Powerful argument from Anne Lusk that it's time to pay the same attention to protecting cyclists as has been done for vehicle occupants, i.e. cars and roads have been designed to protect motorists anticipating there will be driver error.
cheers,
Beth
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From: "Lusk, Anne" annelusk@hsph.harvard.edu To: "members@lists.apbp.org" members@lists.apbp.org Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2016 15:30:58 +0000 Subject: [apbp] Washington Post article that mentions building bike facilities using the public health method
Dear All,
Though I know I am quoted in this article, I still thought to send it to you because of the mention of applying the public health method to designing bike facilities.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/meet-the-two-wheele...
A bike lane was recently painted in Cambridge in which the individual bicyclist is responsible for watching ahead and seeing the great neck down and the obstruction in the pathway of the bike lane (raised concrete air duct for a nearby park and fountain).
Vehicles now are much safer for the vehicle occupants because the design of the vehicle has been built to protect the occupant - roll bars, higher head rests, more crash proofing on the sides, smaller windows, etc.). Instead of blaming the individual vehicle operator for a driver error (driving while intoxicated, sleepy, etc.) the vehicle has been designed for the populations, knowing there will be individual errors. Thus, the car now better protects the driver who might be intoxicated or sleepy. With the bicycle environment, we still insist that the bicyclist, who has no crumple zone, has to be fully responsible for any action they take, any action that someone takes against them, or any obstruction (a car being parked in a bike lane, a driver swerving into a bike lane, or a concrete barrier in a bike lane).
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/08/cambridge-bike-lane-design-gets...
CDC mentions the greatly improved safety of vehicle occupants in their web site about the History of the Public Health Approach (on the below web site, click on “Public Health Functions Project” lists as the 10 essential services of public health http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/temp/pilots-201208/pilot1/online/ph-approach/popup/tenachv.htm ) but there is no mention of greatly improved safety of bicyclists.
http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/temp/pilots-201208/pilot1/online/ph-approach/se...
Just as we improved safety for vehicle occupants, it is time to be equally protective of bicyclists. We need to apply the public health approach to designing bike facilities instead of saying a crash was the bicyclists fault (they were at the intersection and didn’t know the tractor trailer flatbed turning radius, they were in a bike lane and didn’t know the tractor trailer in the far left lane would turn right and cut across the other lane, they didn’t know the driver of the parked car would exit then - the list goes on but all you know this list).
Thanks,
Anne