If you feel that you may have a bicycle accident or bicycle personal injury claim, or other bicycle law case, we encourage you to pursue bicycle justice with an attorney who is a cyclist.
We feel that it is important to know that your attorney is an experienced Oregon bicycle attorney with experience in representing cyclists.
Oregon is a great bicycle state. Oregon has top competive cyclists, bosts numerous bicycling trails, a velodome, can brag about the numbers of bicycle commuters hitting the road as well as the number of families enjoying recreational bicycling.
We also have excellent bicycle legal advocates and bicycle injury lawyers fighting for bicycle justice.
Yet every year many bicyclists die and are seriously injured on Oregon roads. Bicycle riders suffer equipment damage sometimes by being run off the road to avoid an accident. Sometimes we are doored or even attacked and harassed on bicycle.
As bicyclists, we often struggle with finding our place on the road between cars and pedestrians and often feel as though a bicycle right of way is optional. Too often we hear of a bicycle fatality after fatality, all being "hooked" as cars don't yield to bicyclists in the bike lane or don't feel that bicycles should be on the road at all. It's too many more bicyle fatalities before roads and intersections are re-examined for the safety of their design. Or maybe it is the sewage drains on the streets which are perfectly sized to jam a bicycle tire and send the cyclist careening.
As bicyclists, too often we get seriously hurt, and even killed.
Or, we are given tickets or treated with biased laws, and told we don't belong on the road and we don't belong on the sidewalks.
We encourage bicyclists with bicycle legal issues to seek out a qualified and ethical Oregon bicycle attorney to help them with their issue.
America has a great court system and we believe there is a tradition of using legal complaints to force political awareness and change; i.e. sharing the road with bicyclists.
Step back and be a bit skeptical. Does the attorney really just 'handle bicycle cases' or are they actually a REAL bicyclist?
In our circle of bicycling friends, we have found a big difference of the evaluation of what the bicycle legal case might look like when they actually talked with an experienced Oregon bicycle attorney verses an attorney who handled car injury and insurance cases. Thus we are left to wonder if the result good have been better or our friends may have had an Oregon bicycle attorney to advocate for them instead of having to forfeit when a non-interested accident attorney told them they had no case, or what to us sounds like, "no rights because they were riding a bike."
Portland, Oregon
Blue Oregon
The Snowball of the Sewer Myth
[...] at least one-quarter of Portlanders can’t drive, two-thirds of Portlanders own bikes, and six percent regularly commute and another ten percent secondarily commute by bike. Yet spending on bicycle infrastructure has hovered between one and two percent of the city’s transportation capital spending [...]
Portland, Oregon
Construction on Sunset Transit Center bike and ride facility starts June 21
June 8, 2010 - [...] "With tremendous growth in bicycling in the region, there are limited options for commuters to bring bikes onto the transit system during rush hour," said TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch.
Fetsch said TriMet followed the model of bicycle capitals such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen, where myriad bike-parking facilities help transit riders make connections without driving. [...]
Los Angeles, California
Mayor Villaraigosa calls cyclist incident "disturbing" in a letter to cyclists
June 9, 2010 - In a letter to bicyclists, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said video footage of a confrontation between police officers and riders on Hollywood Boulevard was "disturbing.''
"Bicyclists have every right to use our city streets and to be treated with courtesy and respect -- both by drivers and law enforcement,'' Villaraigosa wrote in a letter posted on the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition website.
Flagstaff, Arizona
Claim for $4M in death of cyclist
June 9, 2010 - The family of a Flagstaff man who died after he was struck by a city garbage truck last fall is suing the city of Flagstaff for $4 million.
A four-page wrongful death complaint, filed by a Tucson attorney representing the family of Joshua Pete, contends the city of Flagstaff is responsible for the death of the 23-year-old NAU student and Afghanistan war veteran.[...] The civil claim, however, contends the driver of the truck was negligent as he made a "wide" right turn into the Norton recycling center off Butler Avenue seconds before colliding with Pete, giving the cyclist who was traveling in the same westbound direction little warning before the turn was made.
Denver, Colorado
Dog attack: Bicyclist Renee Legro, mauled for twenty minutes, sues sheep herders
June 9, 2010 - Legro is suing the owners of two Great Pyrenees dogs who ruffed her up in June 2008 during a bike race in the Camp Hale area near Leadville. She alleges that the two dogs, which are trained to defend herds from wild predators, attacked her, dragged her to the ground and "bit and mauled" her until help arrived -- and her lawyer says she's still traumatized [...] His client will never fully recover from the dog day, he says. Legro was put out of work from a new job in Glenwood Springs as a speech pathologist, as well as being badly scarred and probably requiring surgery for her fractured ankle. Not to mention that she lost the race.
Los Angeles, California
Citing assault and battery, bicyclist files claim against LAPD
June 7, 2010 - A man who claims he was roughed up by Los Angeles police for using his cell phone to make a video of officers harassing protesting bicyclists on Hollywood Boulevard filed a claim against the city Friday. Manuel Gallegos claims he was riding east with other members of "Critical Mass,'' an activist bicycling group that organizes mass rides that disrupt motor traffic, the night of May 28, when he stopped to shoot a video after seeing officers pull a boy off his bicycle.
