A deadly year: In O.C., a pedestrian is struck and killed every 6 days
The Orange County Register
10/18/15
[…] Forty-eight people have died since January – including two just in the past week – according to county coroner data through Oct. 15. That’s roughly one pedestrian killed every six days. […]
Dooring accidents are far too common and serious, or even deadly.
Yet, in much of the USA we don’t count this specific type of injury accident in a way that can best yield data to improve safety infrastructure and awareness. In most states opening a door into a cyclist, pedestrian or even another car is a traffic code violation, yet enforcement is rare and fines are often very low amounts.
In 2011 Chicago Bicycle Advocacy won a huge victory and got the state of Illinois DOT to officially start tracking and recording dooring incidents.
In 2012, after 7 bicycle dooring fatalities in 5 years, NYC DOT started a media dooring awareness campaign as well as safety improvements to the sidewalks and taxi cab windows to try and raise awareness.
Bikers call for state to count ‘dooring’ accidentsAdvocacy group says untracked collisions are most common
Chicago Tribune
March 20, 2011
[…] A Tribune request for violations data showed that since 2008, Chicago police issued no tickets for opening a vehicle door into the path of a bicyclist or turning in front of a bicyclist. […] Excluding dooring accidents from crash counts likely decreases reported vehicle-bike accident numbers by at least 15 percent statewide, said Dan Persky, director of education at the Active Transportation Alliance. […]
1 In 5 Bicycle Crashes In Chicago Is A Dooring
Chicago-ist
May 16, 2014
[…] The city passed an ordinance in 2008 that addressed doorings. […] That was followed in 2011 when IDOT, after lobbying by Active Trans, began counting doorings and crashes and tracking them. […]
Cyclist sues after Uber, private insurance fail to cover crash
Oregonian
10//15/15
[…] Pavenko was cited for improper opening of a door. […]
Police recorded Pavenko’s personal auto insurance information, but Root’s attorney, Michael Colbach, said Pavenko’s insurer wouldn’t cover the liability because Pavenko was driving for hire at the time. […]
Uber drivers are employees, labor commissioner says
Oregonian
10/15/15
[…] Avakian characterized the opinion as a “helpful explanation” to Uber on how he has interpreted Oregon’s labor laws. […] Uber is also fending off a class-action lawsuit that seeks to have all California Uber drivers recognized as employees. […]
Driver Purposefully Ran Over And Killed Cyclist Near USC, Witness Says
LA ist
10/15/15
[…] Witnesses say a man purposefully ran over and killed a cyclist this morning near USC. […]
When corporations kill, why doesn’t anyone go to jail?
Boston Tribune
10/15/15
[…] Eight days later, General Motors, the carmaker whose faulty ignition switches caused at least 124 deaths, agreed to a $900 million settlement. […] GM’s revenues last year were 172 times as much. […]
Do Bike Helmet Laws Do More Harm Than Good?
Wall Street Journal
10/12/15
[…] The group cited a paper in the British Medical Journal that showed no noticeable drop in head injuries after enforcement of helmet laws in parts of Australia, Canada and New Zealand, but drops in cycling of between 20% and 44%. […]
Should bike helmets be compulsory? Lessons from Seattle and Amsterdam
The Guardian
10/12/2015
[…] And an English study has shown that motorists give considerably less space whilst overtaking cyclists with helmets than when they overtake cyclists that go bareheaded. […] That’s why our government has introduced strict liability. […]
Should Cyclists Have to Stop at Stop Signs?
City Lab
10/6/2015
A proposal to make San Francisco the first major city to adopt the so-called “Idaho stop” is under intense debate. […] Comparisons of Boise to comparable cities without the Idaho stop, such as Sacramento, showed that Boise was significantly safer for people on bikes, with collision rates for bike commuters up to 60 percent lower. […]
Lawsuit seeks Volkswagen buyback of emissions-cheating diesels in California
LA TIMES
10/12/2015
[…] But when the vehicles are driven on the road they emit up to 40 times the limit for smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution. […] The company’s chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, resigned a few days later in the wake of the scandal, and the company has already set aside more than $7 billion to pay fines, fix the cars and deal with hundreds of consumer lawsuits. […]
