue and corrected the ambiguity of the ordinance, the IMPD isn't going to be citing after-hours commuting. Boosh!

Guest blog over at TellHetrick

TellHetrick recently asked me to write a guest blog for them regarding the issue of riding the Monon after dark, and it just posted today:

Perhaps no one in Indianapolis noticed the seasonal shortening of days more than the 50-some bike commuters who were ticketed recently when they chose the Monon Greenway as the safest route to work instead of busy rush hour streets. Under the banner of public safety, city policy prohibits the use of Indy Parks trails between sunrise and sunset. This policy closes a major corridor for commuting cyclists now that winter is coming, a problem made worse by Daylight Saving Time. Soon, the rides to and from work will be by moonlight, and what then?

Full post here.

Head on over there and weigh in on it. I'd be interested in some of your ideas and comments. Let's get some conversation started; we've recently been invited to be part of the city's Bike Advisory Council, so we'll be able to take your comments and concerns directly to the city. Ben attended the meeting yesterday for the first time on behalf of INDYCOG and is planning to post about it later today or tomorrow.

Poignant NUVO is Poignant

NUVO gives a big thumbs down to Indy for ticketing on the Monon:

For a city that just received a bronze award from the League of American Bicycling for being “bicycle-friendly,” an incident last week just seems downright UNfriendly. A bicycler, a school teacher, was ticketed on the Monon on his way to work at Arsenal Technical High School last Friday morning around 6:45 a.m. at 25th and the Monon, for “illegally” riding the trail, as he was using the trail before dawn. It was his second ticket in two days. We know this is a complicated issue, in terms of crime, liability and lighting (especially in the evening, given the time change), but if we want to be a city that loosens the stranglehold of the automobile monoculture, something must be done to create usable corridors for bicyclers.

Our buddy Steve "Tool" Allen just had the same bad luck the other day. And though it was awesome that the officer listed the make of his vehicle as "Bianchi," it wasn't awesome that he should have to pay a $50 fine for deciding the Monon would be a safer route to tow his daughter to school in the morning than Pennsylvania.


It comes to this--the city needs to recognize the Monon isn't simply a park, but a highly traveled commuter corridor. Ben and I were just talking tonight about "commuter passes" that would allow people to ride the various Indy Parks trails at night. We even agreed we'd be willing to pay a small registration fee for the privilege, provided the fees go toward upkeep of the trails, the safety and patrolling of the trails, and future trail projects.

What are your ideas to open up the various greenways and bike trails to commuters between sunset and sunrise?

LA court case charging driver with "Assault with a Deadly Weapon"

Not a very local story, but my friend Anna sent me an awesome response that gives insight into local attitudes and applications. Thought I'd share it all with you. First, the digs:

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury on Monday found Dr. Christopher Thomas Thompson guilty of assaulting cyclists by abruptly stopping his car in front of them on a hilly Los Angeles County road last year.

Thompson, a former emergency room doctor, was found guilty of six felonies and one misdemeanor and could face as much as five years in prison. (...)

Thompson was accused of assault with a deadly weapon, reckless driving causing specified bodily injury, battery with serious bodily injury and mayhem. The most serious charges stem from a July 4, 2008, incident on Mandeville Canyon Road, the road where Thompson lives, where he was accused of abruptly stopping his car in front of two cyclists. Other charges relate to a similar incident on the same road that did not result in injuries.

Full story here, along with links to related articles on the incident and court case.

Anna's response:

I think what I took away from this whole incident/case and the reactions to this incident was that yes, this was a tragic and unnecessary incident, and that yes, riding on the roads for cyclists is hazardous every day which requires us to be as defensive as possible, that there was a lot of unnecessary aggression on both sides.

Drivers are aggressive towards cyclists not just for being cyclists in what they perceive to be their territory, but also for the behavior exhibited by cyclists. We do have a right to the road, but we also have a responsibility to follow traffic law (stopping at stop lights and stop signs, signaling, staying on the right side of the road when appropriate). I follow these rules when possible (though it is a struggle at times when I have to wait five minutes for a light to change because the sensors sense cars and not bicycles) and I try to be as positive and smiling to motorists next to me at stop lights. Just reminding them that you are a person to, trying to get to work just like they are. Because of this, I find that the reaction to my riding is overwhelmingly positive.

