Effective Cycling 7th ed
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John Forester
May 31, 2012, 11:56:38 AM5/31/12
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Effective Cycling 7th Edition is now available from The MIT Press, 802
pgs, $37.95
Changes in equipment and in governmental actions have caused those
sections to have the greatest revisions, as well as part of the traffic
cycling section.
The bicycle maintenance section has been revised to reflect the changes
in equipment and maintenance that have occurred in the last decades.
Some information on older equipment has been retained for the use of
those who are still using it. Since there has been no worthwhile
research into accident statistics done in the last few decades, that
section has had very little revision.
The greatest changes have been in the areas concerning the interaction
between cyclists and government, from traffic skills to governmental
programs. For decades, American governmental policy had been to restrict
cyclists (to the edge of the roadway and to bikeways) using the argument
that cyclists are incapable of obeying the rules of the road for drivers
of vehicles. Effective Cycling's earlier editions argued that obeying
those rules was both best for cyclists and easy to do. Now American
governmental policy has reversed itself, in a way, so it now encourages
onto our roadways just those cyclists deemed incapable of obeying the
rules of the road. The seventh edition of Effective Cycling continues to
demonstrate the advantages of obeying the rules of the road, but it also
emphasizes the importance of not doing whatever the governmental policy
and its bikeways appear to encourage. At the level of traffic-cycling
skills this produces much more emphasis on a cyclist controlling the
lane he or she occupies, together with the engineering analysis of the
motorist-overtaking-cyclist situation demonstrating that, in most cases,
controlling the lane precludes no opportunities for safe and lawful
overtaking. For most lane widths, having cyclists operate far right
encourages only dangerous and unlawful overtaking through the narrow gap
between the cyclist and the traffic in the adjacent lane. At the level
of political action, this new emphasis, while recognizing that it is
impossible to reverse the governmental policy encouraging incompetent
cycling and the bikeways it produces, is a clarion call for lawful,
competent cyclists to work together to get repeal of those laws that
prevent cyclists from obeying the standard rules of the road instead of
the rules for supposedly incapable bicycle riders.
--
John Forester, MS, PE
Bicycle Transportation Engineer
7585 Church St. Lemon Grove CA 91945-2306
619-644-5481 fore...@johnforester.com
www.johnforester.com
pgs, $37.95
Changes in equipment and in governmental actions have caused those
sections to have the greatest revisions, as well as part of the traffic
cycling section.
The bicycle maintenance section has been revised to reflect the changes
in equipment and maintenance that have occurred in the last decades.
Some information on older equipment has been retained for the use of
those who are still using it. Since there has been no worthwhile
research into accident statistics done in the last few decades, that
section has had very little revision.
The greatest changes have been in the areas concerning the interaction
between cyclists and government, from traffic skills to governmental
programs. For decades, American governmental policy had been to restrict
cyclists (to the edge of the roadway and to bikeways) using the argument
that cyclists are incapable of obeying the rules of the road for drivers
of vehicles. Effective Cycling's earlier editions argued that obeying
those rules was both best for cyclists and easy to do. Now American
governmental policy has reversed itself, in a way, so it now encourages
onto our roadways just those cyclists deemed incapable of obeying the
rules of the road. The seventh edition of Effective Cycling continues to
demonstrate the advantages of obeying the rules of the road, but it also
emphasizes the importance of not doing whatever the governmental policy
and its bikeways appear to encourage. At the level of traffic-cycling
skills this produces much more emphasis on a cyclist controlling the
lane he or she occupies, together with the engineering analysis of the
motorist-overtaking-cyclist situation demonstrating that, in most cases,
controlling the lane precludes no opportunities for safe and lawful
overtaking. For most lane widths, having cyclists operate far right
encourages only dangerous and unlawful overtaking through the narrow gap
between the cyclist and the traffic in the adjacent lane. At the level
of political action, this new emphasis, while recognizing that it is
impossible to reverse the governmental policy encouraging incompetent
cycling and the bikeways it produces, is a clarion call for lawful,
competent cyclists to work together to get repeal of those laws that
prevent cyclists from obeying the standard rules of the road instead of
the rules for supposedly incapable bicycle riders.
--
John Forester, MS, PE
Bicycle Transportation Engineer
7585 Church St. Lemon Grove CA 91945-2306
619-644-5481 fore...@johnforester.com
www.johnforester.com
Neal
May 31, 2012, 7:05:23 PM5/31/12
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