About 400 bicyclists rode down Hollywood Boulevard to protest the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Portland, Oregon
Drivers backslide on cell phone law -
Many are overly optimistic they can avoid danger, tickets
June 3, 2010 - [...] And they might also settle the vexing question of whether bicycle riders are covered by the law, which specifically says it applies to drivers of motor vehicles. A pre-existing Oregon statute (ORS 814.400) basically says that bike riders have the same responsibilities on the road as drivers of motor vehicles. [...]
Jefferson City, Missouri
Tour of Missouri Bike Race Canceled
May 28, 2010 -
Organizers of the Tour of Missouri have canceled this summer's bicycle race after state tourism officials declined to help fund it.
Tour of Missouri Chairman Mike Weiss said organizers pulled the plug on the race after Gov. Jay Nixon's administration refused to back it or even to meet with race supporters.
Earlier Thursday, a budget committee for the Missouri Tourism Commission endorsed a $13.4 million spending plan that included no state money for the race. State lawmakers had indicated a preference to allot the race $1 million.
Seattle, Washington
We’re Number One?
May 19,2010 - [...] The League of American Bicyclists just released their annual ranking of Bicycle Friendly States and, for the third-year running, Washington is ranked number one [...] The first, and worst, example is the loss of state Sen. Joe McDermott’s (D-34) Vulnerable Users bill. The bill would have increased penalties against negligent drivers who killed bicyclists, pedestrians, and other "vulnerable" roadway users. In essence, "I didn’t see them" would no longer be a free pass for drivers at fault. But the bill died (twice, in fact). Oregon, which ranked fifth on the League’s list, passed a similar vulnerable users bill in 2007 [...]
Gainsville, Florida
Drivers call crosswalk sting sneaky and 'a total setup'
June 1, 2010 - When Kelly Stauff saw the man in the crosswalk, it was too late to stop. She didn't hit the man, who turned out to be a Gainesville police officer in street clothes, but Stauff was nailed with a $154 ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian [...]
Hollywood, California
LAPD investigating officer excessive force
May 29,2010 - [...] The alleged victim recorded the incident on Hollywood Blvd. near Highland during a ride by the group "Los Angeles Critical Mass" [...]
Hollywood, California
Hollywood Cops Attack Bike Riders
May 29,2010 - Youtube.com - "After seeing the cops swing their batons at riders, jump in front of riders, attempt to stick batons in wheel spokes, and kick bikes to cause the riders to go down I started filming. When I was spotted recording the cops they tackled me down for no reason what so ever...."
(video is embedded here for your convenience, more discussion however at YouTube.com)
Holywood, California
YouTube Vid Rocks the LAPD
June 1, 2010 - [...] According to cyclists on the ride, as they came through the Hollywood & Highland intersection they encountered LAPD officers who pushed and tackled cyclists off their bikes and in one instance, stuck a baton in the spokes of a bike, flipping the cyclist to the ground. One cyclist stopped and used his iPhone to videotape the LAPD arresting another cyclist capturing what appears to be an LAPD Bicycle Officer kicking at a passing cyclist, then the video goes black as the photographer is apparently tackled and given conflicting instructions of "Get down!" and "Get up!" [...]
Santa Clarita, California
CHP Has New Laws To Enforce
December 30, 2009 - [...] Bicycles (SB527) - This new law allows a person to ride a bicycle without a seat if the bicycle was designed by the manufacturer to be ridden without a seat [...]
AP
LAPD investigates scuffles with officers, cyclists
May 30, 2010 - [...] "In response to what we learned, we immediately launched a full-scale investigation to determine the facts surrounding the events," LAPD Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said. "The Department's Professional Standards Bureau has taken the lead in the inquiry and the Police Commission's Inspector General has also been made fully aware of the matter." [...]
San Diego, California
Cover-up Crowd 1, Naked Riders 0
June 3, 2010 - [...]
Bicyclists filed a lawsuit, hoping to overturn San Diego's anti-nudity ordinance in time for San Diego's World Naked Bike Ride [...]
The World Naked Bike Ride is a protest event slated for more than 25 cities worldwide that is meant to call attention to oil dependence.
San Francisco, California
Don't Let Us Jinx It, But Judge Might Let SF's Long-Delayed Bike Plan Move Forward This Month
June 1, 2010 - [...] The injunction, first implemented in 2006, was a result of a lawsuit from cycling cynic Rob Anderson, who feared that the bike plan did not adequately review environmental effects on the city. He argued that cyclists would cause more traffic, and thus more idle cars and more pollution [...]
Santa Cruz, California
Former pro cyclist sues over hit-and-run that ended his career
May 14, 2010 - Tolleson suffered a brain injury and a broken vertebra just before midnight July 23 when he was involved in a hit-and-run crash on Highway 1 near the Fishhook.
On Thursday, Tolleson sued the suspected hit-and-run driver, Aptos resident Thomas John Legan, 25, and his father, Thomas Louis Legan, a Capitola periodontist who was the registered owner of the car.
The tort claim, filed in Santa Cruz County Superior Court, seeks an unspecified amount of damages for past and future medical costs, lost wages and the long-term impact of the brain injury Tolleson suffered in the wreck.
Santa Barbara, California
Bike Event Draws Opposition
May 27, 2010 - They've just hired an expensive Orange County law firm to sue a local nonprofit park and shut down a hugely popular, family-friendly mountain bike event that's been running successfully for five years.
