[Macomb-Cycling] [S-Smith7 at wiu.edu: cyclist hit in Macomb this weekend]
Dean Zoerink
DA-Zoerink at wiu.edu
Wed Jul 2 13:29:16 CDT 2008
Thanks to each of you who posted a note about the recent traffic
incident. I'm glad to know the rider was aware of the surroundings and
had an "action plan" in case of such an emergency. I'm glad the rider
was responsible and knew what to do. I say this because so many times
I see riders not wearing helmets, riding on the wrong side of the
street, on sidewalks, going the wrong way on one-way streets, not
using turn signals, not stopping at stop signs, etc. I think it
behooves all of us to help "teach" other riders our "rules of the
road" as well. I know I have been guilty of some of these infractions
and count my lucky stars that nothing as happened to me yet!! It's a
wonder I haven't had a accident yet either, let alone those who either
don't know the "rules of the road" or just are oblivious to cars,
trucks, etc. that share the road with us. (Yes, they will be sharing
the road WITH US Not WE SHARING THE ROAD WITH THEM) as more of us are
becoming bikers. Anyway what all this comes down to is that in
addition to helping the police come to know the laws/rules and
etiquette of biking (WHICH I THINK IS PARAMOUNT IN THE CURRENT
SITUATION), I too think we need to expand the principles of the "mass
ride" to include some other public information pieces to share with
the public. The mass ride is a wonderful program and I'm not knocking
it, I just think somehow we need to expand upon its principle of
biking awareness. I don't know how best to do this but I'd be happy to
participate in a public awareness campaign about biking so all of us -
riders, police, parents, etc.-- can feel a greater degree of safety
and confidence in drivers.
I've been "whooshed" by too many young and old drivers, both in the
county and on city streets, to take riding lightly, so I'd like to
help keep others safe participating in one of the best physical
activities in the world.
Thanks.
Dean
____________________________
Dean A. Zoerink, Ph.D., CTRS
Professor & CED American Humanics
Department of Recreation, Park, and
Tourism Administration
1 University Circle
Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL 61455
309.298.2698 (Direct)
309.298.1967 (Office)
309.298.2967 (FAX)
da-zoerink at wiu.edu
www.wiu.edu/RPTA
On Jul 2, 2008, at 9:22 AM, Jeffrey R. Calhoun wrote:
> REPLIES TO THIS EMAIL WILL GO TO THE WHOLE LIST
> -----------------------------------------------
> Well put Mike. I encourage you all to look at the materials on the
> League of Illinois Bicyclists website (www.bikelib.org). They have
> lots of iformation regarding encouraging communities to be more bike
> friendly. They also have materials for presentation to law
> enforcement
> agencies to help them become more 'bicycle aware' in their duties.
> Perhaps we should get those materials into Chief Galloway's hands.
>
> Here are a few historical items that many of you may not be aware of:
>
> 1. Macomb HAS bike routes stated in its city ordinances.
> These date back to the 1970's and were originally signed and marked
> lanes. Their lack of upkeep has more to do with legal issues than
> with lack of need or concern (see 2). The bike routes as found
> in Section 15-289 of the municipal code (taken from http://www.cityofmacomb.com/pdf/MunicipalCode2007.pdf)
> :
>
> Sec. 15-289. Bicycle routes.
> The following streets and portions of streets are hereby
> designated as bicycle routes in
> the city:
> Adams Street, on its north side, from Sherman Avenue to
> Western Avenue.
> Adams Street, on its south side, from Western Avenue to
> Normal Street.
> Calhoun Street, on its north side, from Lafayette Street to
> Sherman Avenue.
> Carroll Street, on its south side, from Normal Street to
> Lafayette Street.
> Linden Lane, on both sides, for its entire length.
> Maple Avenue, on both sides, from Grant Street to the south
> city limits.
> Normal Street, on its west side, from Adams Street to Carroll
> Street.
> Riverview Drive, on both sides, from Western Avenue to Wigwam
> Hollow Road.
> Sherman Avenue, on its east side, from Calhoun Street to
> Adams Street.
> University Drive, on both sides, from Western Avenue to
> Wigwam Hollow Road.
> Western Avenue, on both sides, from Adams Street to Riverview
> Drive.
>
> 2. An Illinois supreme court decision from 1998 (Boub v. Wayne)
> greatly
> increased the liability and maintenance costs for municipalities that
> maintain marked bike routes. Though not explicitly stated, the
> ramifications of this decision is that municipalities must maintian
> bike lane marked streets to a higher standard - or risk lawsuits when
> a bicyclists hits a pothole. Most cities (macomb included) cannot
> afford to maintain their regular streets to a minimal standard - let
> alone a higher standard for marked bike lanes (http://www.bikelib.org/boubcase/hb4907.htm
> )
>
> 3. GOOD NEWS: Macomb is getting a bike path. The state of illinois
> passed
> a new law in October 2007 requiring consideration of walkways and
> bikeways
> in all urban projects funded by IDOT. As a result, the expansion
> of S. Ward street will include a multi-use pedestrian/bike path.
> http://bikelib.org/political_state/idotupdate20071010.htm
>
> -jeff
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 01, 2008 at 08:18:53PM -0700, Michael Coplan wrote:
>> REPLIES TO THIS EMAIL WILL GO TO THE WHOLE LIST
>> -----------------------------------------------
>
>> Let's not condemn Macomb drivers or the Macomb City Police too
>> quickly. I
>> commute thru the city of Macomb 3 to 4 days a week and find most
>> drivers to
>> be courteous and go out of their way to be polite. While one
>> officer may not
>> have realized what his duties were, I suspect most would have
>> responded
>> correctly without any prompting.