The reaction to a rude and aggressive car is not to tell them to fuck off, it’s to respond like you think they are saying something supportive and to thank them for their support… or to not exhibit hostile behavior that would cause their frustration in the first place. If we can demonstrate to the community that no, cyclists do want to coexist, safely and legally within the community. I think it would not only change the attitudes of drivers but of potential cycling commuters as well.

I know that this requires a certain level of maturity from cyclists, but I think that it would certainly be worth it in the long run.

Unfortunately, I know that some of my contemporaries do not feel the same way. This really upsets me because it not only creates an environment dangerous to them, but also to me because someone who has a negative experience with a cyclist is much less likely to treat me, as a law abiding commuter, with respect. This negative behavior also affects other normal commuters who are just trying to get from place to place safely and legally.

Aggression and bad examples set the cause of this whole community back. After all, wants to create and support a safe infrastructure for a community that does not respect the driving community?

***

Anna Schwinn works as an engineer at ZIPP. She's an all-around awesome person with a crazy heart for cycling and the cycling community. Her latest pet project is wanting to help revitalize the Major Tayler Velodrome and boost public support and attendance of track racing.

Letter of Reference

I read this letter by Don Boudreaux over at Cafe Hayek a while ago, and immediately thought about it in reference to cycling safety laws and policies:

“Safe” according to whom?

You write as if “safe” is an objectively determinable and unique fact, such as whether or not your newspaper’s paid circulation exceeds 500,000 or whether or not your sister is pregnant. But “safe” is not objective in this way. Because no product is 100 percent certain never to cause even the slightest harm (or 100 percent certain to cause harm), the question “Is this product safe?” has no correct single answer. It has correct answers as varied as the number of that product’s potential users. No product is “safe” or “unsafe” in the abstract.

Perhaps your tolerance for risk is higher than mine. Perhaps the pleasure I get from using a product is less than yours. If so, should I be permitted to prevent you from using that product because, for me, the product is insufficiently safe? My evaluation of the product’s safety is correct only for me, not for you.

He makes a further point in the post:

I add that my evaluation of the product’s safety is not only correct only for me and for no one else, but it is correct only for me today. Tomorrow — if my circumstances or preferences change — that evaluation might be incorrect, although it is correct today.

In the wake of the tragic crash a couple weeks ago, I've heard a lot of talk about new safety laws regarding helmets and audio devices and so on, and I thought this letter really poignant to share with everyone.

IBJ: Bicyclists and traffic laws

Early results of a police investigation suggest a 17-year-old Decatur Central High School student died this morning after he ran a red light on a bicycle and was hit by a semi.

Why Eduard Westone rode into the intersection at Kentucky Avenue and Heathrow Way is anyone’s guess. The location is an entrance to the AmeriPlex industrial park south of Indianapolis International Airport.

But the unnecessary death raises questions about bike safety in a city that’s looking to join a national trend toward getting cars off streets to reduce congestion and pollution.

It isn’t uncommon to see bicyclists running lights. Or weaving in and out of traffic, darting onto and off of sidewalks or taking any number of other risks.

Now that more bicyclists are taking to the streets, how do you feel about safety? Are too many reckless? If so, should anything be done about it?

Full article on IBJ.com

Fox 59: City Expanding Bike Lanes, Education

INDIANAPOLIS - Nic Nihiser remains in critical condition Wednesday, suffering from brain damage after being hit while he was riding down Delaware Street in downtown Indianapolis early Saturday. While police search for the driver who left the scene of the accident, other cyclists want to know what the city is doing to increase their safety.

Joe Shelly is one of the growing number of people in Indianapolis who commute to work by bicycle. He, like many other cyclists, enjoys the expanded bike lanes, but would like to see more.

"I think having the bike lanes and expanding on what we have now would only be good for the city," Shelly said. "It would certainly cut down of traffic congestion."

City planners say they're working on it. Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard made bicycle lanes a priority in the past year and it's already made an impact. There will be 24 miles of new lanes painted on roads by the end of the year. The 15 year master plan will feature roughly 200 miles of lanes.

As director of the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability, Karen Haley has overseen Mayor Ballard's plan. But she says the added lanes come with added responsibility.

