Alert Today Alive Tomorrow

[dougskiles]

Caught the first part of a "round table" discussion today at the FDOT Urban Office focusing on Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety.  The room was full of maybe a 100 or so people, including most of the local bike/ped advocates.


In response to Dangerous by Design's bottom ranking for Florida in bicycle and pedestrian safety, FDOT started a new initiative:  Alert Today Alive Tomorrow

And a new logo:


They provided a handout of Proven Strategies and Countermeasures for Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety with the following highlights:

• School Pedestrian Training for Children
• Reduced Speed Limits
• Pedestrian Safety Zones
• Bicycle Helmet Laws for Children
• Median and Pedestrian Refuge Areas
• Walkways
• Roadway Reconfiguration
• Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons
• Active Lighting and Rider Conspicuity

Billy Hattaway (FDOT District 1 Secretary - SW Florida) introduced the event.  He mentioned several times that his boss, Ananth Prasad, the FDOT Secretary is serious about improving bike/ped safety and getting Florida up from the bottom of the list.

I know of several opportunities locally for FDOT to put these principles to use.

But... it wasn't long ago that I heard about comments from the FDOT Secretary that the Department will no longer pursue or support actions that reduce vehicle capacity on FDOT roads.

Personally, I feel that we will only know how serious they are about bike/ped safety when we see vehicle capacity reduced in favor of bike/ped projects.  And of course, we see some dollars flowing that way.

I saw some other MJers in the crowd that were hopefully able to stay to the end.  Curious to hear their thoughts.

[Dog Walker]

Evidently the unfavorable report showing that Florida is the most dangerous state for bicyclists and pedestrians has caused Gov. Scott and the Secretary of FDOT to change their minds about this issue.  District 1 Secretary Bill Hattaway said that he was given marching orders in the strongest terms to address the problems of Bike/Ped deaths in Florida and he was placed in charge of the whole statewide effort.

He's obviously going to have an uphill battle on his hands from the upper ranks of the FDOT district staffs who have been trying to ignore the problem for years. 

There was no notice of this public meeting, but word was passed among the bicycle advocacy groups in the state.  Much to the dismay of the local districts who had intended these meetings to be for staff and agencies only, almost half of the attendees at the meetings were non-agency, bicycle and safety non-profit and grassroots people.  The agency people seemed stunned and surprised at the level of interest and advocacy from the regular citizens.

The consultants ran a good meeting while the FDOT staff sat mostly silent.  Groups from Jacksonville, Gainesville, Palatka stood up and talked about the safety programs they are running without any state assistance or involvement.  They are using informal alliances of bike groups, school systems, senior centers, etc. in very imaginative ways to get their programs out.  There are already a lot of people out there who are working to make a difference, but they don't design roads and have to beg for the least financial resources.

Gainesville is even reaching out to day laborers, the homeless, and people who have lost their licenses to teach them to get to work on bicycles following the law and being safe. 

In a side conversation, one of the consultants said that at each of the eight meetings around the state it became evident that there are planners and engineers within each of FDOT's district offices that "get it" about road design to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety, but they have scant support from their bosses and have had to fight for funding of the smallest projects.

It is possible that this demonstration of intent from the Secretary of FDOT will begin to change the hearts and minds of the district administrators and get them to pay attention to the solutions that come from their own staff.

It was disturbing to me that there was not a single local media person at this meeting although press releases were sent to the Times-Union and the local TV stations.  They missed a very important story.

Congratulations to the many regular people who are bicyclists and pedestrians who came out and spent half of a working day at this meeting.  Every bicycle club and advocacy group was represented, RAP was represented, even a couple of the bicycle shops in Jacksonville had people there.

Is it possible that we will begin to see the slightest shift away from moving the most cars as fast as possible to a more balanced and sustainable vision?

[tufsu1]

Evidently the unfavorable report showing that Florida is the most dangerous state for bicyclists and pedestrians has caused Gov. Scott and the Secretary of FDOT to change their minds about this issue.  District 1 Secretary Bill Hattaway said that he was given marching orders in the strongest terms to address the problems of Bike/Ped deaths in Florida and he was placed in charge of the whole statewide effort.

trust me...FDOT and Gov. Scott haven't changed their minds....road capacity for autos and freight still rules....in fact, FDOT needs to be lobbied to keep funding trails now that the Feds don't require it.

