The last month or two it seems like suddenly Minneapolis has changed from a wonderful city for cycling to a place where it's dangerous and people die all over the place, with little or no repercussion against the drivers.

Why is this? What changed?

And more importantly, what can we (constructively) do about it?

Please post suggestions and links here. Who are the people in our local government that we should be talking to? Is there any legislation that would help change the way these cases are handled?

The police have said that they are going to be cracking down on both cyclists and drivers for breaking the laws, but many people don't know the laws. How do we get people to know that they're actually breaking laws (both cyclist and motorists.)

Just... I can't believe that there's nothing we can do. There's a large community here on this site that I think could be very visible and vocal here, and make a difference...

What can I do, too? I have the email addresses of some 2000 riders here in the cities, if there's a meeting coming up or a person that we should be emailing or calling on city council or in the police departments, I have no problem sending out a mass email and trying to get people to speak up. If a form email put up somewhere that people could just put their name on would help, I can put that up.

Seriously, there must be something we can do.

There should be legislation clearly defining these incidences. I think the law is too fuzzy on whether bikes are pedestrian-like or their own entity or if they should be filed under car laws. What would have happened if the driver hit a pedestrian? How does the punishment change if the pedestrian was in a crosswalk? What would have happened in a car accident where someone was killed?

If we can think of a plan that should be implemented, I'm guessing we would want to present it to Congressman Oberstar who is very understanding of bicycle issues. Most of these incidences are occurring in Minneapolis so I think directing something toward Mayor Rybak or the city council could help. But I think we should try to figure out a plan or what we are asking for first.

I think awareness is our best hope and it seems to be the source of these issues.

- incorporating more information into the driver's ed manual on sharing the road and also a section on cycling rules of the road. This is the only time that you get driver's information really.

- some sort of 'start seeing bicycles' campaign like they have for motorcycles

- it would be nice if we could get a share the road segment on one of the news stations (or Strib piece?). Each night for a week, they dedicate a 5 minute piece on rules like:

- largest cause of accidents with bicycles (turning into them) and how you should be looking (include piece on cyclists staying more visible in the lane or at the front of the lane)
- cyclists not riding the wrong way in traffic, using lights at night, signaling
- sharing the road, why it is appropriate for cyclists to sometimes take the lane, why they are allowed to be in the lane
- dooring issues with bike lanes and cycling defensively to try and avoid incidences
- ?

- offering more cycling defensive courses. I know Minneapolis will be doing (if not already offering) these. From a survival standpoint, laws and signs aren't going to protect you at the end of the day and I think sometimes there is an assumption that vehicles will follow the rules of the road. I would like to pretend that is the case but I think teaching people to ride with the 'I-am-invisible' mindset may help. Please don't see this as passing blame onto cyclists by any means.

Is there a bicycle advocacy group trying to actively change policy to make the city/region bike friendly?

Some specific changes I'd like to see are:
- Clarity and change on bike traffic laws: personally I treat every stop sign as a yield sign when there are no cars around and would love to feel like I wasn't breaking the law when doing this as well as treating stop lights like stop signs, once again when traffic is minimal.

- More investigations on all bike/car accidents: If drivers know there will be a serious investigation any time there was a bicyclist/car accident perhaps they will drive more carefully and those who don't will actually be charged with homicide/reckless driving even when there isn't anyone else to contradict their tales of safe driving.

- Awareness raising rides that are fast-paced, friendly to cars, and well organized. Perhaps we could do an annual memorial bike ride for all the people (we know of) who have been hit/killed by cars? It could be a media event complete with a list of names, ages and dates.

I like the sound of this. Rush hour in several packs, each say two wide by three long, about the size of a car, pacelining along major in to work? I think fast paced in a 'share the road' demonstration like that would be the key. Don't get in the motorist's way and slow them down or stop them completely like Critical Mass does, move at traffic speeds and show the motorists that we _can_ share the road.

You'd probably want to obey all of the laws, too.

And probably some sort of shirt or sign with a web link or a phone number to find out what the message is.

