Spring+Summer 2012 OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER of the FLORIDA BICYCLE ASSOCIATION, INC
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Vol. 15, No. 2+3 Spring+Summer 2012 OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE FLORIDA BICYCLE ASSOCIATION, INC. City Manager is proud of Punta Gorda’s bike/ped facilities by Dan Moser, FBA Program Director he March 31, 2012, Pedal and Play in Paradise, an annual ride hosted by Team Punta Gorda and managed by Peace River Riders Bicycle Club (www.peaceriverridersbicycleclub.com), included a post-event tour that those of us working to improve our cycling envi- ronment would like to see replicated elsewhere. After cyclists completed their rides and had lunch, City Manager Howard Kunik led anyone interested—including many who didn’t take part in the prior ride— on a tour of Punta Gorda’s bike and pedestrian infrastructure, pointing out improvements, articulating plans, and Please see City manager, page 2 This daunting view of the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway bridge on the way to Port St. Joe faced travelers on Bike Florida’s Forgotten Coast Tour this past March 24 - 30. The climb was part of a day three detour necessitated by a forest fire. Photo: Larry Varney PAID NONPROFIT U.S. POSTAGE POSTAGE U.S. PERMIT No. 2840 PERMIT No. JACKSONVILLE FL JACKSONVILLE Clarification to bike lane mandate signed into law overnor Scott put his pen to as practicable to the right-hand curb or somewhat archaic term that’s rarely used a revised highway safety act edge of the roadway except... 3. When in “walking around” language for most (CS/CS/HB 1223 –Highway reasonably necessary to avoid any condi- people, so it’s frequently misinterpreted Safety and Motor Vehicles), tion or potential conflict, including, but by law enforcement personnel. sections of which clarify “sit- not limited to, a fixed or moving object, This verbiage is almost always inter- uations in which a bicyclist is parked or moving vehicle, bicycle, preted to mean “as close to the curb as not required to ride in the marked bicy- pedestrian, animal, surface hazard, turn possible,” which is not correct, but it fre- cle lane (if the roadway is marked for lane, or substandard-width lane, which quently leads to cyclists erroneously bicycle use) or as close as practicable to makes it unsafe to continue along the being ticketed when they shouldn’t be. the right-hand curb or edge of the road- right-hand curb or edge or within a bicy- FBA would like to see this language way.” cle lane. For the purposes of this subsec- cleaned up in a future session of the leg- The Safety Act changes Florida Statute tion, a “substandard-width lane” is a lane islature to prevent further misinterpreta- 316.2065 Bicycle regulations, clarifying that is too narrow for a bicycle and tions. that a bicyclist is exempt from this another vehicle to travel safely side by Other sections that affect cycling requirement when a “potential conflict” side within the lane....”* include a change in helmet compliance or a turn lane interrupts the roadway or Readers may note the use of the word with federdal safety standards. P.O. Box 916715, Longwood, FL 32791 Box 916715, Longwood, P.O. bicycle lane. (316.2065(5)(a)3). “practicable” in the paragraph above. *Underlines indicate new language. The specific language instructs cyclists This is the same verbiage that’s always to stay in the bike lane or keep “as close been used in 316.2065. However, it is a Please see Legislative, page 6 ADVOCATING A BICYCLE-FRIENDLY FLORIDA 2 Florida Bicycle Association City manager enjoys ‘tour guide’ role Ask a cycling attorney... when Punta Gorda’s bike/ped Progress left the brain behind infrastructure is the subject from page 1 by J. Steele Olmstead, Esq. Attorney J. Steele Olmstead practices law statewide from offices in Tampa. One of his specialties is bicycle law and he’ll even come to you...wherever you got broken. f you don’t mind I’d like to slip Look at it another way, and you can into medical mode for all you see why people who ran faster than 12 cyclists out here. Here’s a discus- mph are not in our genetic pool. So the sion that I have with my injured human body, specifically to our discus- cyclists clients and the parents of sion, the skull, evolved to tolerate speeds young cyclists. less than the fastest the body could run. The human brain weighs approximate- You run faster you are going to get ly 3.0 pounds. It is sitting in a semi- hurt. Your body isn’t designed to go that opaque fluid called cerebral spinal fluid. fast. It is inside your skull surrounded by One alarming thing about our body’s seven layers