Bicycle Board Members,
I preparation for our discussion of the unicycle issue, the following link is to the agenda for last night's CC COW meeting. It contains the proposed ordinance amendments: http://www.morgantown.com/agendas/2012/Council-packet-1-31-12.pdf
Attached to this message are proposed amendments to Morgantown Code article 373. Bicycles. I have proposed these changes more than once to the BB. We've had some discussion but didn't do anything. Perhaps this is the right time to do something.
Frank
Begin forwarded message:
From: Frank Gmeindl frank.gmeindl@comcast.net Date: January 31, 2012 5:44:07 PM EST To: Bicycle Board bikeboard@cheat.org Cc: Christiaan Abildso christiaan.abildso@mail.wvu.edu Subject: Re: [Bikeboard] Fwd: Sidewalk cycling
Bicycle Board Members,
I met with Terrence at 4 pm today to discuss the city code amendments that were supposed to undergo their first reading at tonight's City Council Committee Of the Whole meeting. Those amendments would essentially ban unicycles from City sidewalks and streets. When Council comes to that item on the agenda, Terrence will tell them that he is not ready to read the amendments because he needs more time to meet with relevant stakeholders on the topic. (Curious: I just went to the City's website to review the proposed amendments that were in the agenda and the agenda's not there anymore.) Terrence asked the Bicycle Board to discuss the issue and to prepare to participate in a meeting with him, Chief Preston, legal counsel and others that have an interest in the topic. He will contact me Friday to set up that meeting. I pointed out that unicycles are not in the Bicycle Board's scope but agreed to take up the subject with the BB and establish recommendations. I guess this could be a ripe banana issue for tomorrow's BB meeting.
During our discussion, I emphasized that we need the police to enforce laws that endanger cyclists and to get on board with our effort to educate cyclists as summarized on the police info cards and the CCC business cards. Next week, at 3 pm on Feb. 8, Terrence has a meeting scheduled with Chief Preston to discuss police performance goals and objectives and their budget for the coming year. Terrence invited me to participate in that meeting. On Monday, Feb. 13, Terrence will present his departments' budgets, goals and objectives to a special meeting of City Council. It would be nice if that presentation included goals and objectives that were aligned with ours. What do you think they should be?
Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles
On Jan 31, 2012, at 4:14 PM, Frank Gmeindl wrote:
The unicycle ordinance revisions will not be read tonight. More later. Frank
On Jan 31, 2012, at 12:53 PM, Gunnar Shogren gshogren@gmail.com wrote:
What's the Bike League's view on what exactly a Unicycle is? A toy? Sidewalk toy?
On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 12:42 PM, Jonathan Rosenbaum freesource@cheat.org wrote: I have been doing a little research, and according to this article, http://stason.org/TULARC/sports/unicycling/1-6-What-is-a-unicycle-under-the-... in California, unicycles are considered pedestrians. In WV, as many of you know, bicycles are defined differently: §17C-1-8. Bicycle. "Bicycle" means every device which does not have a motor attached and which is propelled by human power upon which any person may ride, having two tandem wheels either of which is more than twenty inches in diameter.
§17C-1-30. Pedestrian. "Pedestrian" means any person afoot or any person using a wheelchair.
However, according to WV's definition, a unicycle isn't a bicycle nor is it a pedestrian. Ofcourse, an adult tricycle isn't a bicycle either .. hmm.
However, Ames, Iowa, does allows unicycles everywhere: http://www.cityofames.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=282
So how should we define Unicycles? I strongly advise that the City not rush to a decision.
-Jonathan
On 1/31/2012 12:24 PM, Ryan Post wrote:
I did reply, first just to Frank then I sent a personal email to the city, asking them to reconsider. I didn’t think opinion on Unicycles pertained to the BB, so I didn’t include the BB.
I got a reply back from Preston implying that he thought they should already be banned, and they were merely clarifying the law. To that response, Nutter, who was my advisor and instructor at WVU and who saw me with my unicycle with me a lot, backed me up, asking them to reconsider the ban.
I can see Frank’s point about this leading towards enforcement of bicycle on sidewalks, but I don’t think that’s where Preston is going with this, but honestly, I don’t see his point at all.
In the event that Terrence is still on our side, and to keep from wasting both of your time, I’d just have you ask Terrance if there’s any new ideas he has that could help us meet our goals better.
