Bicycling safety is focus of JCCI's next Issues and Answers lunch

[JAM]

I'm involved with JCCI and thought some readers of this page would be interested in the next Issues and Answers event, to be held on Wednesday, July 20.

JCCI has invited North Florida Regional Transportation Executive Director Jeff Sheffield and City Planning Department cycling expert James Reed to discuss the challenges of sharing the road, new opportunities to ride and walk and Florida's reputation as "hazardous to bike and pedestrian health".

It's a Lunchtime Discussion:  Whose Road is it anyway? Balancing safety and the rights of walkers, riders and drivers

When: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.-Bring a bag Lunch!

Where: JCCI Conference Room, 2434 Atlantic Blvd. 

RSVPs are required for this event as space is limited. To secure your seat, visit http://community.jcci.org to register today! This event is free and open to the public.

It's a brown bag lunch and you don't need to be a JCCI member to attend.

[Dog Walker]

You should also invite some members of the Jacksonville Bicycle/Pedestrian Safety Committee.

[Dashing Dan]

As the chair of the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) I have asked James Reed to inform the BPAC membership.

[JAM]

That's great.  The more, the merrier!

[north miami]

As the chair of the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) I have asked James Reed to inform the BPAC membership.

ideally BPAC would have been drawn in via the efforts of JCCI.

another effort,study to toss on the shelf?

Endless Loop

[tufsu1]

it is a lunch event (not another study) north miami...how about you be just a tad less cynical

[Ocklawaha]

How about someone in attendence explaining this simple math...

Take one standard bicycle and rider moving at 15 mph and crash head-on into speeding full size pickup truck =
................... DEAD BICYCLIST

Take one standard bicycle and rider moving at 15 mph and crash head-on into young mother pushing stroller =
................... SOME BUMPS AND BRUISES AND A VERY PISSED OFF MOM

Now think about your own children and ask yourself which wreck you'd choose if you had to pick one.

So why is it illegal to ride on the sidewalk when one feels the roadway is unsafe? It is in fact impossible to make that sidewalk more unsafe then the best highway.

We should pioneer new rules allowing sidewalk rides except where store fronts open directly onto the walk, IE business area's, as riding through a glass door might be fatal. 

OCKLAWAHA

[tufsu1]

To my knowledge, it isn't illegal to ride on the sidewalk in Florida

[Jumpinjack]

FYI, folks:
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/safety/ped_bike/laws/ped_bike_bikeLaws1.shtm

Sidewalk riding
(Section 316.2065(10) and (11), F.S.)

A person propelling a vehicle by human power upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, has all the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances.

Comment:  Sidewalks are not designed for bicycle speeds, but a bicycle propelled by human power may be used except where prohibited by local ordinance (e.g. in the central business districts of many cities). No bicycle may be propelled by other than human power on a sidewalk.  Although a cyclist riding on a sidewalk has the rights and duties of a pedestrian, he is still a "bicycle rider" and his bicycle is still a "bicycle".  Consequently, laws that pertain to required equipment and to carriage of passengers (see above) are still applicable.

Since a cyclist riding on a sidewalk does not have the duties (or rights) of a driver, he may ride in either direction. (However, it is safer to ride in the direction of traffic, since drivers do not expect cyclists to come from the other direction at driveways and crosswalks. Crash risk is 3 to 4 times as great for sidewalk riders who ride facing roadway traffic as for sidewalk riders who ride in the direction of traffic.)

At a signalized intersection, a sidewalk rider must obey the instructions of any applicable pedestrian control signal.  That is, he may start to cross a roadway in a crosswalk only during a steady Walk phase, if one is displayed.  If no pedestrian signal is provided, the cyclist may proceed in accordance with the signal indications for the parallel roadway traffic flow (Section 316.075, F.S.).

A person propelling a bicycle upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing such pedestrian.

[Dashing Dan]

Granted that the consequences of a crash are far more serious for a cyclist once a crash occurs, the overall fatality rate is higher for motorists than it is for cyclists on roadways. 

On the other hand, cycling on sidewalks isn't as safe as you might think.  There are gaps, potholes, telephone poles, guy wires, and other unforeseeable hazards, not to mention pedestrians. 

[Dashing Dan]

As the chair of the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) I have asked James Reed to inform the BPAC membership.

ideally BPAC would have been drawn in via the efforts of JCCI.

The BPAC membership has now been notified about the JCCI luncheon.

[Dashing Dan]

In Jacksonville and in Florida, there are more high speed roads with pedestrians on them. 

That's the main reason why the pedestrian fatality rates are higher here.

Source: Transportation for America, Dangerous by Design 2011

[Dashing Dan]

The gist of what was said today was that we do have a problem here, but that it's probably not as bad as what it says in the Dangerous by Design report.