Bicycle Safety

Josh Calder, who killed 22-year-old bicyclist Nils Yannick Linke in a drunk driving hit-and-run on Masonic Avenue nearly two years ago, was sentenced yesterday to one year in county jail followed by five years of probation. If he violates that probation, he will serve another eight years in state prison.

If you follow just about any major media coverage of street etiquette and safety, by now you've probably seen a piece vilifying people on bikes for "running" stop signs. But hop on a bike yourself, and you'll start to see why safely rolling and yielding at stop signs makes sense.

Planners presented early concepts for a new Market Street to the public yesterday, moving the discussion forward on revitalizing San Francisco's grand boulevard with features like car-free zones, raised bike lanes, faster transit, and more inviting public spaces.

Contrary to what the name implies, bike lanes in San Francisco have cars in them all the time. Presumably, a car left with blinking hazard lights on means the driver is just "running in for a minute," as if to minimize the impact of endangering people on bicycles.

A new buffered bike lane was striped on 8th Street last week, re-purposing a traffic lane for bicycles on one of SoMa's fast, one-way motorways. The new configuration, which removes bicyclists from the door zone and provides a much wider lane, is an improvement over the four speed-inducing traffic lanes and skinny bike lane that previously existed. Still, many say it's just a small step toward a truly safer street.

The SFMTA recently added green paint to increase the visibility of bike lanes around the city at five intersections where drivers merge across bicycle traffic.

Note: The Better Market Street Project will hold two public workshops on July 17 and 21, where you can provide feedback on the proposed concepts.

Robert Yegge, a 22-year-old student at University of San Francisco, died last week after a truck driver struck and killed him while he was bicycling at Oak and Franklin Streets.

Police officers have been targeting bicycle riders in recent weeks at the intersection of Octavia and Grove Streets and issuing tickets for "running" the stop sign, according to two Streetsblog readers.