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Spin in the Right Direction By Rebecca Isenhart

Boston was once the worst city in America for cyclists, according to Bicycling magazine. But no more. Mayor Menino established the Boston Bikes program in 2007, creating improvements like the Hubway community bike sharing program and more than 50 miles of bike-friendly infrastructure across the metro area. However, better accessibility encourages novice cyclists with no urban biking experience to hop on Hubway rentals or even buy bikes for their daily commutes. This influx of people who are confident on two wheels but unfamiliar with the pitfalls of urban biking raises a range of serious safety concerns. Helmets are the first bicycle safety feature that comes to mind and 28 percent of Bostons cyclists arent wearing them, even though head injuries account for three quarters of the 800 to 900 cycle-related deaths in the U.S. every year, according to the Boston Bikes web site. Menino appointed Nicole Freedman, a former Olympic cyclist and Stanford grad with a degree in urban planning, to spearhead the Boston Bikes campaign. Nicknamed the bike czar, Freedman says the safety hazard that bikes pose is a source of anxiety. I havent had a good nights sleep since I got this job, she said. However, she has taken steps to make safety gear convenient and affordable, even for casual riders. When racks of rentable Hubway bicycles appeared along Bostons streets this past summer, helmets simultaneously showed up on the shelves of Bostons Walgreens and CVS convenience stores at reduced prices, thanks to a partnership with Hubway. All the shared bikes are also equipped with flashing lights to make bikes more visible to motor vehicles.

Andrew Fischer, a Boston attorney who specializes in bicycle cases, says that even the most clueless Hubway riders usually reach their destinations without incident. I was interviewed for Lawyers Weekly about [Hubway]. They wanted me to say that it was great for my business, that Id be getting a lot of new cases because of this, and it just hasnt been true. I dont know yet of a single accident on a Hubway bike, Fischer said. I see these newbies on Hubway bikes going the wrong way on Tremont Street in front of my office, and Im waiting for the disaster to happen, but it hasnt. Fischer attributed these cyclists good luck to the indestructible build of Hubway bikes, which are intended for lots of people to make short trips. As a result, he said, the bikes are slow and steady. However, inexperience often does contribute to newbie cyclists mistakes. Boston bicycle blogger and activist Greg Hum, who writes The Humble Cyclist, bought his bike when he was a student at Boston University. Hum discovered he could travel to his part-time job much faster and more cheaply by bike than by walking, public transportation, or taxi. But, he said, early on he made clumsy mistakes. Ive gone flying over my handlebars because I squeezed on the front brake too hard, which is a very beginner mistake to make when youre trying to stop, he said. In another instance, Hum said he took a corner too quickly in the rain and was injured. Though none of his experiences involved other vehicles, in high- traffic situations when bikes and cars share the road, a small scrape-up could easily be amplified. Youthful disregard for rules can compound lack of practice, says Suzanne Hunt of Broadway Bicycle School in Cambridge. The cycling community is very

young, and you see that reflected in behavior sometimes, Hunt said. Theres a higher accident rate in teenagers driving. Its kind of the same thing. Young people take chances and are just inexperienced, and if nobody is actually enforcing certain laws theyre just going to do whatever they want. Some of the most dangerous hazards of the urban landscape cut across all ages and levels of expertise. One common and particularly perilous phenomenon, referred to by bikers as being doored, occurs when a driver opens a car door across a bike lane in front of an approaching cyclist, causing the biker to slam into it. On July 2, 2002, Dana Laird, a 36-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, was riding in a Cambridge bike lane when an SUV driver swung a door open in front of her. Laird lost control of her bicycle, fell under the rear wheel of a passing bus, and died instantly. Though not usually fatal, being doored is the most common accident involving bikes and cars, according to Fischer. Its frequency is sometimes attributed to a design flaw present in many urban bike lanes. The majority of the time the way bike lanes are set up, theyre very close to car doors, Hunt explained. Bike lanes are safer and more practical on wide roads with no parallel parking. MassBike, a Massachusetts cyclists advocacy group, issued a press release just days after Lairds tragic death reminding riders to Stay alert while in bike lanes. They often can be designed poorly and give a false sense of security, and can encourage you to ride in the door zone. There is no law in Massachusetts that says you have to ride in a bike lane - you can ride as far left as you need to. However, aggressive drivers often intimidate cyclists into doing just the opposite, riding closer

to parked cars. John Allen, an expert witness in collision cases and former member of the Cambridge Bicycle Committee, went so far as to suggest on his web site that the city of Cambridge could fathomably be held liable for Lairds death because the painted bike lane was almost entirely in the door zone, the area where cyclists are in the greatest danger of being struck by opening doors. Perhaps due to a fear of being doored, surveyed bikers indicate a preference for the greatest possible isolation from cars, according to Freedman. Led by Freedman, the Boston Bikes team has incorporated community feedback like this to strive for safe and effective infrastructure improvements. Boston Bikes recently hosted a series of open houses at the Boston Public Library, where cyclists met with Freedman, as well as members of the OToole group, which has been contracted to design Bostons biking upgrades. Oversized maps of Boston lay on tables, where designers and local cyclists drew in the bike paths of their dreams and discussed the biggest problem areas for commuters. Beyond adding more direct routes, infrastructure in high-traffic areas needs to be adjusted so cyclists have a cushion of space they can travel in. On overcrowded roadways, painted bike lanes may not be sufficient for protecting bikers. Areas like congested Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester remain major obstacles to cycling safety. Im a pretty brave and confident cyclist, and Im still on my guard when Im on Blue Hill, said Price Armstrong, program manager at the MassBike advocacy group. One alternative to controversial bike lanes are cycle tracks, which separate bikers from traffic using a concrete barrier.

Many advocacy groups believe communication and education hold the key to safer cycling by increasing drivers and cyclists mutual awareness. MassBike and the Massachusetts Department of Transportations Same Roads, Same Rules campaign is one example of a particularly successful push to educate the public about bike safety. Weve worked with the RMV [Registry of Motor Vehicles] to insert bike-specific questions in the drivers test, so everybody whos getting a drivers license now gets at least one question specific to bicycles and how to interact with bicyclists, MassBikes Armstrong said. For people renewing their drivers licenses, the vast majority of people, at least in the near term, it would be great to more systematically get education to them. But Id say considering what weve started from, its a big step forward. The Boston Bikes web site indicates Hubway will expand to Cambridge and Somerville in the spring, and parking spaces on Massachusetts Avenue will soon become a bike lane. For Bostons cycling community, every improvement is a spin in the right direction.

SIDEBAR: Safety tips from Bostons biking experts Stay focused. Thats really it. You want to be awake and focused. -Nicole Freedman Dont be afraid to take the road. Drivers are not going to hit you from behind, and they cant run you into the side of the road unless you let them. -Andrew Fischer Know what to look for when avoiding obstacles. Watch out for car doors opening, jaywalkers, and drivers running red lights at intersections. -Greg Hum Know that you have to have your bike repaired at least once a year. A bicycle is a machine and, like a car, needs regular repair and maintenance. -Suzanne Hunt You can ride as far left as you need to. Stay alert in bike lanes, which can create a false sense of security, leading cyclists to ride in the hazardous door zone. -2002 MassBike Press Release