Bike Intelligencer » ghost bikes

News Cycle: End of the week, or the beginning of weekend?

Paul Andrews, BI editor — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:00:01 +0000

Score another one for USA! Campagnolo’s silly suit against Woodinville’s FSA components for false advertising has resulted in a jury finding that Campy “failed to establish its claims.”

A BP ripple effect? The rule in corporate liability (quality control) long has been that it’s cheaper to pay off victims than fix the problem. The Gulf Oil Leak disaster may help change this — not just for Big Oil but society in general. When a Tulsa man asked for damages to pay for injuries suffered in a bicycle wreck, the jury returned “more than double the high end of the damage range” his attorney had asked for.

When Brian Lopes gets involved in a product design, it’s going to come out a) performance-tested, b) structurally innovative and strong, and c) lookin’ good!

We’re looking forward to Joe Papp’s new blog.

Thule recalls Domestique carriers sold between April and May of this year.

From its inception and throughout it planning process, Transportation 2040 has been a huge disappointment, virtually ignoring key testimony from groups like the Sierra Club, Cascade Bicycle Club and Futurewise. So it’s not surprising that they’ve sued to bring T2040 into the 21st Century.

Northstar preview from Sicklines.

Julian discusses winning the 9 to 5 all-night Solstice Bike Scavenger Hunt with Anne and Tim of CarFreeDays.

Another court hearing, another set of delays in San Francisco’s ongoing Bike Plan fiasco.

Bike business turnaround in Europe?

The ghost bikes in New York City will stay after all.

Have a great weekend!

News Cycle: Bike laws, Ghost bikers in the sky, XC at 70, Sea Otter Buzz Beginneth

Paul Andrews, BI editor — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 10:01:42 +0000

Indianapolis has a set of new bike laws, including 3-feet-please. Florida law says bikes get the whole friggin’ lane, thank you very much! Now if we could just get that “vulnerable user” legislation passed in the Washington State legislature.

Have you checked out the Ghost Bikes Film project’s blog? Cool stuff…

Guy turns 70, decides it’s time he rode across the country.

Yeah, it’s January. It’s in the 30s and 40s out there, and mud everywhere. It’s another three and a half months till the Sea Otter Classic April 15-18 outside of sunny Monterey, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to build the buzz.

Here’s a worthy cause that’ll etch you or your message in posterity. Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance is selling engraved tiles for a facade outside Duthie Hill mountain biking park near Issaquah. Funds go to paying for all the great work at the park. More on the Evergreen site.

New York "Ghost Bike" Once Again Blames the Cyclist

Paul Andrews, BI editor — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:40:28 +0000

The New York Times has a moving report on a white-bike memorial to a young woman killed while riding a bicycle. While the article eloquently describes the family’s sadness at their loss, it does cycling a disservice by implying that the accident was the woman’s fault. The only reference to cause is the line, “The driver was not charged, the police said.”

Well, that’s helpful. While it’s difficult to assess blame in many traffic accidents, especially involving bikes, it is by contrast easy to imply fault. Police hardly ever charge motorists in cycling accidents because of difficulty in determining culpability. When police fail to act, it hardly means that the fault was the cyclist’s. But the implication in reporting that, without further detail, leaves the reader to infer that the young woman somehow contributed to her fate. (Maybe she did. But we the readers should be allowed to know for sure, not simply left to draw conclusions.)

If I’m the editor on this story I ask the reporter to go back and tell us more. Leaving the story the way it was simply reinforces stereotypes about cyclists always being the cause of accidents.