"At a time when the county is strapped for money, what on earth is the point of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a last-minute lawsuit to block an event that promotes healthy living, gets kids outdoors and away from the TV set, brings money into the community and benefits a charitable organization that provides recreational opportunities for local families at no cost whatsoever to the taxpayer?" said Michael Fauver, President of the Board of Directors for Elings Park, where the two-day mountain bike event is to be held on June 5 and 6.
Greenwich, Connecticut
After partial settlement, family of slain man vows to fight restaurant chain
May 30, 2010 - The family of a Greenwich man killed by a drunken driver in 2008 has reached a settlement with the person responsible for the fatal crash, but their lawyers said they plan to continue fighting against the restaurant that served him alcohol. [...] lawsuit, which is seeking to invoke a state law whereby commercial establishments may be held liable for injuries or deaths that result from patrons involved in drunken driving accidents. Police said Moore had a blood alcohol content of 0.21 the night of the crash. The legal limit is 0.08.
Charleston, South Carolina
Sad reminder of bike needs
January 2, 2010 - Not every bicycle death could have been prevented by safe bike lanes, paths and helmets. But every death resulting from a bicycle accident demonstrates how far the Lowcountry must go before bicycling is a safe, accessible, way for citizens to get around.
Last Sunday, Eduardo Gomez Ortiz was killed after he fell from his bicycle into traffic and was struck by a vehicle. According to Charleston police, Mr. Ortiz fell while trying to avoid construction obstacles on the Burnet R. Maybank Bridge over the Wappoo Cut [...] But Mr. Ortiz' tragic death serves as a reminder of why local municipalities should waste no more time meeting the needs of those who want to use their bikes [...] If there are places where it is dangerous to bike, look for ways to make them safer [...]
Brooklyn, New York
Mean Streets: Do NOT bring your bike into your office today
December 11, 1009 - [...] Just because Local Law 52 — officially the “Bicycle Access to Office Buildings Law” — is now actually here doesn’t mean you can haul your Huffy up to your cubicle [...]
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder exploring new bike-parking rules
January 2, 2010 - [...] A city study completed this fall found that the number of people using bicycles to get to the downtown area increased 14 percent in just one year, and is up 46 percent since 2007 [...] That study also found that there's a growing shortage of bike racks [...]
New York, New York
Banned From Bringing Your Bike to Work? The Law’s on Your Side Now
December 11, 2009 - [...] Sure, there are gaps in the law -- like the fact that commercial buildings without freight elevators are exempt. But bike advocates went toe to toe with the real estate lobby and came out on top. As former TA director John Kaehny told us back when the law passed the City Council, a legislative victory like that matters for many reasons: "More than anything else, it validates bicycles as legitimate." [...]
Baltimore, Maryland
Proposals seek to encourage more cyclists and to make Baltimore streets safer for them
December 27, 2009 - [...] But Baltimore's congested and pothole-ridden streets pose many hazards to cyclists [...] A passel of laws proposed recently by City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke is aimed at encouraging more people to travel by bike while making streets safer for riders [...]
Freehold, New Jersey
Freehold sets rules for parking bicycles
December 21, 2009 -
The Borough Council unanimously voted in favor of the new ordinance, which prohibits bicycles from being stored anywhere in town but on bicycle racks or private property with the owner's permission [...] concerns Monday that there were not enough bicycle racks to meet the need in the borough [...]
Pensacola, Florida
Teen on bike run over by Pensacola police; state concludes investigation
December 31, 2009 - [...] The incident prompted revisions to the Pensacola Police Department's policies on police chases and the use of Tasers [...]
Orlando, Florida
Cyclists crowding roads irk motorists
January 2, 2010 - [...] After a growing number of complaints from residents, Lake County deputy sheriffs have started issuing warnings to bicyclists for not riding in single file as state law requires and rolling through stop signs [...] But racing bicyclists say when a large pack made up of more than 80 riders forms a single file on a two-lane road, it could take a motorist more than half a mile to pass the group, creating a dangerous situation on a winding road [...]
Washington, D.C.
Bikestation opens in D.C. next month
September 16, 2009 - A bicycle parking lot at Union Station that offers secure bicycle parking and bike rentals will finally open Oct. 2.
The bike station, located near the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and 1st Street NE, will house 130 bicycles in 1,600 square feet of free-standing glass and steel design. The D.C. station is part of the Bikestation network, which currently includes 12 Bikestations across the U.S., with 200 expected within five years [...]
Bozeman, Montana
Jury to determine award to bicycle racer suing BSF
September 15, 2009 - Although the Bridger Ski Foundation has admitted some liability in the 2006 injury of a racer who collided with a car in the only bicycle race the foundation has ever held, they claim the rider is also at fault.[...] An experienced bicycle racer, Yanof had ridden the course in preparation for the race. He also spoke with an official the morning of the race about concerns he had with that intersection. He was told he would not need to stop at the stop sign and that a race marshal would control traffic [...]
New York, New York
Recalls This Week: Animal Masks, Bicycle Chains
September 11, 2009 - [...] PRODUCT: 10 Speed SRAM bicycle chains with PowerLock connector links [...] WHY: The links can crack and allow the chain to separate from the bicycle. One incident has been reported in the U.S. and three incidents outside of the U.S. No injuries have been reported.