of protective tissue and design: if you were standing completely you’re a custom-fitted housing, the cra- upright and were to lose all motor con- nium (bone). That skull (which may trol and collapse to the ground from an sound über bullet proof) is only (think average height, let’s say 5’9 inches/.5’4” really carefully about this number) one- [average man/woman], you would injure tenth of an inch thick (2.945-2.972mm, yourself, including your brain, pretty male/female). seriously. So, humans That’s it. And your brain who pass out spontane- City Manage Howard Kunik has led an annual tour of Punta Gorda’s bicycle/pededs- is attached to the human ously are also not in our trian infrastructure for the past seven years. body only at its base (with genetic pool. the various veins that flow People who ran answering questions, all while in the been done to rebuild this historic city into it, nourishing, enrich- Hurting the brain saddle. after Hurricane Charley devastated the faster than 12 Let’s talk about hurting This is the seventh consecutive year place in 2004 and their commitment to ing and taking away the brain activity by-prod- mph are not in the brain. When the he’s done so, a tradition that’s evolved making the place pedestrian and bicycle- brain wobbles, it collides over time to now becoming the icing on friendly as one of their major goals. ucts). our gene pool. That’s it! The attach- with the inside of your the cake of Pedal and Play in Paradise. And what a comeback! Historic ele- skull. There’s a name for While many of us struggle to get elect- ments were preserved and the bike/ped ment, in its basest analy- sis, makes the brain like a the injury to the brain ed officials and staff people at all levels and parks infrastructure all vastly from this internal trauma onto a bike so they could see for them- improved, thanks to a successful public- neural punching bag wob- bling back and forth on your brain stem. of the punching bag: “coup-contrecoup.” selves how things really are—something private partnership led by Team Punta This is a bad thing. Gorda (www.teampuntagorda.org) and The human body has been essentially that’s very hard for them to do from Trauma to the front, back, or sides is behind a car windshield —Manager the city. unchanged for the last 200,000 years. going to cause your brain to experience Kunik turns that practice on its head by A visit to Punta Gorda is enlightening. That long ago there was no pavement or trauma with coup-contrecoup. It will leading the way. While in town you can stop in and chat sidewalks—no trucks, trailers, helmets, damage the neural cells’ bodies, the Accompanied by two Punta Gorda with FBA board member Earl Lang at wheels, houses, buildings, gas tanks, sheath coating the connections between Police Officers on bikes and one on a his Acme Bike Shop, just south of down- steel, plastic, glass, wire, or anything the cells, or the connection, or cause motorized vehicle similar to a Segway, town, and check out JRA Bike Shop, a that humans invented in the last 10,000 blood vessels to burst—also resulting in almost 200 residents joined Howard as very urban establishment in the heart of years. brain damage. they rode along the city’s beautiful river- the historic district that symbolizes the The human body at that time, as it is And this is without fracturing your front trails and through its now-thriving progress made since 2004. today, could walk at approximately downtown. If you don’t want to schlep your own 3.1mph/5.0kph. The average human skull. So if you were not genetically bike, you can always use one from the could run 12-15 mph/19.3-24.1kph. designed to pass out, you’d fall, and Bike Friendly Community free bike share program, another great The folks that ran faster would have chances are, sooner or later, injure your Punta Gorda was named FBA’s Bike- example of a successful public-private exceeded their body design tolerances, brain - maybe pretty bad. Friendly Community of the Year in 2010, partnership. and injured themselves with any type of primarily because of the work that had fall. Please see Brain, page 13 Spring+Summer 2012 3 Thanks to Our Donors! 1st Q 2012: City names denote board member distribution. Is your area represented? Contact a board member today! Lifetime members Advocating a Mighk and Carol Wilson Orange Park Mr. & Mrs. H. Middleton Raynal bicycle-friendly Florida James Nash Duke Breitenbach P.O. Box 916715, Longwood, FL 32791-6715 Gainesville Kimberly Cooper Dr. Joe Warren Executive Director Membership Director Program Director DeLand William R. Hough Tim Bustos Deb Devoe Dan Moser Orlando Earle and Laura Reynolds 336 N Woodland Blvd.