Seattle Bike Blog

State House boldly defends right to look at Facebook while driving

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 8, 2015

The Washington State House of Representatives took a bold step Tuesday to defend the rights of people who choose to check Facebook while driving.

Distracted driving is one of the top three causes of fatal collisions involving young drivers. And the House is fine with that.

In fact, you can check email, Twitter, read the news, navigate Google Maps, look at porn, play a video game or watch a YouTube video, all activities that most people probably thought were already illegal while driving. But Washington’s texting and driving law didn’t adequately anticipate smart phones. The way it is written, the only activities you can’t do with your phone while you drive is send or read a text message or hold the phone to your ear and talk to someone.

Send a text message while driving = Ticket. Like someone’s cute baby photo on Facebook while driving = Totally fine.

House Transportation Committee Chair Judy Clibborn (D-Mercer Island) told the Herald that members understood the dangers posed by distracted drivers, but “when you go to someone and say you’re not going to be able to pick up your phone in the car you get a different reaction.” Huh? THAT’S THE POINT! (more…)

tags: 2015 legislature, ann rivers, distracted driving, judy clibborn

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Swift Industries wants you (yes, you) to lead a bike camping overnight

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 8, 2015

Seattle is blessed with several bike camping destinations within a day’s ride. Throw your bike on a train, and you can reach even more places without using a car.

That’s what inspired Seattle-based Swift Industries (a longtime Seattle Bike Blog sponsor) to launch Swift Campout, a website and campaign to encourage people all over the city and the world to lead bike overnights June 20–21, the weekend of the summer solstice.

They are currently urging anyone interested in leading rides to check in on their website, then start gathering friends to join them.

“The thought of hundreds to maybe thousands of people out having a bike camping experience is amazing to me,” said Swift owner Martina Brimmer. The site has only been live for a couple days, and 115 people are already registered as of press time. “To designate one day makes it feel like it’s really attainable.”

Brimmer’s company makes stylish bags for carrying stuff on your bike, but they’re also focused on selling the experience of bike adventure.

“We make these bags so that people have these experiences,” she said. That’s why they host Get Lost Academy events to teach bike adventure tips. Saturday’s class is on camp stove and backcountry cooking. The April 18 class is on trailside mechanic tips.

If you have never been camping by bike, you are in for an amazing experience. Much like the first bike trip to the grocery store or the first bike ride to your job, the first bike camping trip opens up the world to you and your bike. Knowing that you can get so far while hauling your camping gear and using only your own power is simply empowering. And Brimmer is an evangelist for the power of bike adventure. (more…)

tags: martina brimmer, sarah burch, swift campout, swift industries

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Bike News Roundup: A cool way to demo a street redesign

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 7, 2015

It’s time for the Bike News Roundup!

First up, here’s a pretty cool way to demo a street redesign. Keep this in mind for Park(ing) Day!

(more…)

tags: bike news roundup

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Cascade’s women-focused She Bikes program launches tonight on Capitol Hill

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 7, 2015

From Cascade.

Citing statistics showing that men are more likely to bike than women in the region, Cascade Bicycle Club is launching a new women-focused series of rides, events and classes.

She Bikes Cascade already features a packed schedule through April and May, and the whole effort kicks off today (Tuesday) with a launch party on Capitol Hill. Swing by Vermillion Art Gallery from 6 – 9 p.m., even if you don’t consider yourself a cyclist. The whole idea is to provide an inviting space for women who bike, want to bike more or want to give it a try.

More details on the program from Cascade: (more…)

tags: cascade bicycle club, she bikes

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Monday Afternoon Theater: Seattle Channel feature on Move Seattle

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 6, 2015

Seattle Channel’s City Inside/Out took on the Move Seattle levy recently, and it was a pretty good 30-minute report and debate on the issue.

There are legitimate concerns about housing affordability and a bigger transportation levy, but Suzie Burke and Bob Pishue didn’t make them. Their focus on cars really undercuts their positions. Driving will never be affordable, and focusing on driving will never solve Seattle’s traffic problems. In fact, decades of focusing mostly on cars is what got us into this mess.

The city’s go-to line about Move Seattle is that it will increase people’s access to lower cost transportation options. Transportation costs make up 17 percent of Seattle residents’ income, and most of that is related to car ownership. That’s why an increase in property taxes to fund expanded access and reliability for other ways of getting around helps with affordability, they say.

While property taxes are not a perfect taxing option, they do place more of the burden on people with expensive homes than on people with lower-value homes. But as the city faces skyrocketing rents, any city-fueled increase can feel like a step in the wrong direction. (more…)

tags: bob pishue, cathy tuttle, move seattle, scott kubly, seattle channel, suzie burke

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BikeIndex: How not to buy a stolen bike online

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

April 6, 2015

Last week, Seattle Bike Blog’s Stolen Bike Listings page went down. It showed no bike listings in the Seattle area, and unfortunately, this was clearly an error.

So Bryan Hance of BikeIndex, who runs the software and database that powers our listings, looked into the problem and discovered a depressing bug: So many stolen bikes have been submitted since we launched the page that the program was timing out every time it tried to load them all.

The problem is fixed and the listings are back. But 72 bikes have been listed using our new page since we launched it in November. Many more Seattle-area bikes have been listed directly to BikeIndex in that time. And certainly, many stolen bikes are never registered online.

When a bike is stolen, it’s very likely to end up for sale online. Craigslist is the clear leader in stolen bike listings. In fact, stolen good sales through Craigslist is so common that Seattle Police now offer precinct lobbies as safe places to exchange goods.

There are many legitimate people selling bikes on Craigslist, but identifying people selling stolen bikes is a bit of an art. That’s why BikeIndex has put together a handy guide to help you avoid dealing with stolen goods and to help track repeat offenders (since Craigslist won’t). (more…)

tags: bike thefts, bikeindex, bryan hance

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