New York, New York
More Schools Encourage Commuting by Bike
September 15, 2009 - [...] There are no estimates about how prevalent bicycle commuting is among parents, students and teachers at New York City’s schools, but a morning spent in front of P.S. 261 gives credibility to Ms. Faux’s claim that she is not an anomaly. P.S. 261, which has about 830 students, is one of 34 schools to have requested that the Department of Transportation install bike racks through the department’s CityRacks program [...]
British Columbia, Canada
Don't Put Hst on Bicycles
September 15, 2009 - [...] As a cycling coalition we are particularly concerned about the tax that will be added to bicycles and other energy efficient and conservation measures. If the government of British Columbia is sincere about its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, taxing bicycles and other products and services that allow people to reduce their personal emissions does not make any sense [...]
ABA Journal
Drop in Legal Business Hits Bicycle Couriers in DC and NY
September 15, 2009 -
[...] The advent of electronic court filing and the legal recession has taken a toll on the bicycle courier business in Washington, D.C., and New York.
The number of full-time bicycle couriers in Washington, D.C. has dropped from about 400 in the 1990s to about 150, and those still in the business are earning less, the Washington Post reports. In New York, the number of courier companies has dropped from about 500 to almost 40 [...]
Los Angeles, California
Biker's Clash with Pedestrians/Equestrians over the use of Trails Griffith Park
(Channel 7 News Video June 2009)
Lexington, Kentucky
Pedaling permits: Students prepare for new bicycle registration system
September 15, 2009 - After Oct. 1, students not using bike racks, or who do not register but continue to park on campus, will be given warnings and fines. After the third offense, the bike will be impounded and students will have to pay a $40 fee to have their bike returned. A storage fee of $2 per day will be added. Persistent offenders who are given more than six citations in a year will see their impound fee increase to $51 [...] UK is bike friendly to a point, but “there is room for improvement that needs to be explored,” Williams said.
Toronto, Canada
Nothing settled in bicycle wars - Cyclists oppose proposals for mandatory helmets and licences
September 15, 2009 - [...] Cheng-Gan Jiang movingly told Toronto councillors about the day his sister was run down and killed by a bicycle last month [...] Jiang showed raw emotion as he recalled the death of his sister Cheng-Li Jiang, 56, struck by a 15-year-old cyclist on a sidewalk on Kennedy Rd. near Sheppard Ave. E. on Aug. 9. She died the next day, without regaining consciousness [...]
Los Angeles, California
Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club works to keep mountain bikes off trails in Los Angeles
Chapter activists working to keep city parks hiker-friendly and mountain-bike free
June 2009 edition of the Southern Sierran, Vol 65 No6. - [...] You're hiking down a steep trail, enjoying the view, trying to remember the name of a trailside wildflower when, whoosh! Inches from your left arm a mountain bike comes careening down the trail [...]
Portland, Oregon
Need to make a quick trip? City trying out rent-a-bikes
August 14, 2009 - [...] Portland has the nation's highest rate of bicycling for a big city -- 4.5 percent, according to the U.S. Census. The city auditor's office, in a survey last summer, found that 8 percent of commuters came into downtown on bikes and that citywide, about 18 percent of residents use bikes as either a primary or secondary mode of transportation. Local officials hope Portland will become a world-class biking city someday, and bike sharing, they say, could help achieve that goal [...]
Portland, Oregon
Portland Considering Bike Share Options
August 14, 2009 - [...] Only 1.5 percent of the city transportation budget goes to biking – which might sound low considering the city’s calculation that 18 percent of the Portlanders use bikes as their primary or secondary mode of transportation [...]
Boston, Massachusetts
In one city, at least, two-wheelers welcome - Portland, Ore., model may catch on elsewhere
August 15, 2009 - [...] The low point, said Rogers, 25, a medical researcher who now pedals 6 miles to work every day, was when a pedestrian punched her as she biked down Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton. But in Portland, she said, a city that prides itself as the most bike-friendly in the nation, “you’re not weird’’ for biking[...]
Portland, Oregon
Burgerville says sorry to bicyclist for drive-through ban
August 14, 2009 - [...] Burgerville announced today that it will open its drive-throughs to bicycles, two days after customer and avid cyclist Sarah Gilbert got rebuffed when she tried to order cheeseburgers at the company's Southeast 25th Avenue and Powell Boulevard drive-through [...]
Portland, Oregon
Burgerville drive-thru lanes now 'bike-thru' too
August 14, 2009 - [...] Gilbert rode her bike through the drive-thru at a SE Portland Burgerville on a cheeseburger stop recently, she was told by employees the lane was for cars only.
She said the employee then closed the window on her.[...]
Portland, Oregon
Mom on bike refused food at drive-thru; Panty thief arrested; Great whites spotted on Oregon coast
August 13, 2009 - [...] "It is profiling. There is no law, statute or ethical standard prohibiting discriminating against customers on the basis of their mode of transportation," Gilbert said after raising awareness about the debacle via Twitter [...]
Portland, Oregon
Cyclists push velodrome for Memorial Coliseum
July 16, 2009 - [...]A velodrome is a banked track designed for bicycle racing. Lengths can vary: An Olympic-sized track is at least 250 meters or about .15 of a mile. The United States has 19 velodromes, all outdoors except the Home Depot Center near Los Angeles[...]