[Dog Walker]

One can still hope and Bill Hattaway, at least, was most sincere and convincing.  However wouldn't be the first time I've had smoke blown on me.

There are some really good ideas out there even within FDOT.  Change of heart or of people is needed at the top.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

One can still hope and Bill Hattaway, at least, was most sincere and convincing.  However wouldn't be the first time I've had smoke blown on me.

There are some really good ideas out there even within FDOT.  Change of heart or of people is needed at the top.

A sincere question that will allow me to follow the thread, but I always thought that smoke was supposed to be blown 'up' not just 'on'?

[Dog Walker]

??  Generational difference in slang? To blow smoke on- to mislead by obscuring true intent or meaning?

There was a very funny story that came out of an otherwise standard meeting.  James Reid, the COJ liaison person to the bicycle community, told of a group ride he was on this past year.

It seems that a group of about twenty riders was proceeding along A1A blowing through all of the stop signs along the way.  A JSO officer passed the group and stopped them with his lights flashing.  He told them that he was not going to spend the time to write twenty tickets for running stop signs and that they had ten minutes to discuss among themselves who would be the single person to be ticketed.

In that time the group decided that the prosperous surgeon who was riding with them could best afford the expensive ticket and, over his loud objections, voted that he would receive the ticket.  He got it.

The whole meeting broke up in laughter at this story, especially the JSO officers who were present.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

??  Generational difference in slang? To blow smoke on- to mislead by obscuring true intent or meaning?

There was a very funny story that came out of an otherwise standard meeting.  James Reid, the COJ liaison person to the bicycle community, told of a group ride he was on this past year.

It seems that a group of about twenty riders was proceeding along A1A blowing through all of the stop signs along the way.  A JSO officer passed the group and stopped them with his lights flashing.  He told them that he was not going to spend the time to write twenty tickets for running stop signs and that they had ten minutes to discuss among themselves who would be the single person to be ticketed.

In that time the group decided that the prosperous surgeon who was riding with them could best afford the expensive ticket and, over his loud objections, voted that he would receive the ticket.  He got it.

The whole meeting broke up in laughter at this story, especially the JSO officers who were present.

No generational gap, but I always thought it was 'blowing smoke up one's ass' - hence the 'up' i.l.o. 'on'.     I digress.

I don't see how that story could be considered 'funny' at this meeting.  Traditionally, bikers have a bad rep for doing just what he was alluding to - disobeying traffic signals in general - and I believe that perception is just another thing holding back any real discussion for biker's rights.

[Dog Walker]

The bicycling safety experts at this meeting were adamant that the only way bicyclists get the respect of drivers is to behave like cars.  Stop at every stop sign and red light, get in line with the cars at a light or stop, signal turns.  They said that they have university studies to support their position.

I will admit to going carefully through stop signs in my quiet neighborhood, but never go through a light or a stop sign at an important intersection.   But I am a "transportation" cyclist, not a "serious" cyclist and Riverside has so many riders that the drivers are accustomed to watching for us.

There are so many people cycling from Riverside, Avondale and Murry Hill to their jobs downtown that there is almost a traffic jam of bicycles on the Riverwalk every morning.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

The bicycling safety experts at this meeting were adamant that the only way bicyclists get the respect of drivers is to behave like cars.  Stop at every stop sign and red light, get in line with the cars at a light or stop, signal turns.  They said that they have university studies to support their position.

I will admit to going carefully through stop signs in my quiet neighborhood, but never go through a light or a stop sign at an important intersection.   But I am a "transportation" cyclist, not a "serious" cyclist and Riverside has so many riders that the drivers are accustomed to watching for us.

There are so many people cycling from Riverside, Avondale and Murry Hill to their jobs downtown that there is almost a traffic jam of bicycles on the Riverwalk every morning.

Playing DA as always, but I consider myself a 'serious driver'.  Does that mean I don't have to stop at intersections?

Maybe if that traffic jam would move itself from the Riverwalk to Riverside Ave., more people would be aware of the amount of bicyclists that actually do commute on two wheels instead of 4.  Maybe, if more drivers (the one's that drive from R/A to DT or SM) saw more people biking, they would be more inclined to do so themselves.  Safety in numbers and all.

[Dog Walker]

Couldn't agree more, but those same bicycle experts also cited studies that showed that completely separate bicycle routes increased bike ridership by a couple of orders of magnitude.  I think that without the Riverwalk there would not be so many people riding to their jobs.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Couldn't agree more, but those same bicycle experts also cited studies that showed that completely separate bicycle routes increased bike ridership by a couple of orders of magnitude.  I think that without the Riverwalk there would not be so many people riding to their jobs.

