Normally, I can't bring myself to watch movies made from TV shows or books--especially books--that I liked when I was a kid.
A few years ago, someone persuaded me to watch the Curious George movie. I was pleasantly surprised: It mostly kept to the spirit of the books I loved as a small child. My only real criticism of the movie was that it downplayed George's mischievousness, his most endearing quality.
Yesterday, on my way home from work, I saw a kid carrying a copy of Curious George Rides A Bike. Perhaps there is hope for the current generation after all! ;-)
120.
Why does that number matter?
It's how many cyclists were killed in traffic accidents in two different localities during 2012.
Take a guess as to which localities.
All right, I'll tell you the first one: the United Kingdom. About 64 million people live in its 242,990 square kilometers of land. About 43 percent of the people own or have access to a bicycle. By this definition, the UK has 27.5 million cyclists, of whom 3 million cycle three times a week or more.
Now, what's the other place where 120 cyclists were killed in traffic accidents in 2012?
It's none other than Florida.
Yes, the Sunshine State, which is about two-thirds the size of Britain and has less than a third of its population.
The fatality statistics come from an article on The Economist's blog. It also mentions that Florida's pedestrian fatality rate is double the US average. In fact, according to the National Complete Streets Coalition, the four most dangerous cities for pedestrians in America are also the four largest cities in Florida: Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa-St.Petersburg and Orlando.
The article rightly points out, "Florida's cities are routinely dangerous because they are designed for cars, not for people." That is true: Traffic lanes are wider in Florida's cities than they are in other urban areas of the United States, and speed limits are higher but not enforced. This encourages drivers to go faster than they should.
What the article doesn't mention--and I know from a fairly extensive amount of cycling in Florida--is that those drivers are rarely cyclists themselves, and are thus unaware of what makes for a safe (let alone harmonious) existence between cyclists and motorists. I have argued, in other posts on this blog, that this is the single most important factor, apart from the behavior of cyclists themselves, in determining the safety of cyclists. Without this internal human infrastructure, so to speak (which is what much of Europe has), no number of bike lanes or traffic signals is going to make cycling safer in any city.
To its credit, Florida officials are looking into the issue of bicycle/pedestrian safety and, I believe, some localities are addressing the issue as best as they know how. One problem, as The Economist article points out, is that the state also plans to continue with an economic model based on breakneck growth, all of it fueled by cars. It is not an exaggeration to say that for every person added to the Sunshine State's population, another car is added to its roadways.
Interestingly, the author of the article seems to recognize that it's not a sustainable economic model. And it's not a recipe for reducing the number of cyclists killed, no matter how many new bike paths are built.
Few things in this world are more of a treat than a bike ride on a beautiful mid-fall day.
A pleasantly cool breeze stroked my back as my feet seemed to glide through circles down the path beside Beach Channel Drive, the road that cuts through a sliver of land in Jamaica Bay. Part of that land is occupied by Gateway National Recreation Area which, from what I understand, is a great bird-watching spot. I was flying, with a great bike under me and a blaze of colors surrounding me.
In addition to the trees whose leaves have turned yellow and orange, I saw these bushes:
I never noticed those deep red leaves before. Is that a fall color? I also saw, for the first time, berries that looked like blackcurrants. Knowing that my temptation to try them could get the better of me, I sought out a ranger. (I know there's usually at least one on duty: I've seen them before.) But I could not find him or her. I did, however, see a lot of people who were probably bird-watchers or hikers. One of them might have known about those bushes, but I couldn't bring myself to ask.
Oh well. I guess if I want to make Ribena, I'll have to get my fruit elsewhere!
Anyway...I rode out to--you guessed it--Point Lookout. I've been there when the tide was out, but I've never seen anything like this:
Usually, when the tide is out, just the sandbars are exposed. I've never before seen that pool of moss where I usually see water lapping up against the rocks.
Perhaps it's not that unusual for that place. At least, that's what I hope. Then I can see the moss as just another one of this beautiful day's colors.