Mother Jones
AAA Expands Roadside Assistance to Bicycles
July 16, 2009 - [...] In recent years, prominent environmental groups have taken the club to task opposing funding for bike lanes and public transit, bashing the Clean Air Act, and pushing for ever more and bigger highways. So when the Oregon and Idaho chapter of AAA debuted a new bicycle roadside assistance program last week, many people were puzzled. Could the group formerly known as the American Automobile Association finally be going green? [...]
Portland, Oregon
A ticket to ride?
March 11, 2009 - It was just a matter of time. As the Legislature struggles to find new ways to create revenue, a bill to register bicycles -- $54 for a two-year license for adults -- has been proposed. And just as expected, the bicycle community is in an uproar.
Portland, Oregon
Bike registration bill rankles Portland riders - The proposal calls for a $54 fee on adult bikes every two years
March 7, 2009 - Karl Rohde, a lobbyist for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, said his group is willing to discuss whether cyclists should help pay for bikeways. But, he said, anything "that discourages cycling is bad."
Portland, Oregon
TriMet will use $1 million of federal stimulus for bike parking
March 9, 2009 - TriMet will dedicate $1 million of federal stimulus money to improving and adding bike parking throughout the transit system, the agency's general manager announced at Saturday's Alice B. Toeclips Awards at the Oregon Convention Center.
Portland, Oregon
Dispatch from the commute: Cyclist's hard lesson about what to do after the crash
March 11, 2009 - The first rule of Bike Club: Call the cops when a motorist crashes into your bicycle at a stop sign [...]
Bike World News
Safe Routes to School March Update
March 10, 2009 -
Safe Routes to School National Partnership, a growing network of more than 400 organizations working to advance the Safe Routes to School National movement.
Oregon - U.S. News
Rep. Blumenauer on Bikes: "Republicans Don't Get It."
February 9, 2009 - After Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) proposed an amendment to the stimulus that would prohibit funding of bicycle paths, outspoken bicycle supporter and Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer went on the warpath. In a blog post he wrote for the Huffington Post, Blumenauer described Republicans as "out of touch."
Portland, Oregon
Bicycle Transportation Alliance urges more stimulus spending for bikes
February 12, 2009 - The BTA has compiled a list of $55 million worth of bike infrastructure awaiting funding, and the Oregon Department of Transportation has a $20 million waiting list of "shovel ready" bike projects, according to the letter.
Portland, Oregon
TriMet: The good, the red and the ugly
February 16, 2009 - According to a TriMet supervisor's report, the bus driver, who has reportedly crashed three buses after less than two years behind the wheel, ran the red light westbound on Clay.
Bend, Oregon
Bend Oregon Cycling Event Tour Des Chutes
January 15, 2009 - A multi-distance cycling event in Bend Oregon. All proceeds go to The Lance Armstrong Foundation and the St. Charles Cancer Survivorship Program. Approx 800 riders participated in 2008. Rides from 7-miles to 100.
Contact: Kelly Tanguay
Email: info@tourdeschutes.org
Phone:
541.382.8018
Date of Tour Des Chutes Event: July 18, 2009
Vancouver, B.C. Canada
Cyclists should have safe routes but no free ride
December 29, 2008 - It was the evening of Boxing Day, one of the worst times to be out and about. But I wasn't about to let a little snow stop me from testing the controversial suggestion that one way to help solve Metro Vancouver's transportation woes might be to make our roads more bicycle-friendly -- by taxing cyclists [...]
New York, New York
Officer from YouTube cyclist video pleads not guilty
December 17, 2008 - Officer Patrick Pogan was indicted Tuesday on three misdemeanor and two felony charges by Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau. He was released without bail.
The charges stem from a YouTube video clip showing Pogan body-checking cyclist Christopher Long from his bike during a ride by the group Critical Mass on July 25.
New York, New York
Wheels of justice are turning against bike-slam officer
December 17, 2008 - Patrick Pogan — a probationary officer at the Midtown South Precinct on the force for less than two weeks at the time of the incident — was charged with falsifying records and filing a false document, both felonies, in connection with his report of his arrest of Christopher Long, the Critical Mass rider who was knocked off his bike [...] "If it were not for that video, my client, Christopher Long, would most likely still be facing charges for assaulting an officer," said Rankin. "My client is appreciative that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office has taken the matter of Pogan's fraudulent statements seriously."
Portland, Oregon
Bicycle Film Festival 2008 in Portland
December - 7, 2008 - The Bicycle Film Festival celebrates the bicycle from tall bike jousting, track bikes, BMX, alleycats, critical mass, bike polo, cycling to recumbents. The Festival is a traveling ode to the two (maybe three in some cases) wheel sport we love [...]
Medford, Oregon
Keep your fad off the sidewalk
December 21, 2008 - In about 1886, the "wheel" arrived in Jackson County. That's what they called the bicycle and it was an instant smash with the grown-ups.
Medford's physician, Dr. Pickel, promptly smashed his into a wall on his very first ride. The Mail newspaper, a predecessor to the one you're reading right now, called it another symptom of "the bicycle craze epidemic." Get it? Doctor — epidemic?
Latest U.P.S. Fuel-Saving Strategies: Leg Muscles and Hydraulics
December 19, 2008 - Of course, each U.P.S. bike delivery system (typically a $350 mountain bike pulling a custom trailer) can haul only 15 to 20 packages per trip — a mere fraction of what a truck can deliver. Nonetheless, the company estimates that for every three bikes deployed during peak season on the West Coast, it will save around 17 gallons of fuel per day and about $38,000 dollars in vehicle maintenance costs.
