I am a cyclist. I am also an educator.
Ergo, I should be able to teach someone how to ride a bike. Right?
Well, I've tried and I've tried. But I just can't get Marlee on the saddle. I also couldn't get Max, Candice, Charlie I, Charlie II or Caterina. There was always some issue: Their legs couldn't reach the pedals. Or the top tube (or stem) was too short. Or they worried, despite my assurances to the contrary, that dogs would chase them.
Tell me: Where have I failed?
I've been told there are more "smart" phones than people in the US. I am inclined to believe that. I'm even more inclined to believe, however, that there are more "smart" phones than smart people in some places.
In the Netherlands, on the other hand, there are more bicycles than people. But it may well be that, as in other Western countries, the "smart" phone-to-person ratio is catching up to that of the United States.
That is probably the reason why, according to Dutch News, electronic devices played a role in all bike accidents involving people under the age of 25 in 2015. One of those accidents took the life of teenaged Thomas Kulkens, who was hit by a car while looking at his phone.
The tragedy led his father, Michael, to become an outspoken advocate for banning cell phone use on bicycles. His efforts, and those of others, may well bear fruit: the Dutch government is now considering such a ban. If implemented, it could go into effect in the summer of 2019.
While Kulkens has been advocating in memory of his child, he says, "The woman who killed my son is absolutely blameless" and, "her life has been turned upside down as well."
Critics, though, point out that such a ban would be as difficult to enforce as the one against drivers using cell phones. Also, they say, there is disagreement over just how much of a role devices play in accident rates.
But nearly everyone agrees that people, especially the young, are spending more time looking at their screens while walking, pedaling, driving or doing any number of other things. Also, (again, as in other countries) electric bike use is on the rise, which means that bike traffic has become faster as bike lanes and paths have become more crowded.
Two years ago, one of the most horrific car-bike collisions I've ever heard of occurred near Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Debbie Bradley, Melissa Fevig-Hughes, Tony Nelson, Larry Paulik and Suzanne Sippel were out for the ride they took together every week for more than a decade. Sheila Jeske, Paul Runnels, Jennifer Johnson and Paul Gobble joined them.
As they pedaled, a blue Chevy pickup truck was barreling along the road in the same direction--"erratically", according to three people who called it in to the police.
Moments later, that truck plowed into the cyclists. Jeske, Runnels, Johnson and Gobble would spend months in recuperation and therapy. They are riding again today, though with more difficulty.
Still, they are more fortunate than their riding buddies: Bradley, Fevig-Hughes, Nelson, Paulik and Sippel were killed almost instantly.
In response to that tragedy, and others, a law was proposed earlier this year. It would have mandated that motorists give cyclists a five-foot berth when passing them. The law in the Wolverine State, like that in many others, said only that vehicles had to pass "at a safe distance."
In fairness, it should be pointed out that, as I have mentioned in earlier posts, studies have reached conflicting conclusions about the efficacy of such laws in preventing car-bike collisions. For one thing, on narrow roads, it is difficult, if not impossible, to give such a wide berth, especially if there is traffic coming from the opposite direction. Also, such laws, like the ones against texting or using a cell phone while driving, are difficult to enforce.
Still, such a law is probably better than nothing for protecting cyclists. (Also, as some have pointed out, when it's enforced, it makes driving too close to cyclists a ticketable offense.) I think that is what Michigan legislators were thinking when they passed a law, which takes effect today, requiring drivers to give cyclists a three-foot berth when passing.
It's too late for Debbie Bradley, Melissa Fevig-Hughes, Tony Nelson, Larry Paulik and Suzanne Sippel. But, one can hope that it will save other lives.
