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Archive for December 11th, 2008

Safer Cycling (and Driving ) in Portland

Over at BikePortland, there were some interesting numbers from the PDOT:

“In 2008, there were 140 “traffic injuries” to individuals on bicycles. That’s down from 196 in 2007 and it’s the lowest number since the survey was taken in 1999. The same goes for pedestrian injuries; there were 123 in 2008, down from 191 in 2007. There was also a major drop in the amount of individuals injured while operating an automobile; the survey reports 4,428 injured, compared to 5,429 in 2007.”

This reduction in bicycle fatalities has happened as Portland’s cycling share has increased. This raises all sorts of questions about the dynamics (e.g., safety in numbers, improved facilities bringing more people out), but I was also curious that the number of automobile injuries has also gone down. This could of course be related to the economy (fewer miles being driven), or even a slight reduction in drivers who have shifted to cycles, but I wonder if in some ways the increased presence of bicycles — and perhaps things like roads being narrowed to accommodate lanes — could itself being acting a sort of widespread traffic calming device?

Curious for any thoughts from Portland…

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Posted on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 at 3:06 pm by: Tom Vanderbilt
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Go Round Twice If You’re Happy

Grab a moment or two of simple pleasure from this video (before it gets turned into a VW ad). It proves one of my maxims: People obey the signs they want to obey.

Back story is here.

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Posted on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 at 3:02 pm by: Tom Vanderbilt
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Traffic Tom Vanderbilt

How We Drive is the companion blog to Tom Vanderbilt’s New York Times bestselling book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), published by Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S. and Canada, Penguin in the U.K, and in languages other than English by a number of other fine publishers worldwide.

Please send tips, news, research papers, links, photos (bad road signs, outrageous bumper stickers, spectacularly awful acts of driving or parking or anything traffic-related), or ideas for my Slate.com Transport column to me at: info@howwedrive.com.

For publicity inquiries, please contact Kate Runde at Vintage: krunde@randomhouse.com.

For editorial inquiries, please contact Zoe Pagnamenta at The Zoe Pagnamenta Agency: zoe@zpagency.com.

For speaking engagement inquiries, please contact
Jenna Meulemans at the Knopf Speaker Bureau.

Order Traffic from:

Amazon | B&N | Borders
Random House | Powell’s

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Traffic UK
Drive-on-the-left types can order the book from Amazon.co.uk.

For UK publicity enquiries please contact Rosie Glaisher at Penguin.

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