Portland, Oregon
Looking for Brown on a bike: Up and riding in no time?
December 11, 2008 - If a UPS delivery person shows up at your door hauling holiday packages on a bike this week, don't be alarmed. Remember, you live in Oregon or Southwest Washington.
Be proud that Brown chose your piece of the earth to try out its new green initiative: Bicycle delivery.
USA TRANSPORTATION
LaHood has defended bike, pedestrian projects
December 18, 2008 -
Barsotti noted that in a floor speech defending the federal money, LaHood said:
As we are encouraging people all over the country to exercise, to be fit, to eat right, to exercise and to do things that will continue to make people healthy, there is no better way to do it than to have this program.
Portland, Oregon
Holy Hell, What a Day
December 9, 2008 - Now, the BAC/PAC meeting I'm currently kind of ignoring to blog this (sorry). For the past hour, the group has been discussing the Willamette River Transit Bridge, which would carry bikes, pedestrians and transit across the Willamette. There's a discussion going on about the best width for the bridge for bike traffic. The consensus from the BAC folks? Twelve feet is not enough width for the kind of bike traffic Portland sees, especially on a bridge planned for downtown-SE Portland.
New Haven, Connecticut
New law turns on vehicles giving bicyclists more space
November 17, 2008 - [...] "We must strive to keep our roadways safe for all users — from 18-wheelers to 10-speed bikes to pedestrians," Rell said. "The initiatives in this new law are intended to help everyone share the road safely and responsibly."
ConnDOT is also promoting a "Safe Routes to School Program," which focuses on children who bike or walk to school, and finding ways to allow more bikes on the new train cars set to arrive in 2010 [...]
Los Angeles, California
City Council Approves Bicycle Bill of Rights
December 9, 2008 - The city today officially adopted the Cyclists' Bicycle Bill of Rights, a twelve-point document affirming the rights that cyclists already have, but don't necessarily receive from government in addition to other basic rights that will help the city become more sustainable.
Moscow, Idaho
Bicycle Law 101
November 13, 2008 - The University of Idaho’s rules regarding bicycles parked on campus are becoming more restrictive than the laws of the city of Moscow, so students and faculty who park their bikes on campus should become informed of their rights now.
As the public’s environmental and financial awareness increases, so does the use of economical, Earth-friendly transportation. Bicycles are inexpensive and relatively small, but city law considers them vehicles and has strict rules regarding their use, as does UI (University Idaho) [...]
Portland, Oregon
Drunk driver who hit Seattle-to-Portland bicyclists sentenced
December 3, 2008 - The drunk driver who rammed into a group of bicyclists on Highway 30 during the 2007 Seattle to Portland bike event and then sped away has been sentenced to more than six years in prison.
Portland, Oregon
Outer east Portland gives bike commuters a rough ride
December 2, 2008 - In contrast to bright bike boxes and well-marked bike lanes downtown, outer east Portland is a cycling commuter's nightmare. Roads lack shoulders, bicycle lanes appear and disappear, and cars blow by on multilane wide streets faster than the posted 40-mph limit.
Portland, Oregon - Voice of America
More and More Americans Bike Their Way to Work
November 27, 2008 - Last year, the Pacific Northwest city of Portland, Oregon, had the highest percentage of bicycle commuters in the United States. Portland has been doing progressive city planning for many years to create special paths for bike riders.
Portland, Oregon
Oregon judge clears naked bike rider
November 14, 2008 - In Portland, the judge said, cycling naked has been anointed as a "well-established tradition" and understood as a form of "symbolic protest."
Judge Jerome LaBarre said the city's annual World Naked Bike Ride - in which as many as 1,200 people took part last June 14 - has helped cement riding in the buff as a form of protest against cars and dependence on fossil fuels.
Portland, Oregon
Naked Protests: Protesters Go Nude to Raise Awareness
November 13, 2008 - Portland is famous for its World Naked Bike Ride, an event held several days prior to Hammond’s own bike ride a la natural before cops pulled Hammond over to the side and charged him with indecent exposure, resisting arrest, and fourth degree assault.
Portland, Oregon
Handmade and Homegrown
October 17, 2008 - The Oregon Manifest showcased the best handmade bikes that the United States has to offer, all in America's cycling capital [...]Portland fosters and nurtures a collective of handmade bicycle builders that's unmatched anywhere on the planet [...]
Velo News
Legally Speaking with Bob Mionske - A time for thanks
November 27, 2008 - [...] So as we pause to give thank this holiday season, we cyclists can reflect on what a difference a year makes. Last year, Representative Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina, ridiculed the bicycle as a 19th century solution to a 21st century problem. This year, the League of American Bicyclists reports that several members of the Congressional and Senate Bike Caucuses, Republicans and Democrats alike, won re-election by large margins, and key members of the Bike Caucus are in firm control of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Last year, the current Transportation Secretary, Mary Peters, suggested that bicycle infrastructure is not transportation infrastructure. This year, the incoming Transportation Secretary may well be one of the nation’s staunchest bicycle advocates. Last year, the number of cyclists was on the rise. This year, from Portland to New York, our numbers continue to rise.
