FROM THE SUMMIT

As the month of March comes to a close, I am coming closer and closer to a full night of sleep.  My newborn daughter is approaching six weeks of age and she is quickly outgrowing some of her clothes.  While most of my thoughts this month have been on her, there is much happening in our local world of cycling.

I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of local cyclists Kristi Gough and Matt Peterson.  As many of you know, Kristi and Matt were killed by a Santa Clara County Sheriff's Deputy when he fell asleep at the wheel of his cruiser and crossed into the oncoming lane.  Kristi and Matt were part of a group ride on a clear, sunny Bay Area day.  It seem that riding a bicycle in the Bay Area is an increasingly deadly pastime.  According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the number of cyclists killed in collisions has increased 28 percent over the past decade.  This is despite a 22 percent drop in the number of regional bicycle during the same period.  Shocked and appalled yet?

In the Bay Area alone, 179 cyclist were killed and 25,715 injured in the past decade.  Statewide, 1,218 people have been killed and 113,396 injured in the past decade.  These numbers are appalling.  If these numbers reflected children and airbags, you can be damn sure something would be done to correct it.  What was agreed upon, was that, "speed was the highest contributing factor in any bicycle collision that results in a fatality."  This is according to Sean Co, bicycling coordinator for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.  Accidents in urban areas are most common, but occur at lower speeds and are more likely to be less serious.  Accidents on rural roads or open highways are likely to involve higher speeds, more serious injuries, and death.

What can we as an organization do about these numbers?  How do we make the community more aware of our presence on the road?  What can we do to change driver's attitudes?  Does the answer lie in education or prosecution?

I don't know what the immediate answers are.  Surely we need to do what we can in our own community to educate drivers and cyclists.  While we are finding a solution, my recent contribution has been to increase the frequency of the "friendly wave".  Whether it is to the cars that do not pull out in front of me from a street or driveway or to the cars behind me at a turn at a traffic light, I offer this gesture to you to show that I do appreciate you not smearing me on the pavement.  I do not know if this changes cyclist/driver relations, but I would like to think that it helps.  I do not want to end up as a statistic in a local paper.  I think it will take changing attitudes on both sides of the bumper to improve relations, and hence, statistics.

I should probably also mention that we are holding a century ride this month called the Primavera.  Thank you to all who have already signed up to volunteer at the event.  We are still in need of volunteers.  It is not too late to participate.  Please put the word out.  Without all of you, this event would not be possible.   For more information, please click the "Primavera" link on the main page.

Jeff G 
President, FFBC

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