From: bikeboard-bounces@cheat.org [mailto:bikeboard-bounces@cheat.org] On Behalf Of Gunnar Shogren Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 11:10 AM To: Frank Gmeindl Cc: Bicycle Board Subject: Re: [Bikeboard] Fwd: Sidewalk cycling
I'll be interested in hearing what becomes of the meeting.
And though I didn't say so earlier, why the sudden "attacks" or "interest" in unicycles? (I thought Ryan would have replied to this...) But having said that, I will note that we saw a Uni on High St.(sidewalk), Thursday (?) evening, I think he was delivering something, and just yesterday I saw a Uni locked outside the new entrance to White Hall. Are these events related?
On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 9:44 AM, Frank Gmeindl frank.gmeindl@comcast.net wrote:
FYI, I have a meeting with Terrence today at 4 pm (Think of me while you're riding!)
For those of us who have short memories, attached is a list of talking points that we developed and provided to Chief Preston in a
meeting the week of September 11.
I'm sending this because some of you have responded with recommendations that were already in the attached. Namely,
Cyclists may perceive that riding on sidewalks is safer that riding on streets. Citing them may cause them to stop riding their bikes and use their cars instead. Before citing sidewalk cyclists, instruct them that they have the same rights to the road as drivers of vehicles and that they must obey the same rules. Direct them to Morgantown’s Confident City Cycling Traffic Skills 101 course to learn to drive their bicycles as vehicles. Distribute the Police Information Cards that the Bicycle Board produced and the Confident City Cycling business cards that have the Five Steps for Better Riding on the back.
I thought Chief Preston agreed with this. Perhaps his memory is short, too.
Frank
Begin forwarded message:
From: Frank Gmeindl frank.gmeindl@comcast.net
Date: January 30, 2012 10:09:10 AM EST
To: Bicycle Board bikeboard@cheat.org
Cc: Christiaan Abildso Christiaan.Abildso@mail.wvu.edu
Subject: Re: [Bikeboard] Sidewalk cycling
I tried to schedule a meeting with Terrence but he's out of town today and tomorrow. I propose to send the following message to him by 1 pm today unless you object.
Dear Terrence,
The proposed amendments of the City code to control unicycles on sidewalks and streets could damage our efforts to reduce traffic congestion and to make Morgantown a Bicycle Friendly Community. Our concern is that those who are bicycling on the sidewalks and get tickets will end up driving cars.
The Bicycle Board recognizes that sidewalk bicycling is dangerous to bicyclists as well as to pedestrians. Our approach to getting bicyclists off the sidewalks and onto the streets is to educate them that the law gives them same rights to the road as motorists and subjects them to the same duties. We produced 5,000 police information cards (http://bikemorgantown.com/articles.php?str=2012/01/ticketing-cyclists.html) and gave them to Chief Preston and WVU police for this purpose. We encourage police to give these cards to bicyclists as well as motorists that violate laws that jeopardize bicyclists' safety.
Now, I recognize that the subject for Tuesday's Committee of the Whole is unicycles but since one of the code amendments is to article 373. Bicycles, specifically 373.08 Riding on Sidewalks, the discussion is likely to stray from unicycles to bicycling on sidewalks. I explicitly request that you consider our points above if discussion does stray to sidewalk bicycling. Perhaps you could even distribute some police information cards.
One element of the procedural guidelines under which the City chartered the Bicycle Board is "review and support the implementation of Article 373 on Bicycles of the Morgantown Municipal Code." We have been working on this for years and have preliminary recommendations for updates but we are not yet ready to propose them to the Traffic Commission. One of those recommendations is to remove 373.08 (d) from 373 since 373.08 (d) has nothing to do with bicycles. Another reason for removing the language of 373.08 (d) from 373 is that doing so would diminish the grouping of bicycles with skateboards, roller skates, and soon, unicycles.
We need to recognize that one reason Morgantown residents may choose to bicycle on the sidewalks rather than on the streets is that they perceive the streets to be more dangerous. Until we can educate them that they can ride safely on the streets and until we can make the streets safer for bicycling, e.g. by enforcing laws whose violation endangers cyclists, we could consider amending the 373.08 Riding on Sidewalks to make riding on sidewalks safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. One such measure could be to amend 373.08 to permit bicycling on the sidewalks at a speed no greater than the prevailing speed of pedestrian traffic.