Portland, Oregon
New bike parking corrals open for business downtown
September 19, 2008 - Oregon Live - [...] But the removal of paid on-street car parking with free bike parking raises questions: Should businesses pay the city because they reduce parking revenue? Is there a way to charge cyclists? The issues are similar to those raised by free loading zones provided by the city [...]
StreetsFilms - On Street Bike Parking Portland, Oregon
And now Portland has even more on street bike parking!!
New York City, New York
Police Investigate Officer in Critical Mass Video
July 28, 2008 New York Times - Updated, 6:03 p.m. | The New York City Police Department said on Monday afternoon that it had placed a police officer on modified assignment after a widely circulated YouTube video showed the officer appearing to violently shove a participant in the Critical Mass bike ride, causing the cyclist to fall off his bike [...]
THE NYC YOU TUBE CRITICAL MASS VIDEO from 7/25/2008
New York City, New York
The Officer, the Bicyclist and the Video
July 29, 2008 - NY Times - [...] The clip shows Police Officer Patrick Pogan pushing Christopher Long off his bike to the pavement on Friday night near Times Square, while throngs of tourists lining Seventh Avenue watched participants in the monthly Critical Mass ride. Most news reports have described the tape only as having been created by a tourist and then posted anonymously on YouTube early Monday morning [...]
New York, New York
Charges dismissed against cyclist in YouTube shove
September 5, 2008 - " [...] This was a case where the officer's sworn testimony was contradicted by the videotape," Rankin said. "It raises serious questions about other cases that don't have the luxury of a videotape [...]"
NPR
Scraper Bike Fever Spreads, Thanks To YouTube
September 13, 2008 - " [...] Oakland has been taken over by scraper bikes," says Stevenson. "On the Internet, it is worldwide. There's people from literally across the world making these bikes, from Portland, Oregon, to Japan to Australia to Jamaica."
SCRAPER BIKE
Velo News
Legally Speaking with Bob Mionske - Bikes v. cars
August 15, 2008 - [...] For the media, and for the new cyclists who, lured by the combination of warm weather and high gas prices, are venturing out onto the road for the first time, these stories of road violence, one after the other, may indeed have seemed like “a new kind of road rage.” For seasoned cyclists, the stories were more an indication that the daily violence cyclists encounter had finally managed to capture the attention of the public-at-large. But underlying the “bikes vs. cars” eruptions of violence, the larger questions remained unasked, and unanswered in the media: Why are cyclists the daily targets of road violence, and what can cyclists do to change that reality?
Seattle, Washington
The Stranger
Critical Error: Bike Protest Ends in Violence, Conflicting Stories
July 29, 2008 - [...] The driver and the cyclists gave very different accounts of what happened, but you wouldn't know it from the way Seattle's media reported the incident. The initial wave of coverage from newspapers like the Seattle Times and Seattle Post- Intelligencer, and TV stations like KING 5, ignored the fact that the driver ran into the cyclists with his car before they attacked him. Instead, they portrayed the incident as a clash between an innocent, frightened driver and a crazed, angry mob [...]
Seattle, Washington
Why did violence erupt at Critical Mass ride in Seattle?
July 27, 2008 - [...] Two other bicyclists have been jailed. But some riders in the event said the driver instigated the incident by driving angrily into several bikers [...]
New York, New York
Moving Targets
August 8, 2008 - [...] “We’ve had a car culture for so long and suddenly the roads become saturated with bicyclists trying to save gas,” Mr. Cooley said 10 days after the attack, still feeling scrambled, in pain and traumatized. “No one knows how to share the road.” He doesn’t plan to bike to work again this season [...]
Portland, Oregon
More Oregonians head to work on two fewer wheels
June 19, 2008 The Oregonian - The signs of a bike-commuting boom are clear to Lanny Gower every time he sees the packed bike storage areas at his company, Con-way Inc.
Washington, D. C.
Bicycle Campaign Gears Up for Campaign Cycle
July 1, 2008 - Barack Obama wanted to talk about federal bicycling programs [...] At a rally in Portland the weekend before the Oregon primary in May, for example, some 8,000 bicyclists were in the throng of 75,000 people. And the candidate gave them a brief shout-out from the stump: “It’s time that the entire country learned from what’s happening right here in Portland with mass transit and bicycle lanes and funding alternative means of transportation,” he said. Portland leads the nation in bicycle commuters: 3.5 percent cycle to work every day.
Sedona, Arizona
Sedona May Reconsider Lights Vote
Sedona, AZ - June 17, 2008 - The
Sedona City Council may reconsider its June 10 vote that kiboshed 10 proposed street lights along a stretch of Hwy. 89A
in West Sedona, which were recommended by the city's pedestrian safety advisory committee.
Portland, Oregon
Crashing Halt: BTA Pushes for Punishment of Witless Drivers
June 12 - June 18, 2008 - Oregon is one of only four states without a vehicular homicide law, which
means that if a "witless" but not technically "reckless" driver [...] runs over a pedestrian or biker, the courts can't
charge them with homicide or manslaughter.
Hutchinson, Minnesota
EDITORIAL: Bikes on sidewalks? What’s the law?