Could be really awesome if you could get some video of the riders from the perspective of the cars on the news, too.

Perhaps with a rideshare commute website, too? Kind of like carpooling, but pacelining. Are we organized enough and numerous enough to get that many riders together? It's a lot harder for a motorist to say they 'didn't see the bicycle' when there are 4 or 5 riders together. Also a lot harder to complain that the bikers are all over breaking the law and constantly slowing down car drivers.

Probably also easier to keep riders from breaking all the laws when they're moving together, and more understandable if riders roll a stop if the first few people were already in the intersection...

Hmm...

I think that law enforcement officials need to step up and start doing something. One of my concerns is that a person has been killed and it could have been on purpose. To me it deosn't seem that its investigated in that way but rather immediately assumed to be as it firs appears which is an "accident".

Personally I think this need to come from the police. They need to say they are going to start cracking down on people breaking the three foot law and other things that endanger cyclists. Why should it be our job to tell this to drivers? They are the ones who are supposed to enforcing laws and making sure the streets are safe for everyone. Every time we do something it seems there is some sort of negative response. Few people can or will argue with police and consequence. The same can be said for cops setting up speed traps. After a while people will start driving the speed limit down a particular road. Obviously we ride on more than one road but if the police departments start telling drivers they will be cracking down and handing out consequences there will be more people paying attention and people will be giving the respect to cyclists that we should be getting and it will send a message to them telling that we DO have a right to the road and not "get out of the way" like they do now.

How about a petition on this delivered to city hall?

1. Summit Avenue should be 25 mph and this should be enforced.

In 12 years of living in the neighborhood, I have never seen any traffic or speed enforcement by the police on Summit Avenue. I have never seen 'Your Speed' signs, either. If people know Summit is no longer a speedway, fewer motorists will take it, and those on it will slow down, which increases the likelihood of seeing joggers, bicyclists and walkers.

2. Summit Avenue frontage roads need signage regarding entering a road with an established bike lane, or a simple, "Look for Bikes" sign placed under the stop sign would do.

3. The driver needs to be charged and prosecuted. It is a very clear cut case of a vehicle striking a cyclist from behind on a one way street. Go look at the scene. You will be perplexed as to why the driver did not see her (he must have pulled out while looking left and plowed into her), and why the police did not ticket this driver. This is manslaughter. Whether death is caused by drunken or careless/aggressive driving, the end result is the same for the victim. I read a post on a news site that a person at the scene said the driver felt really bad. Well, he should. And he should also face the consequences for his selfish and violent driving behavior. How do you think Virginia's friends, families and co-workers feel today? Bad? I'll bet they feel worse than the driver.

4. If this driver is not charged and prosecuted, let the word go forth that the City of St. Paul, the most 'iivable city' according to its home page, is not safe for bikes. In fact, by not even ticketing this driver, the City is in effect saying, 'we understand if you don't see bicyclists and end up hitting them. Go along your merry way, now, motorist."

5. Drop a line to those in power to make a difference, the mayor and the chief of police.

Here's the link for a comment form to Mayor Chris Coleman.
http://www.stpaul.gov/FAQ.ASP?QID=310

Be sure to mention if you are a St. Paulite, and if you do not live in the city of St. Paul mention that you do shop there and eat/drink there on your bicycle rides.

Here is the Chief of Police's email: john.harrington@ci.stpaul.mn.us

Don't dismiss your anger, take 5 minutes and write a note to the above.

Thanks for the links.

BTW, the pioneer press site says the driver was "released pending investigation" so charges are not yet out of the question.

I just checked back in on this thread. As I said in the thread about the Memorial Ride, I think a sit-down conversation is really in order between the community and public officials. I'm going to work on making that happen, but I agree that having a clear idea of what this should accomplish is important.

I think:

-The laws need to be explained clearly by our public officials.
-If it seems as though the laws are unclear or unjust or need to be updated given the increase in cyclists on our streets, than I think they need to address that.
-The concerns of the community need to be conveyed to officials and to law enforcement.
-Law enforcement should explain how they plan to enforce laws related to sharing the road in an equitable way.
-An awareness / education campaign for drivers
-An awareness / education campaign for cyclists
-Perhaps working with local media?