I hope that we will discuss this matter before Tuesday Committee of the Whole meeting.
Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles
What say youy?
Frank
On Jan 30, 2012, at 9:06 AM, Christiaan Abildso wrote:
A great idea. I, too, cringe when I see those on sidewalks and fear for their safety, especially if they are novice cyclists.
Thanks for including me on the discussion.
Christiaan
> On 1/30/2012 at 8:52 AM, dspringston@gmail.com wrote:
Hey guys, I cringe when I see cyclists riding on the sidewalks, but at the same time I see a potential teaching opportunity to those riding on sidewalks. Is there any way we could allocate some financial resources to make the Traffic Skills 101 class free for those folks we see riding on the sidewalks and encourage the police to recommend the course? What about giving them a ticket or warning with the understanding that attending a Traffic Skills 101 course could release the fee for the ticket? This could create an influx of educated cyclists in a best case scenario! I imagine many folks riding on the sidewalks just aren't aware of the law, and I'd hate to be too harsh on them, even though it is dangerous. After all, they are just as motivated to be out riding as we are. Thanks, ~Derek
On Sun, Jan 29, 2012 at 7:49 PM, Frank Gmeindl frank.gmeindl@comcast.net wrote:
Hugh,
I'm certainly not suggesting that we advocate for sidewalk cycling. Cycling on the sidewalk is more dangerous for the cyclist than riding on the roadway. Anyone who's taken Traffic Skills 101 understands why. Our strategy has been to guide sidewalk cyclists from the sidewalks onto the roadway through education. I'm concerned that the extended outcome of Tuesday's meeting could be that those who are bicycling on the sidewalks and get tickets will drive cars.
The police information cards that we developed and distributed to both Morgantown and WVU police tell people not to ride on the sidewalk. But, the cards also say that cyclists have the same rights to the roads as motorists and instructs them to drive their bicycles as they would drive vehicles. I wonder how many of those cards the police have given out? I wonder how many citations the police wrote to motorists that pulled out in front of cyclists, passed cyclists when it was unsafe to do so.
If you could show me how, I'd like to direct any discussion Tuesday from penalizing sidewalk cyclists to getting more people out of the cars and on bikes on the streets. What do you recommend?
Frank
On Jan 29, 2012, at 7:03 PM, Hugh Kierig wrote:
Bicycles should not be allowed to be riden on sidewalks in commercial areas. In these instances the present a pedestrian hazard. Hugh E. Kierig -----Original Message----- From: Frank Gmeindl frank.gmeindl@comcast.net Cc: Christiaan Abildso Christiaan.Abildso@mail.wvu.edu To: Bicycle Board bikeboard@cheat.org
Sent: 1/29/2012 6:57:09 PM Subject: [Bikeboard] Sidewalk cycling
Bicycle Board Members,
At this Tuesday's meeting, City Council will discuss riding on sidewalks. See Agenda.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO? We have 2 days to decide.
Primarily, in response to a request from Chief Preston, they're banning unicycles from sidewalks and streets, effectively banning unicycles. I imagine this will lead to discussing bicycling on sidewalks which I imagine could lead to police ticketing bicyclists who ride on sidewalks. IMO, that won't exactly help us realize our vision of every resident being able to bicycle safely and fearlessly anywhere, anytime for any reason or to achieve our goal of having 1 or every 20 vehicles on Morgantown streets be a bicycle by 2020.
I would like to turn this around from being negative to some kind of positive action to support our vision, goal, objectives and recommended action but I don't know how. Ideas?
Specifically, they're going to revise two parts of the code: 311.02 TOY VEHICLES ON STREETS and 373.08 RIDING ON SIDEWALKS, specifically 373.08 (d). Personally, I've always had a problem with 373.08 (d) because 373 is entitled "Bicycles" but 373.08 (d) is about skateboards and roller skates and soon to include unicycles. If they had asked me about this ordinance change, I would first have recommended that they remove part (d) from 373. (See Bicycle Law .)
Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles
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Let deeds, not words, be your adorning. -'Abdu'l-Baha
“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I no longer despair for the future of the human race.” -H.G. Wells
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