Moving Together, Faster
Yet another bicyclist was killed today, apparently on an I-595 exit ramp at SR-7. The Sun-Sentinel and the Miami Herald both have brief reports on the subject. Our sympathies to the friends and family.
My first thought after seeing the Miami Herald headline was, What on earth was this guy doing on I-595? Bicyclists aren’t allowed on the freeway and all that. But then I remembered how the area around this interchange is configured. Continue reading ‘Bicyclist Killed in Davie’
We have altogether too many sad reports of bicyclists being hit in this area. Even worse, the latest incident resulted in the death of the bicyclist. Thursday morning, a car driving east on SR 84 collided with a bicyclist heading south on SW 4th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale. Our sympathies are with the family and friends of the bicyclist.
The Miami Herald reports that the driver of the car had a green light. If that was the case, then the bicyclist either ran a red light (if he was riding on the road) or crossed in front of oncoming traffic. Either one is a bad idea and should never be attempted while riding one’s bicycle. Judging by the photo, the bicycle seems to be on the east side of the intersection. Unless the bicycle was dragged across the intersection, then the bicyclist was either riding the wrong way on the sidewalk or the road.
To prevent sad tragedies like this in the future, we would encourage you to always ride your bicycle in the same direction as traffic, avoid riding on the sidewalk, and follow all the traffic laws. BIKESAFE has more information on why you should not be riding the wrong way or on the sidewalk, and I’m sure Google can turn up hundreds more sites that point out the dangers of riding on the sidewalk and/or riding against traffic. Please ride safely!
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Studies have shown that rear-end collisions increase when cameras are installed, so the overall accidents increase. It definitely can be argued that rear-end collisions are not as dangerous as T-bone collisions, but they are still collisions. Engineers should be doing everything they can to avoid them. If every alternative has been exhausted and the only choice is to choose one type over another, then the discussion can turn to which type is less dangerous. Until then, we want to see fewer accidents. Period.
The problem here is that politicians are making the decision by looking at things from an economic perspective. Since red light cameras promise to pay for themselves and then some, it’s an easy decision. Cameras come first before other more expensive methods.
What are those expensive methods that help reduce red-light running? For starters, how about retiming signals? Synchronization with the rest of the signal network has the benefit of improving traffic flow in addition to reducing red-light running. Adding a second or two to the yellow has also been shown to reduce collisions. The FHWA offers some more ideas to improve safety here.
There are even newer ideas being put forth to reduce the rate of red-light running. One was presented in the August 2007 issue of the ITE Journal, and the basic premise was to paint the message “Signal Ahead” on the pavement at a precise point before the signal. It would be measured based on the yellow timing and the speed limit so that drivers could know that if the light turned yellow while they were in front of it, they had time to stop safely. If the light turned yellow once they had passed it, they had time to get through the light before it turned red. The article, available without figures here, showed that the rate of red-light running could be reduced 65% with this pavement message.
Painting a pavement message is fairly cheap and retiming signals that need them anyway is also a wise investment. But since cameras actually generate income, they have become the first choice. We can only hope the camera contractors don’t work to reduce the yellow signal length like some have been accused of doing, and we can thank our legislature for keeping these off of state roads until better solutions have been tried. We can also ask for better solutions.
Update: Courtesy of Mark, in the Comments Below:
- American Airlines will start daily flights to Valencia, Venezuela pending Venezuelan government approval this fall.
- American Airlines will start four weekly flights each to Recife and Salvador da Bahia, in Brazil, later this year pending Brazilian government approval.
- American Airlines is set to announce in a few weeks the launch of the only non-stop service between South Florida and Austin, Texas this fall.
- American Airlines just launched new non-stops to Fayetteville, Arkansas and in June adds additional service to Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Cozumel, Freeport, Jacksonville, Key West, Nassau, and Rio de Janeiro.
- VARIG will resume service to Miami this December, with daily non-stop service to Rio de Janeiro.
- AeroSur will increase service between Miami and Bolivia in June from 3x to 4x a week.
- El Al just increased service between Miami and Tel Aviv last month, from 2x to 3x a week.
- Aerolineas Argentinas will begin 5x weekly non-stop service between Miami and Sao Paulo on 1 September 2007.
- AirTran will launch the only non-stop service between Miami and Kansas City on 7 November 2007. On the same day, they will launch the only low-fare non-stop service between Miami and Baltimore.
- Ecuador’s AEROGAL has applied with the US DOT to fly to Miami, and is awaiting US approval to begin scheduled service later this year.
- Iberia just increased Miami-Madrid service from daily to 10x weekly.
- Air Plus Comet is planning to start four weekly flights between Miami and Madrid in November.
- German airline LTU more than doubled MIA service last week. They now serve Miami 5x a week, instead of 2x. They have three flights a week from Dusseldorf, Germany and two flights a week from Munich, Germany.
Simply Remarkable…
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