New York City - Renderings of the Hell Gate Randall's Island Pathway are available, and it doesn't look much like the gate to hell. I should know, I've been to Shreveport. This trail will run under the Amtrak trestle.
Also, the police performed a controversial sting on deliverymen because they're believed to often ride stolen bikes. On the one hand, I have little sympathy for someone who agrees to buy a stolen bike, but on the other, I get how it feels like a test of one's moral fiber. "About a week after Mr. Lopez-Velazquez was arrested, his own bicycle, a clunker, was stolen from the bike rack in front of S’Mac, he said." Sometimes, nothing goes right.
Mount Pleasant, NY - A cyclist was "dinged" in the leg when a when police officer shot a sick raccoon near a park's entrance. The cyclist was 170 feet away and separated by a fence. Police are calling it a "freakish accident." Only if this is how sick animals are supposed to be euthanized.
Boston - Boston started its bike sharing program last week.
Cleveland, TN - A cyclist sued the city and state because she was injured when her front wheel fell into the open slots of a metal drainage grate, throwing her off the bike and hitting her face. The grate was of the "old" variety that was no longer used because it is not bike friendly and the road was a bike route. She lost her initial trial, but won on appeal.
The plaintiff argues that the proof shows that the old style grate was a hazard of which the State had been aware for many years. The State simply decided, according to the proof, that it would not deal with the hazard until later. She further argues that if this Court affirms the trial court, "the State would never have an obligation to remedy known hazards if the State merely decided not to as a matter of practice." Although the argument is not presented in exactly these words, the thrust of the plaintiff's argument is that the trial court improperly granted the State immunity for a "category" of activity for which the State does not have immunity under Tenn. Code Ann. § 9-8-307. We agree with the plaintiff.
Florence, AL - More adults are biking
Pasco County, FL - Man mirrors the Tour de France mileage by logging 100 miles a day every day.
Miami - Miami's bike sharing program isn't making as much ad revenue as it had hoped.. There have been 180,000 trips taken in the first four months, but "It is currently limited to selling advertisements on the baskets of its bikes, charging $100 per bike, per month. But [Colby Reese, chief marketing operator of DecoBike] said that the baskets are a hard sell and potential advertisers are turned off by their irregular size and shape." DecoBike receives no public funding.
France - Great photos from the tour.
A cyclist sued the city and state because she was injured when her front wheel fell into the open slots of a metal drainage grate, throwing her off the bike and hitting her face. The grate was of the "old" variety that was no longer used because it is not bike friendly and the road was a bike route. She lost her initial trial, but won on appeal.
Several people have warned DDOT about a similar dangerous situation on Bladensburg Rd between R Streets and Mt Olivet Rd when riding southbound. There are massive, deep gaps between the drains and the roadway where the road surface has crumbled away.
The road's actually pretty new, and you'd think they'd just get the contractor back to repair their shoddy work, but no such luck.
Posted by: oboe | August 01, 2011 at 10:34 AM
re: cyclist suing ...
Form many years cyclists couldn't get recompense for injuries that were the result of poor road design or maintenance as local governments hid behind the principle of sovereign immunity.
Hopefully that is changing and we now acknowledge* the necessity for building roads that are safe to use for ALL road users.
* - the greater metropolitan area of Atlanta exempted.
Posted by: JeffB | August 01, 2011 at 10:52 AM
"when police officer shot a sick raccoon near a park's entrance. The cyclist was 170 feet away and separated by a fence. Police are calling it a "freakish accident." Only if this is how sick animals are supposed to be euthanized. "
Driving back from downtown a couple of weeks ago the north bound traffic was stopped by a Park cop north of the National Zoo entrance. Up ahead by the side of the road a guy in blue fatigues with initials that might have referred to animal control stood in the foliage about five feet off the curb. Another Park cop took a shotgun from his trunk, walked over to the animal control guy and aimed at something on the ground. POP, traffic started moving very quickly there after. Didn't even give the animal control guy time to retrieve what ever body was there. A trend here?
Posted by: Riley | August 02, 2011 at 02:27 PM