>> I do hope the city of Macomb takes this incident to heart and takes a
>> serious look at marked bike lanes. Most university towns I have
>> visited are
>> much more proactive at promoting biking as a viable means of
>> transportation.
>> If the City and University could cooperate on bike lanes,similar to
>> the way
>> they have cooperated on local bus service, they could go a long way
>> toward
>> promoting bike safety.
>> We also need to ask ourselves "what can we as cyclist do to promote
>> safety
>> and good relations between ourselves and local motorists"? If we
>> look at
>> this incident as a chance to learn and work together we can all
>> benefit.
>> Let's also give thanks no one was seriously injured.
>> Mike Coplan
>> Bike commuter
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 6:02 PM, Jeffrey R. Calhoun <jeff at outfitters.com
>> >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> REPLIES TO THIS EMAIL WILL GO TO THE WHOLE LIST
>>> -----------------------------------------------
>>> The chief of police (Michael Galloway) was contacted late today
>>> via Alderman Dave Dorsett (former local bicycle shop owner). The
>>> Chief has assigned a Lieutenant to look into this matter.
>>> We should expect a response tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.
>>>
>>> -jeff
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 05:04:20PM -0700, Maggie Rosol wrote:
>>>> REPLIES TO THIS EMAIL WILL GO TO THE WHOLE LIST
>>>> -----------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>> Jeff,
>>>>
>>>> Keep us posted of the facts, since I would gladly write a letter of
>>> concern to the Macomb Police Department.
>>>>
>>>> Maggie
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --- On Mon, 6/30/08, Jeffrey R. Calhoun <jeff at outfitters.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> From: Jeffrey R. Calhoun <jeff at outfitters.com>
>>>> Subject: [Macomb-Cycling] [S-Smith7 at wiu.edu: cyclist hit in
>>>> Macomb this
>>> weekend]
>>>> To: cycling at macomb.com
>>>> Date: Monday, June 30, 2008, 10:25 AM
>>>>
>>>> REPLIES TO THIS EMAIL WILL GO TO THE WHOLE LIST
>>>> -----------------------------------------------
>>>> This email came in this morning to the bike club website email
>>>> address.
>>>> I thought you should all be aware of it. Note - I responded to and
>>> thanked
>>>> Scott for the email and have placed a call in to the Macomb Police
>>>> Department to see if I can get more details. I will try to keep
>>>> you all
>>>> updated as I find more info.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> -jeff
>>>>
>>>> ----- Forwarded message from Scott Smith <S-Smith7 at wiu.edu> -----
>>>>
>>>> Delivery-Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:04:05 -0500
>>>> Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:02:58 -0500 (CDT)
>>>> From: Scott Smith <S-Smith7 at wiu.edu>
>>>> To: mabc at macomb.com
>>>>
>>>> Normally I support our law enforcement personnel but the story I
>>>> heard
>>> from the
>>>> cyclist who was hit makes me angry. Basically the cyclist was
>>>> stopped at
>>> a 4 way
>>>> stop waiting her turn to proceed through the intersection when
>>>> she was
>>> bump from
>>>> behind by a car. Thankfully the car was not traveling fast enough
>>>> to
>>> injure the
>>>> cyclist but injury was mainly avoided because she was able to get
>>>> off the
>>> bike
>>>> before it went under the vehicle. The bike was damaged (frame and
>>>> wheels
>>> were
>>>> bent) and could not be ridden from the scene. What make me angry
>>>> is that
>>> the
>>>> Macomb police did not want to write up the incident. The cyclist
>>>> had to
>>> insist
>>>> upon the police doing their job. To make matters worse, MPD
>>>> apologized to
>>> the
>>>> car driver for having to write him a ticket for hitting a
>>>> bicyclist. As a
>>>> cyclist myself, this is not an attitude I want from local law
>>> enforcement.
>>>> There will be more and more cyclists around with gas prices
>>>> rising and
>>> maybe
>>>> the officers need a session or two to become famil!
>>>> iarized with the cycling world a bit. A TREK bike is not some
>>>> trinket
>>> that can
>>>> be replace everyday. Giving prominent Macomb citizens a by just
>>>> because
>>> it was a
>>>> bicyclist they hit is not right either. Just thought the
>>>> bicyclists of
>>> Macomb
>>>> should be aware.
>>>>
>>>> ----- End forwarded message -----
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Jeffrey R. Calhoun McDonough Telephone
>>>> Cooperative
>>>> jeff at mdtc.net Infobahn Outfitters
>>>> jeff at outfitters.com P.O. Box 248
>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Cycling mailing list
>>>> Cycling at macomb.com
>>>> http://mailman.outfitters.com/mailman/listinfo/cycling
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Jeffrey R. Calhoun McDonough Telephone
>>> Cooperative
>>> jeff at mdtc.net Infobahn Outfitters
>>> jeff at outfitters.com P.O. Box 248
>>> (309) 836-3706 Macomb, IL 61455
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Cycling mailing list
>>> Cycling at macomb.com
>>> http://mailman.outfitters.com/mailman/listinfo/cycling
>>>
>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> Jeffrey R. Calhoun McDonough Telephone Cooperative
> jeff at mdtc.net Infobahn Outfitters
> jeff at outfitters.com P.O. Box 248
> (309) 836-3706 Macomb, IL 61455
> _______________________________________________
> Cycling mailing list
> Cycling at macomb.com
> http://mailman.outfitters.com/mailman/listinfo/cycling
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