Thoughts?

I am going to send a note to a few folks who I think should be a part of this and see what it would take to bring everyone together in a public forum on this issue.

I agree that we need more education & awareness in the Twin Cities for both cyclists and drivers.

I recently took a Road I bicycle safety training class http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/education/courses.php that Transit for Livable Communities and the Bike Walk Ambassadors offered through the League of American Bicyclists. Going in to it, I thought I didn't have much to learn- but I did. It really changed my behavior to learn some new skills and think more about how we're all ambassadors for biking whether we like it or not. That, and I find myself yielding to pedestrians now who are really surprised and outwardly thankful.

I'm not interesting in being dogmatic about how cyclists should behave- but part of the reason more people aren't biking (and in turn demanding safer streets) is that some of us make it look dangerous to the people who aren't out there seeing how much it really is.

I'd propose that we advocate for the planning of a Cyclovia (a legal Critical Mass) that's a partnership with Minneapolis, St. Paul and bike-friendly businesses. Pulling one of these off is not simple, it means finding someone in the City Government to get behind it politically and also finding some serious sponsors- closing streets and providing police and emergency medical (usually required by the City) is not cheap.

A number of cities in the US have pulled these off (Chicago, Portland, NY, etc.) and they have been hugely successful.

Read more about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciclovia

I was thinking about this today.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that motor vehicles must give cyclists 3' of space while passing them.

If a cyclist gets hit within 3' of the curb (or row of parked cars) by a vehicle going in the same direction, it should be an automatic ticket and/or citation for reckless endangerment.

I will be available Saturday and would love to participate. I just got back from La Crosse and I am so amazed that I could travel 400 miles and never feel endangered like I do in the 9/10ths of a mile that I bike to school everyday. The lack of seriousness about these deaths from the city is an injustice and an outrage. If a man was murdered on foot would we only hear about it being a tragedy and cross our fingers the culprit could be found? If a girl was murdered by a drunk or negligent driver would that person walk from jail while being told it was an accident because it was unintended? It's an untold truth that all of us, the cycling community, knows that if we got in an accident or were killed with no witnesses around that the driver would drive away and no one would know our fate. I think in the back of our heads we all know this. It's time we stopped making that the "known unknown" and address it.

The fact of the matter is that we are a large and legitimate population of highway users and yet we don't get a seat on the table when it comes to the designs of our neighborhoods, our streets, or our community development. It is simply designed for cars, then sidewalks for pedestrians if they can, and we are simply to avoid the area or survive what they come up with. If anything positive comes out of this, I truly hope we can actually talk respectfully with city planners about having a voice and a say about all of this. We will keep people alive and we will make commuting a safe reality for more of us.

Something else you can do: Report dangerous drivers.

https://www.dps.state.mn.us/patrol/unsafe/report.htm

I imagine that, for better or worse, most of us carry cell phones when we ride. After the rash of accidents in the past month, I'm resolving to use mine to report drivers who act in an irresponsible or threatening manner. Think of it as the equivalent of a neighborhood watch program for the streets you ride on.

Not that useful.

True 'nuff. Sorry – should've read that closer. I do think reporting via cell phone is still a good idea, though.

I sent an email to Coleman's office in response to this tragic event.

Looked up the MN Dept. Trans website and found this:

"Motorists must at all times maintain a three-foot clearance when passing a bicyclist."

Some drivers slow down and provide space, but many others do not.

Since I started using my bike to commute to and from work back in June, I have noticed that some Metro Transit bus drivers are a bit aggressive when pulling over to the side and will cut me off/crowd me over to the side - once even pushing me off the road entirely to avoid being hit.

As a result, I am forced to take the longer route on less busy streets, just for safety. It's really sad, because there is ample room for both on the roads I use. I just don't understand why there is so much aggression towards people riding a bike? Baffles me.