"You have to treat the bike just like you would a car," she said.

Full Article w/ Video

Another Law that Would Be Nice to Have in Indy

C.Banks pointed me to this article about a bicycle harassment ordinance recently passed in Columbia, Missouri. Though in cases such as this, I tend to be more of a "change hearts not laws" person, this ordinance definitely has its merits. Here's the quick Bike Retailer write-up on it:

COLUMBIA, MO (BRAIN)—A city of 84,000 people in Missouri has passed a bicyclist harassment ordinance making the throwing of objects, verbal assault and other offenses illegal, and a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $1,000 fine or one year of jail time.

The Columbia ordinance, which is modeled after similar ordinances in South Carolina and Colorado, makes it a misdemeanor to do the following: throw an object at or in the direction of a cyclist, threatening a cyclist to frighten or disturb the cyclist, sounding a horn with the intention to frighten or disturb a cyclist, knowingly placing a cyclist in the path of physical injury, or knowingly engaging in conduct that creates a risk of death or serious physical injury for a cyclist.

Here's a link to the more detailed story in The Missourian.

Mayor Ballard Bike Safety PSA

Sustain Indy recently released a bike safety PSA featuring Mayor Ballard over at their site. It doesn't have any embed code unfortunately, but you can view it here. It's very "PSA'ish" quality, but it's nice to see how much the Mayor is getting behind cycling in Indy. Between this video, his unveiling of the BikeWays plan, and the Mayor's Bike Ride, I'm starting to feel a little warm and fuzzy inside.

There's actually a good bit of activity going on over at Sustain Indy's site. It's great to see some updates on their site, especially in the BikeWays sections. I was starting to feel like there was some foot-dragging going on, but it looks like things are getting moving.

Ben and I both think that there should be a link on the site that would allow individuals and organizations to donate directly to the BikeWays fund. I've been meaning to call them to see if something like this is in the works, but I've not been able to get around to it due to a hectic life. I'll try to get that done soon and let everyone know what I hear.

"5 ways for cyclists to ride better and safer" in Indy Star

From the Indy Star today:

Warmer weather and the desire to save gasoline money in a tight economy are bound to encourage more cyclists to hit the roads and trails now.

If you're a novice or are returning to cycling after a long break, Connie Schmucker with Bicycle Garage Indy reminds you to follow the same rules as car drivers: Stop at stop lights and signs, signal turns (use hand signals) and don't weave in and out of traffic.

She suggests, too, riding with more experienced cyclists, knowing how to do minor repairs and taking advantage of local trails and group rides. Visit www.indygreenways.org, www.bicycle indiana.org and www.cibaride.org.

Full story here.

Bike Week at The Project School

Our buddy Keith just let us know about this shindig happening next week. The event is being held by The Project School at 1145 E. 22nd St. here in Indy.

They're currently looking for bike mechanics to help with some minor tuning up and teaching of simple maintenance and safety to parents and students at a couple of the events throughout the week. If you can contribute or help at all, please contact Keith "Red Beard" Cruz at (317)525-6196 or email at kcruz@bfsengr.com for more information.

Bike Safety Event Featuring McGruff the Crime Dog in Fishers

Another Fishers bike event from the IndyStar:

Spring is here and the weather is finally catching up! As the days get longer and nicer we're all able to enjoy the outdoors more whether it's going on an evening walk or taking a bikes ride around the neighborhood. That's why it's so important to review bike safety.

Join B105.7 and Precedent Development 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, at Thorpe Creek neighborhood on 126th Street just east of Olio Road in Fishers for a Family Bike Safety Event.

Families are encouraged to bring their bikes and participate in the Bike Safety Course, receive free bike safety checks from Motion Cycling and Fitness and spruce up their bikes at the bike wash and decorating station. Jazz up your ride with reflectors, streamers and spoke beads all for free.

McGruff the Crime Dog will be on site with Bicycle Safety Information, coloring books and photos with the kids. Your Indiana Pacers will be bringing out their Fan Van, basketball hoop and prize wheel.

Enjoy music and snacks throughout the afternoon all while getting a refresher course on bicycle safety for the whole family.

A rain date of May 31st has been scheduled if needed. Please check B1057.com for updates.