Even when these accidents are fatal, the report found, lawsuits are overwhelmingly diverted away from criminal courtrooms toward civil proceedings. The reason for this is simple. When bicycle use boomed in the 1970s, roads didn’t yet have the infrastructure to support a consistent bike-to-work population. As a result, bicycle accidents clogged up the courts. “Until then, motor vehicle offenses were criminal,” David Hiller of Washington State’s Cascade Bicycle Club told Bicycle Times. “Then, in exchange for waiving the right to due process, and to unclog the courts, the trade off was those cases would be handled in civil court.”

Currently, only nine states carry criminal penalties for bike-car accidents: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, and Utah. Noticeably absent is California, which had 131 bike fatalities in 2008 alone. Meanwhile, most car-to-car deaths would have the option of being tried in criminal court.

The purpose of requesting the option of a criminal trial for drivers involved in fatal bicycle accidents is not to lock more people up. “While sending every driver who makes a fatal error of judgment to prison is not a realistic solution,” wrote Oregon lawyer Ray Thomas in a letter to the Bicycle Transportation Alliance in Portland, Oregon, “the time has come to recognize that driving is a dangerous privilege and serious consequences should follow anytime a needless death occurs because a driver failed to drive carefully.”

Of course, the major problem facing cyclists who hope to reform accident laws is that 63 percent of the population drives and considers it the responsibility of cyclists to get out of their way. States are growing more serious about penalties for bike-car accidents, but progress is slow. So if you’re a regular biker, be careful out there and remember to give cars the right of way whenever in doubt until David and Goliath become more equal in California courts.

Photo credit: Steven Vance

According to last year’s San Francisco MTA Citywide Bicycle Count Report, there were 53 percent more bicyclists on the road compared to 2006. This is good news because biking to work is healthy and better for the environment than driving. But it also increases the likelihood of unfortunate accidents as more bikers vie to share the road with drivers.

“With the increase in number of people cycling to work, there’s bound to be an increase in accidents,” said Andrew Gillin, managing partner of GJEL Accident Attorneys. “Rules of the road don’t change for motorists or cyclists, and everyone needs to use extra caution and courtesy when sharing roadways in the city or elsewhere.”

Every day, we see tragic stories of commuters hurt or injured in bike accidents. Just yesterday, for example, a 35-year-old Oakland-based cyclist was struck and killed by an AC Transit bus. This story, in addition to thousands others each year, has inspired a group called Ride to Silence to honor killed cyclists by biking silently, in a single file line, through dozens of cities nationwide.

In a press statement released today, GJEL Accident Attorneys laid out California’s bike accident statistics, which are sobering to say the least:

In 2008 in California, there were 11,683 bike accidents, including 131 fatalities, 11 percent more than 2007, and 14 percent more than 2006. Since 2005, bike injuries among the 15-24 page bracket rose 33 percent, according to California Statewide Integrated Traffic Records system. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show there has been a 14 percent reduction in fatalities among cyclists between 1997 and 2007.

While that last statistic is encouraging, it may be misleading. “Many bicycle accidents are under-reported, especially those that do not involve a vehicle,” says Gillin. “As the roadways become more crowded with traditional and alternative means of transportation, fellow commuters on foot or wheels must be more alert when hitting any street or roadway.”

Enjoy biking to work tomorrow. And remember to be safe!

Photo credit: Ed  Yourdon

Representatives for the organization confirmed that Bay Area citizens donate about 2,500 bikes to Cycles of Change each year. Since the group was founded, Cycles of Change has trained more than 5,000 low-income students and 60 teachers in the Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, San Lorenzo and Albany school districts about bike operation and maintenance.

Evan Lovett-Harris, a staffer at Cycles of Change APC, an affiliated non-profit bike partnership in the East Bay, says that the benefits of introducing someone to a bike extend beyond transportation. “It’s about getting in shape and going somewhere,” he said. “It’s about saving money, but it’s also about connecting with our local environment and getting engaged with what’s going on, whether it’s reducing pollution or meeting other people in the community.”

In addition to selling refurbished bike supplies, Cycles of Change APC provides low-income housing for 500 formerly homeless individuals, providing some with job training skills. I’m particularly interested in the site’s “earn-a-bike” program, which gives participants a chance to work toward the goal of a bike while learning about it. Last year, more than 200 volunteers collected enough credits to “buy” their own bikes.

We’re proud to help out with Cycles of Change, and applaud the organization for making such a profound difference here in the Bay Area.

Photo courtesy of Cycles of Change.

The Palo Alto democrat’s bill would increase fines to $50 for the first offense, and $100 for repeated infractions, up from $20 and $50 respectively. Including additional fees, that could mean a total fine of $455 for a repeat offense, according to an analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle. Simitian’s bill also states that each incident would add a point to the driver’s record. If a driver receives four or more points in a year, the DMV can confiscate his license.

Simitian’s research shows that cell phone-related collisions dropped more than fifty percent in the first six months after the initial ban was implemented in 2008, compared to the six months before. And deaths resulting from such collisions dropped more than 20 percent below the same six month period in each of the five previous years. “While I think compliance is pretty good, there’s room to save even more lives and avoid even more collisions,” said Simitian.

Disputing the ban’s success, a recent report (pdf) by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found “no notable change” in cell phone-related accidents compared to a set of Western states that had not implemented the ban. But common sense favors Simitian’s explanation; if a driver is writing a text message, he can’t possibly give the road his full attention, and is more likely to be caught off guard by sudden traffic changes.

