Bicycle Safety

One day after we asked when the bike box on Scott Street at Oak would reappear, lo and behold, it's back. It was apparently repainted sometime this morning. Tipster and Streetsblog commenter MichaelSF points out it appears longer. It's almost a full bike box but it's still not connected to the bike lane, like most bike boxes in other cities such Portland and New York.

Wired gives us a look at a number of bicycle-related applications for the iPhone, including Back Light, which allows you to tell cars following too closely on your back wheel exactly what you think they should do with themselves ("Stop!," of course). I'll admit I would put a lot of other choice statements there, but that's because I'm not as sensible as you, dear readers.

The renegade bicycle stenciler has expanded his/her vision for a slower, saner traffic plan, this time asserting a bicyclist's right to take a lane on Oak Street and not give it back. Sharrows be damned!

Construction begins this week on a nine-month project that could periodically disrupt Valencia Street's bike lanes. The result, residents hope, will be a greatly improved streetscape for pedestrians and bicyclists.

A high-speed police chase of a stolen black SUV began in Tiburon and ended on Polk Street in San Francisco this afternoon, a frightening scene that sent pedestrians running and bicyclists scurrying to the sidewalk. A witness on the scene said a bicyclist traveling down Pine Street near Polk was injured and transported to a nearby hospital.

The San Francisco Police Department -- in a rare public display of concern for bicyclists -- has issued a press release on the hit-and-run on Valencia Street last Wednesday involving a bicyclist and his 4-year-old son, who was riding in the back on a tandem extension. It asks for the public's help tracking down the driver of a "gray SUV or gray Chrysler PT Cruiser" (with a partial plate of "KAY" and a heart symbol) who is responsible for the crash:

A mystery stenciler/good citizen isn't waiting for the MTA to implement measures to stop the mess of drivers seeking cheap gas from continuing to obstruct the bike lane on Fell Street at Divisadero. Early Sunday morning, someone stenciled "keep clear" signs in the bike lane, and painted antlers on the bicyclist symbol.

A San Francisco bicyclist is asking for help locating witnesses who may have seen a hit-and-run crash Wednesday on Valencia Street -- one of the city's most popular bicycling corridors -- that left him with a broken back. Andrew Bennett wrote about the crash in an email he sent to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition:

A San Francisco bicyclist who confronted a motorcycle cop over why he was parked in the bike lane on Market Street while on a meal break has received a dubious answer to his complaints from the Office of Citizen Complaints. Andrew Turley filed two complaints against the officer for "Conduct Reflecting Discredit on the Department," one for "being rude about parking in the bike lane" and the other for parking in the bike lane. We wrote about his story back in February. The official response is terse but telling: