Ride of Silence – join us in Irvine and San Clemente

Ride of Silence

Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 6:30pm
3 Orange County locations:
City of Irvine City Hall in Irvine, California
Third Location
Join bicyclists across America who take time to remember fellow riders killed or injured on the nation’s highways. A slow easy ride in silence with opportunity to gather socially at the end. Please join us.
For more information, Sellin.com/silence

A Slice of Laguna Beach

Yesterday an article in the Laguna Beach Patch asked, “Is It Impossible to Have a Truly Bike and Pedestrian-Friendly Laguna?” Our answer is obviously “no”, not only because it is possible, but due to the necessity of all road users getting a fair shake, and to increase safety, a lot of work on the part of all stakeholders looms ahead despite an online petition (with 265 signatures) to: Create Safe Bike Lanes In Laguna Beach, and Caltrans DD64 directing the agency to implement Complete Streets, the drive and passion of the public is needed to tell their city leaders what priorities are needed, and how funding may be secured and spent.

Earlier we posted a Slice of Irvine which showed a busy pie chart of cyclist injury and death. At tonight’s workshop hosted by Transition Laguna Beach, we will present a similar chart for Laguna Beach.  Of note is the difference between the two locales of the assigned fault to cyclists. Does this indicate a bias on the reporting agency? The graphic on the left depicts the number of cyclists injured or killed in Laguna Beach from 2001.

And now for the pie chart!

LBPie

A Slice of Laguna Beach

The chart represents the 3 fatalities and 81 injuries that occurred in this city. While the numbers are a far cry from the 6 fatalities and 445 injuries from Irvine, the assigned fault is so drastically different that  seeing both charts on the same page might be instructive. (Note: Blue is cyclist’s fault, red belongs to motorists)

Irvine01-12 Pie

A Slice of Irvine

Not surprisingly, 83.9% of Laguna Beach’s collisions occur on  4 roads listed in decreasing order: PCH, Laguna Canyon/ 133, El Toro, and Legion.  Almost 55% of collisions in Laguna Beach are shown in the following map of collisions:

LB3M

Laguna Beach Collisions

There is plenty to talk about, especially with an eye to the future, so join us this Sept. 13, from 7-9 p.m. at the Neighborhood Congregational Church’s Bridge Hall, at 340 St. Anne’s Dr.

Thanks for your support!

September Cycling Workshop

The OCBC, JAX Bicycles, and the Bicycle Club of Irvine present an Urban Cycling Workshop September 12 & 16. The 9 hour course is $35, and includes materials, insurance, a written exam and (usually) a diploma.JAX Got Class

The classroom portion will be at JAX Bicycles 14210 Culver Dr. #6h, (949) 733-1212, starting at 6pm and ending around “nine-ish”. The class is a necessary prerequisite for the road portion which will be at Deerfield Park starting at 8am on the 16th. Full details and registration on our page.

Did you know:…
Irvine, while having one of the most extensive and expansive bike trail networks of all OC cities, still is in the top 10 cities for high cyclist injuries and fatalities in the county? Irvine tied with Westminster as #6 in cyclist fatalities, and #9 for cyclist injuries from 2001-2012.

Skills PresentationMost cyclist collisions during the same time-frame are due to riding on the wrong side of the road (don’t do that!), failing to yield right of way at intersections, speeding (!), failure to stop at signs and signals (always do that!), and failure to move left or right in a safe manner, or failure to signal.

 

 

 

 

Making a Point

These are basic skills taught in the class and practiced in the park. You can help make any city you ride in that much safer by attending and successfully completing this course.

 

 

 

You will also make yourself less likely to become a statistic on our scorecard!

IRVScorecardThis scorecard is compiled from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) and is subject to revision by the administrating authority, the California Highway Patrol.

Pictures of an on-road portion of the class are here.

A Slice of Irvine

After reviewing data charts from the upcoming Alliance for Biking and Walking conference in Long Beach, we noticed that while full of facts and figures, we couldn’t find specifics as seen below:

Irvine01-12 Pie

A Slice of Irvine

This chart shows the fault of most cyclist injuries and death to be that of the cyclist as determined by the appropriate authority. Of the 6 fatalities and 445 injuries represented here, you may use the specific CVC code such as 21453=”fail to stop” to get a clearer picture of the specific action on the part of each party. In contrast, there were only 2 pedestrian injuries recorded for the same time-frame, so despite the trend in other cities, pedestrians have an easier time of it than cyclists in Irvine.

Why pick on Irvine?

We’re not – really!
Irvine is one of the most bike friendly cities in the county offering multiple class1 and class 2 cycle paths, and is basically flat. It also happens to be where we are holding our next cycling seminar and we encourage you to attend.

As can clearly be seen, cyclists are their own worst enemy, and through our classroom and road skills portion of the course, you will gain the knowledge of how to avoid becoming a statistic, and have greater confidence when on the road. This class has sold out the last two months, and seating is limited.

If you’re not attending any of the great conferences in Long Beach next week, sign up now!

One might wonder if alcohol played a part in the above injury and death chart, and the answer is yes. There were 12 alcohol involved injuries but no fatalities. 6 were on the part of the cyclist, 2 on the part of the motorist, and 4 that could go either way because the field was marked “not stated”. So if you think it’s safe to drink and ride, think again and sober up before rolling out.

The OCBC uses information like this to better understand the underlying cause and issues related to cyclist injury and death throughout the county. With this level of understanding, we can make informed  suggestions to city planners or other interested parties on how to minimize cyclist conflict in the county.

Ride strong – ride smart – ride safe!