[sustran] Re: Will you let your children cycle to school ? I won't

[Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory]

Hi again,

I would like to re-emphasize that cycling education for children and 
other measures to protect them - and other vulnerable road users - are 
fine, but they have to be in the correct balance with longer-term 
measures. I do not want to denigrate the great efforts of anyone who has 
done brilliant work to save lives. But, just as higher-efficiency 
personal automobiles can arguably perpetuate bad urban planning, safety 
measures we take now - especially if applied inconsistently and/or for 
emotional, rather than logical reasons - can also have unintended effects.

I wrote the following to fellow local "reasonable street advocates" at 
the recent occasion of the one-year anniversary of the death of a 
well-known bicycling activist in Prague.

- T


PHOTO EVIDENCE

Look at this photo from the memorial ride for Jan Bouchal on Friday: 
<http://www.nakole.cz/images/photos/clanky/000208/05_xl.jpg>

As you can see in the glare of a camera flash (or headlights of a car) 
all the reflective material on the vests gets really bright.

In the photo, the guy on the right does not have a vest, but his bike 
seems to have most of the legally-required reflectors and front light, 
though possibly missing pedal reflectors. The guy on the bike in the 
middle is riding illegally as he has no front light, no reflectors, 
etc.. BUT he is more visible, at least to cars... but NOT to 
pedestrians, nor to people in cars looking in a rear direction in 
side-view mirrors, for example, when they are pulling out of a parking 
space or opening a door
facing the street.


MAIN PROBLEM IS FAST CARS, right?

The problem is that cars go too fast, not that equipment for 
night-riding is  inadequate. The other problem is that cars think they 
own the road. A
properly-equipped bike is more visible to drivers going slower than 
50km/h, but while wearing a vest might seem to give you more protection, 
I have yet to see a study that proves this.  And it just makes cyclists 
think they are safer when they might not be. (It is also unclear if 
having a pink [http://ruzovekolo.cz] bike helps in road safety, though 
it obviously has other benefits, and probably indirectly contributes to 
road safety by creating a bigger psychological presence for cycling).

The orange safety vests read as "emergency" or "roadwork in progress". 
Motorcyclists only wear those while training, and cops and road
construction people do too for obvious reasons. Cycling is not an 
emergency!!


WHEN NOT EVERYONE WEARS A VEST

When you have a vest it makes you more visible than other riders, which 
means that other riders are NEGATIVELY affected by your vest-wearing. In
addition to saying "emergency", the vest sends the message to drivers 
that we (cyclists) are going beyond legal minimums BUT you (drivers) 
don't have
to.

To draw on another current example, ECF and ETRA are campaigning against 
the law for cars to have daytime running lights. See
<http://www.ecf.com/1933_1>. It seems like having cars turn their lights 
on all the time would be helpful, but it is not, as it obscures turn 
signals
on the cars and also makes drivers think they can be seen so people get 
out of their way.

In cycle-friendly places like Germany, Netherlands, Denmark it is only a 
requirement to have lights and reflectors on bikes, similar to here,
except that the lights - in Germany at least - have to have a capacitor 
feature which keeps the lights on for awhile while you are stopped at a
light, for example.

And of course all these lights are run off generators and are built on 
to the bike. So, no batteries to go dead (and throw away), no lights to
forget somewhere, no vests to care about.


GET LEGAL

In addition to slower speeds for cars and less arrogant behaviour by 
drivers, we need to at least get people to equip their bikes properly and
legally, and we should recommend generator power over Temelin [more 
controversial than normal nuclear power plant near Austrian border] power.

ONLY then can we say: "We are behaving responsibly and within the law. 
How about you, drivers?"

Reflective vests are a well-intentioned and emotional response to the 
danger of automobiles and other road vehicles. But they are
counter-productive to safety.


VESTS (like traffic signs) SEND A SECOND MESSAGE

Vests and too many traffic signs on the street are part of a visual 
language which sends an implicit message: "You don't have to take personal
responsibility, think and communicate with eyes/body language with the 
other people on the street."

I am not as strongly against very young children wearing safety vests, 
but when a city implements this AHEAD of lowering speed limits (not just in
front of schools) it is a [big] mistake.

********

chuwa wrote:
> Thanks to all who share their views. I am frustrated and am a bit 
> shocked to see how cities are developing in the same way in terms of 
> automotive against human powered transport.
>
> I believe the energy goes into automotive transport yield 1% transport 
> value and 99% pollution (air, noise, danger) while cycling yield 20% 
> transport value and 80 % fitness for the rider.
> http://jz88.com/jz88-blog/?p=4
>
> This argument is valid for me but obviously not for the majority. I 
> have friends who earn much less and able to justify to use half of 
> their income for buying a small car in Singapore. The "status symbol" 
> and perceived utility factors are the driving force behind.
>
> I wish more high profile persona will help to raise the status of 
> cyclist and pedestrian. I also wish more government agencies will see 
> the connection between transport planning and the consequences in 
> population health and living environment.
>
> Practically, I don't want my children to risk their life nor want to 
> block them from developing a life long skill in cycling, they need a 
> solution now. I will bring them out cycling on pavement and safer 
> streets, highlight to them the potential danger in common places. Bit 
> by bit, to built up their competent level and confident.
>
> Chu Wa

-- 
--------------------------------------------

Todd Edelman
Director
Green Idea Factory

Korunní 72
CZ-10100 Praha 10
Czech Republic

++420 605 915 970
++420 222 517 832
Skype: toddedelman

edelman at greenidea.eu
http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain

Green Idea Factory,
a member of World Carfree Network