Which also makes complete sense. 

But I would think, as an outsider looking in, that even though the main focus is to increase the safety rating of the state with regards to bike/ped, money is also going to be a critical issue.  It already is.  That would also lead me to believe that the best strategy, moving forward, would be more awareness and the incorporation of bike paths into both existing roadways and the design of new ones, and not so much in the way of building new paths outside of the immediate right-of-way - as is the Riverwalk. 

I think another of the bigger challenges will not be born by the state, but by the local advocacy groups in getting their message out more and more.  Although tragic, no body really gets broken up about the lone biker getting dusted off of Commonwealth Ave at 5:30 in the morning.  Sure, it's a guy with limited means just going to work and trying to make his way, but it doesn't strike the chord that it needs to.  Everytime.  Everytime that happens, their needs to be a local awareness ride, and they seriously need to band together and do critical mass rides on thouroughfares that will generate attention.  Sure the accident happened in NW Jax, and no one really cares, but when say, Atlantic Blvd between Monument and Queens Harbor is choked...  full of bikers - then someone will start getting the point.

And the other thing is to seriously push and advocate to get more riders in the street.  I personally don't have any issue riding down the medians.  Sure, I'm essentially putting my life in the hands of a 17 year old with a busy FB page on his/her smartphone, but I do it all the time.  Others, as has been discussed here, just aren't willing, and while I can't blame them, I also don't think they're really helping the major issue.  This needs to start changing.  More people on the roads will automatically generate more awareness from drivers.  ie Riverside.

And again, these are just my opinions.  I don't have a dog in the fight one way or the other, but it seems that there's a lot of chasing one's tail going on and nothing of real substance.

[urbaknight]

Another solution would be to punish these bad drivers with fines and/or the loss of their driver's licenses, then they'll have to either ride a bike, walk or take the bus. That'll show em! And it would be gratifying for me personally to see some of these idiots finally get their cumuppons. I walk these streets everyday and it's almost everyday that I seem to nearly get hit. I have a huge personal stake in this fight.

Plus think of the revenue the city can generate. With so many assholes behind the wheel in this huge small town we can generate more than enough money to implement safety programs. The rest of the country does this, and it works.

[Dog Walker]

IMHO, the most dangerous law ever passed for pedestrians was allowing for a right-turn-on-red.  People are turning right while looking left for oncoming traffic and the almost never have come to a complete stop before doing so.  I can't count the number of times I've had to dodge a right turner while in the crosswalk.

Watching the kids crossing Post and Park going to school at Riverside Presbyterian Day School puts your heart in your mouth!

If you are going to turn right on red; stop before the corner, look BOTH ways and wait until the crosswalk is EMPTY before turning.  Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right-of-way!

[JayBird]

Saw this on FCN's web site and this seemed to be most related topic thread.

Bicyclist struck, killed by car
First Coast News, news source

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A bicyclist was struck and killed by a speeding car Sunday afternoon.

The driver of the car remains in life-threatening condition, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

The driver was traveling northbound on the 3200 block of Townsend Road near Merill Road around 3:24 p.m.

According to witnesses, the driver was speeding and went off the road, hitting a bicyclist who was riding on the sidewalk.

The car struck a retaining wall, pinning the bicyclist against a retaining wall of a church.

The car then went air born and landed on the driver's side.

According to JSO, the bicyclist, who was only identified as a white male, was pronounced dead on the scene.

The driver, a white male in his 30's, was taken to UF Health Jacksonville, according to JSO.

"We have one [witness] that helped us out with what we have so far. Of course we'll follow up and obviously if anyone who wasn't able to stay around we ask them to call the sheriff's office as soon as they can," said Detective Brian Blaquiere JSO traffic Homicide Unit.

http://m.firstcoastnews.com/TopStories/article?a=316915&f=2040

For those whom actually bike around Jacksonville, is it dangerous or is it that media sensationalized a few incidents to make it seem unsafe?

[Tacachale]

The dangers are very real. We have weak and disconnected bike infrastructure in many areas, and not enough political will to effect real change. And we have a driving culture that's not particularly sympathetic to sharing the road. This isnt just a Jacksonville thing, it's a Florida thing. Unfortunately, these roots of the problem rarely make it into the media reports.