Simitian also targets cyclists who use cell phones while biking. The proposed fines for cyclists mirror existing automotive penalties: $20 for the first offense and $50 for repeated offenses, without the additional fees. The California Bicycle Coalition says it supports the new law, as long as cyclist fines remain less severe than drivers’. “There’s plenty of evidence…that anyone who uses a cell phone is significantly impaired or distracted,” the group’s spokesman Jim Brown said. “That doesn’t change if you’re walking down the street, driving a car or riding a bicycle.”

Following Brown’s logic, one can’t help but wonder how far texting laws will escalate. One federal law already fines truck and bus drivers nearly $3,000 for texting while driving nationwide. As it stands, only a handful of states have succeeded in restricting handheld communication on the road. Last July, a group of democratic senators began pushing for a nationwide hands-free phone law. But the initiative has stalled due to lack of a strong implementation strategy. If it picks back up, expect a battle between safety advocates and champions of states’ rights. Whatever happens, we’ll keep you updated.

Photo credit: mrJasonWeaver (Creative Commons)

“22517.  No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of such traffic…”

Still, it’s generally advisable for cyclists to pay attention to parked cars and to attempt to leave approximately three feet between themselves and any parked vehicles. Of course, the cyclist must also be wary of the “half-pullover,” which is what I call it when a car only pulls over a little bit, with the purpose of letting someone out of the passenger door. This situation isn’t specifically provided for in the law referenced above, but seeing as how it’s generally frowned upon to pull over partially out of traffic, stop (thus stalling other traffic behind you), and let someone out into the road, a cyclist who gets doored by a passenger is probably still not at fault. With good reason.

It’s important for cyclists to know their rights in these situations, and to know that the drivers of these vehicles are at fault. It’s even more important for both drivers and cyclists to pay attention to what’s going on around them in order to avoid these types of accidents in the first place.

If you read my first post, you know that I just moved to the East Bay about a month ago. The transition from Wisconsin cyclist to East Bay cyclist has been interesting, to say the least.

I should start with the story of the epic journey. My very good friend got a job in L.A., and I was just about to start at GJEL, so we decided to go on the Great American Road Trip one last time. We loaded my friend’s Subaru with our stuff, and strapped my bike rack on the back. I brought a road bike for training type rides as well as a single speed commuter for getting groceries and getting to BART. My friend brought her trusty vintage commuter, and off we went. The trip went well. The bikes didn’t fall off the car, and no one stole them, or any of their various parts.

We pulled into my apartment, thinking we were victorious, but that was when things fell apart. We decided to move the car to a better parking place, and as my friend backed up the car there was a sickening sort of crunch—the crunch of our bikes on the back of her car colliding with someone else’s car.

Obviously, it wasn’t a good start. However, I was not to be stopped. I promptly visited a bike shop in Oakland and got back on the road. I checked out a Berkeley Bicycle Club meeting and started looking for ways to get to and from work on my bike. As I dove into cycling in the East Bay head first, I learned a few things:

1. I had no idea how to get anywhere.
2. There’s a huge cycling presence here, but there are still plenty of car v. bike accidents.
3. The rolling hills of Wisconsin are flat compared to the insanity of the East Bay hills.

I should address each of these individually:

First, I had no idea how to get anywhere.

This is a pretty serious problem, not just because I could end up lost or late for an event, but because of the safety concerns it presents. When you’re familiar with the city you’re riding in, it’s easy to know which lane to be in, which corner to turn at, and what traffic will be like on each street. Without that knowledge, you often find yourself stuck on a busy road without a bike lane, or trying to pay attention to road signs when you really need to be paying attention to cars whizzing past you.

The solution for me was to get out some maps and spend a lot of time just studying them, and memorizing the order of major streets, which streets went all the way to my apartment, and which dead-ended before it. I learned where the Bicycle Boulevards are, and where there are bike paths that I could take instead of roads. I planned my routes ahead of time, and saved myself a lot of stress about where I was headed while in traffic.

Second, there is a huge cycling presence in the East Bay, but still a large number of accidents involving bicycles and cars.

Of course accidents happen everywhere, but I was honestly surprised that there are so many here. At bike shops in the East Bay I heard stories about (and saw evidence of) serious injuries—one worker had her leg in a walking cast, one customer had a broken collar bone. Though there does appear to be safety in numbers when you look at the City of Berkeley’s Cycling Risk Index, I was reminded that there’s still always the possibility of a serious accident. All the more reason to keep wearing my helmet, keep my bike in tune, and plan my trip before heading out.

Finally, the hills here are insane!

I picked one of the hottest Saturdays of the year so far to make my first trip up into the hills between Berkeley and Orinda, and a whole slew of safety concerns came to mind while I was doing it. I had only brought two bottles of water on my bike and not enough food, the air temperature was around ninety degrees, I was riding a (planned) unfamiliar route, and I’d only ever tackled hills like this one once before, on a vacation to Berkeley five years ago. Where to begin with the safety issue?

• First, cycling is exercise, whether you’re training or commuting, so be sure to have some water with you, especially as the temperatures climb.
• Second, be sure to bring a phone, or at least let people know where you’re going and when you’ll be back. I very nearly didn’t make it up the second climb on my ride, and if I hadn’t, it was good to know I could call someone for a ride home.
• Third, if you’re testing your physical limits on a ride or are venturing into unfamiliar territory, try to take someone with you. I went alone, but was wishing for a friend for most of the ride—preferably a friend who knew the route and had brought extra food and water!

In sum, you should always have a planned route, a helmet, and a tuned up bike before you leave the house. If you’re going to do an intense workout, bring a phone, extra water, food, and a friend.

For more safety resources, check out these links:

Berkeley Area Biking & Walking Map

Common Crashes & How to Avoid Them

Video How-To for a Basic Bike Tune-up

Park Tool Company’s Repair Guide & Resources

Happy cycling!