July 1, 2008 -
But is it illegal to operate a bicycle on a sidewalk, as Ms. Smithers contended? No it is not, according to Sgt. Tom Gifferson of the Hutchinson Police Department. But Sgt. Gifferson quickly added that he doesn’t encourage cyclists to ride on the sidewalk. “It’s our point of view that it’s not the safest place for a bicycle to operate,” he said.
New York, New York
Bike Group Rails Cops Over E. Village Raid
June 5, 2007 - EAST VILLAGE. Police officers seized
approximately 15 bicycles chained to lampposts on E. 6th Street in a raid last week, and arrested two bystanders,
according to Times Up!, a bicycle advocacy group.
Officers from Manhattan’s 9th Precinct used circular saws to cut the locks off roughly 50 bikes between First and
Second avenues at around 7:30 p.m., members of the organization charged at a press conference yesterday.
New York, New York
Bicyclists Sue NYPD Over 2004 Critical Mass Arrests
October 30, 2007 - EAST VILLAGE. Yesterday, a number of bicyclists
sued the city over their arrests during the October 2004 Critical Mass ride.
SURFSIDE BEACH, TEXAS
Public workers use
pedal power
June 17, 2008 - As part of a pilot program started by Surfside Public Works Supervisor Pete Gutierrez,
meter readers are using push bikes and golf carts instead of department trucks for short trips around the
village.
GALVESTON COUNTY, TEXAS
Ditch this flawed city bicycle law
June 12, 2008 -
Here’s the theory: Even if the law is unconstitutional, it creates instantaneous probable cause for
a police officer who suspects that an unlicensed bicycle rider is up to no
good.
Boston, Massechusettes
Parked cars hog the road, bicycle riders complain
June 15, 2008 - This entire weekend there were at least 30 cars parked in the bike
lane. [...] either enforce the parking restriction or take down the signs and stop pretending there is a bike lane
there [...] the city police [...] say it is a Parks Department problem [...] the Parks Department who said it is a
State Police problem [...] State Police say they have more important things to worry about[...]
New York, New York
Bike Racks Can't Keep Up With City's Cycling Surge
July 1, 2008 - Not-so-fun fact: According to the city’s DOT, it’s illegal to lock you bike to anything other than a bicycle rack[...] The problem is that there are now approximately 131,000 cyclists in New York City and only about 5,000 bike racks. (The city plans to install 1,200 by 2009.)
Albany, New York
Bicycle helmets can prevent serious injuries
July 3, 2008 - [...] All bicycle riders should wear helmets, which have been shown to reduce the risk of serious head injuries by 85 percent [...]
Dallas, Texas
There's plenty of blame to go around among drivers, cyclists
July 1, 2008 - [...] Plenty of drivers think that if bicyclists want the same right to the public roadways as cars, they need to be licensed and pay similar registration fees. And plenty of cyclists think that government has an obligation to provide dedicated bicycle lanes [...]
Portland, Oregon
Cycling race to expand in 2009
July 8, 2008 - Mt. Hood Cycling Classic [...] Next year, Oregon's highest-profile road race will begin and end in Portland, and feature two additional stages beyond the Mount Hood area that travel through the Willamette Valley's wine country as far south as Eugene, race spokesman Tre Hendricks said. That will bump up the event to an eight-stage, eight-day race covering nearly 600 miles and 50,000 feet of climbing, Hendricks said, tying it with the Tour of California for the nation's longest stage race for pro riders.
Bend, Oregon
Tour talent gets an Oregon stage
July 8, 2008 - Central Oregon's Cascade Cycling Classic commences today with a star-studded roster of riders, courtesy of Tour de France organizers. [...]
Portland, Oregon
Oregon's 10 best bike rides - for everyone
2-27-2008 - Portland is widely hailed as America's best bicycling city. Surveys suggest about 70 percent of us have a bike in the garage. [...]
Portland, Oregon
Connecting the (green) dots
July 20, 2008 - [...] In fits and starts, through the years, metropolitan Portland has added all sorts of walking bits and bicycling bobs to this network. Yet when we pause to take stock, it's clear the configuration has been cobbled together from little more than financial crumbs left on the transportation table [...]
Newsweek
Pedal vs. Metal
A surge in bike ridership spurs a new kind of road rage
July 28, 2008 - [...] The numbers of new cyclists on the road are staggering. City officials
track the growth on four bridges that cross the Willamette River,
connecting the east and west sides of town. Last year, 14,500 cyclists
crossed the bridges, an increase of 21 percent over 2006. In May, the
number of cyclists who crossed the Broadway Bridge was 24 percent
higher than the peak in 2007. Eighteen percent of the vehicles that
crossed the Hawthorne Bridge last year were bicycles [...] The surge has by and large been safe. Last year, 29 people died walking, driving or riding a bike in traffic accidents in Portland, said Greg Raisman, traffic safety specialist with the city. In 1996, the number was 59. Injuries to cyclists has remained flat even with double-digit increases annually in their numbers over the last several years [...]
Seattle Washington
Urban Velo
Seattle Debates Bicycle License
[...] License opponents point out that many roads are built using property tax money, which cyclists already contribute to. It is also argued that bicycle licensing does not contribute significantly [...]
Bend, Oregon
2008 Summer Olympics: U.S. racer faces uphill ride to a medal, but he's ready
July 29, 2008 -
[...] Don't misunderstand: Adam Craig was happy to fulfill a career goal by making the U.S. Olympic team.
But the Bend mountain-bike racer has bigger goals [...]