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Road Rights
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Listen Up
Can you legally wear headphones while riding? The answer might surprise you.
One of the more common negative cycling stereotypes is that of a tuned-out rider blissfully unaware of his surroundings as he pedals along, lost in the music blaring from his headphones. The reasons cyclists ride with earbuds are as varied as the riders themselves. [...]
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The Messages We Send
If you ride near pedestrians, you may be doing the rest of us a disservice.
By Bob Mionske
I was returning from a ride, but one of my main routes home was closed for bridge repairs, so I had to use another bridge to cross the river (with eleven bridges connecting the city across the Willamette River, [...]
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Keep Your Cool
How to handle an encounter when you’re unjustly pulled over
Most people don’t follow traffic laws. Motorists speed. Cyclists roll stops. Pedestrians jaywalk. And that is where the police come in–to enforce the laws. It’s good that they do, because when people on the road obey the law, we are able to predict with some measure [...]
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Adding Bicycle Infrastructure Creates More Riders
By Bob Mionske
“I was riding in Chinatown the other morning,” my law clerk explained. “It was a one-way street, two lanes, cars parked at the left and right curbs. They were narrow lanes, and the door zone extended almost to the center of each lane. There just wasn’t enough room for a car and a [...]
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When Nature Calls
What to do when you’re out in public–and feel the urge
Unlike most other sports, bicycling often takes place on the public commons of roadways, recreational paths and parks. It is the public aspect of these places that allows us to use them for our sport, as long as we don’t infringe on the rights of [...]
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An Illegal Bike Ban — And the Fight Against It
By Bob Mionske
43,000. Each year, that’s how many Americans are killed by motorists.
For obvious reasons (size, speed, weight) automobiles carry an extremely high potential for causing lethal damage when negligently operated. Because motor vehicles are so dangerous, they are the only form of personal transportation for which the operator must be licensed and insured. And [...]
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This is Justice?
When a cyclist is killed by a driver, justice is nearly always stacked toward the driver. And in this case in Toronto, the scales were tilted even more than usual.
By Bob Mionske
On August 31, 2009, the worlds of two strangers collided in the posh Bloor Street shopping district of Toronto. In the aftermath, one of [...]
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Doggone It!
When chased, crashed or bitten by a charging canine, here’s where you stand
By Bob Mionske
EVERY CYCLIST HAS HAD A PIECE OF A DOG’S MIND AT ONE time or another. To a dog, you may be fleeing prey or a trespasser; in either case, the canine will often give chase. In a flat-out race, you might [...]
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When a Bigger Brother is Better
State and Federal laws often have the cyclist’s back—especially when local laws don’t.
By Bob Mionske
Most cyclists, it seems, know more about traffic laws, and about their right to the road, than does the motoring public. And sometimes cyclists are better informed on the law, and their rights, than the officers who enforce the law. Developing [...]
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Kornheiser
By Bob Mionske
Imagine you’re listening to the radio one day, as you always do, and the radio personality is on a tear about how annoying the local softball league is. Those ridiculous jerseys they wear, how ridiculous with their guts hanging out, haha, who do they think they are, professionals? Haha. And what about those [...]
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