Bicycle Safety

On Monday, the State Assembly Transportation Committee passed a watered down version of AB 819, the bill aimed at freeing California planners to install next-generation bikeway designs that other American cities are using to improve street safety and make cycling a more accessible mode of transportation.

Just before Christmas, the SFMTA installed a camera at the corner of Fell and Masonic on the Panhandle to help enforce the left-turn signal frequently violated by drivers.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is officially allowing taxi drivers to block bicycle lanes.

SFMTA hearing officers today approved a plan to replace car parking on Eastern Cesar Chavez Street with buffered bicycle lanes. A previous iteration of the plan was dropped in June after industrial businesses in the area pressured City Hall because they objected to losing traffic lanes for trucks.

This article is re-published with permission from the California Bicycle Coalition blog.

San Francisco police returned to the Caltrain station at 4th, King and Townsend streets this morning to warn bike commuters not to ride on the sidewalk one day after a sting that resulted in a number of citations for people on bikes. Bike advocates complained, however, that Caltrain has known for years the station presents a challenge to bicyclists, and said the agency's inaction has allowed conflicts between bicyclists and pedestrians to continue.

The California Bicycle Coalition is hearing that Governor Jerry Brown is getting pressure from the California Highway Patrol and AAA to veto SB 910, the safe passage bill for bicyclists. Known as the "Give Me 3" bill, it would require drivers to give people on bikes at least 3 feet of space when passing from behind. It cleared both houses of the Legislature with overwhelming support, and is awaiting the governor's signature.

An unprecedented planning effort is currently underway to redesign Market Street, and transform it into a grand car-free thoroughfare in 2015, when it's scheduled to be repaved. But why should we have to wait that long for a car-free Market Street? There is a growing momentum to do more aggressive trials that would inform the Better Market Street planning process, and divert more private automobiles off Market to improve conditions for people who ride transit, walk or bike.

The California State Assembly joined the Senate in passing S.B. 910 yesterday by an overwhelming 41-20 vote. S.B. 910 would require motorists to give bicyclists a three foot cushion when passing at miles in excess of fifteen miles an hour. The legislation needs re-approval by the Senate, something that occurs 99 percent of the time, because of some technical changes that occurred in the Assembly at the request of the bill's author, Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach). From there it will await a signature from Governor Jerry Brown.