Bike For Two in Chains

 

Cyclists have nothing to lose but their chains, poster at the ADK

Upright Cyclists

White bike

Cycling has not yet fully infiltrated into Australian culture.

A classical Australian way of cycling. It requires a huge multi-lane highway, bulldozed 'clean' to do a few rounds of fitness cycling.

Australia is set up for automobile dependency. Cycling is done mostly in groups of plastic clad sweaty people hunched on sporty bikes. Fitness seems to be the main motivation. It is sport - like

Manly SUV on cycle path

most things in Australia. The plastic accessories are necessary to not lose face, as one has to display that it is only a 'recreational' thing. Imagine one could think you are of 'lower status', not part of the motorist community that hoards a garage full of fossil fuel machines. The bike is basically a recreational gadget or a children's toy. Youth prefer to hop around on mountain bikes on delicate forest soil.

Once back in the SUV the motorist mindset despises non-motorised forms of mobility. The expectation is for a carpet to carpet delivery via unobstructed roads - but fast.

Status and an absence of a cycling infrastructure combine to make cycling deadly risky for people who wish to integrate a fossil-fuel-free form of mobility on an everyday basis.

Leaders and motorists are in deep denial about the climate disruption delivering an uninhabitable planet. Some see the need to wean off fossil fuel addiction.

The Dutch Cycling Embassy is sharing their know how with Australia. "We read about bike-related accidents, complaints about the lack of cycle lanes, and road-rage aimed at cyclists. It is difficult to change such prevalent ideas about infrastructure...Cycling has not yet fully infiltrated into Australian culture. "

Segregated Cycle Superhighways for London and Fahrradstraßen for Cars in Berlin

London is getting a segregated cycle superhighway. "Under consideration is a series of new or upgraded bike lanes, many of them based on the principle of fully segregating cyclists from motor traffic for the first time." Guardian and Dezeen

London Cycling Design Standards, pdf

Images of a typical low-speed street Fahrradstraße/ bicycle boulevard in Berlin. Linienstraße is fully taken by cars, despite the aim of a Fahrradstraße, that it should discourage motor vehicle traffic.

Bike Graffiti

Independent mobility

The Statue of Liberty is welcoming all cosmopolitans. In the background, the Berlin TV Tower (Fernsehturm/ Alex Tower). Viewed from the mobility hub of the Berlin main station (Hauptbahnhof).

Kids in the 60s peeping over the Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer) using the kick scooter (tretroller) for children’s independent mobility.

Dysfunctional mobility

As they convert this Earth into paved roads and and parking spaces for fossil fuel machines, the whole 'flow' of traffic comes to standstill. They are caught in traffic jams, going nowhere. Despite this dysfunctional 'mobility' they continue to pave paradise. Big Asphalt coats the living landscapes in the U.S., Australia and even the Amazon.

Mobility, not stuck in a traffic jam

Images:
Berlin graffiti on public transport

Why don't we convert more roads into bicycle paths?

Why don't we convert more roads into bicycle paths?

One less car

Space gobbling private combustion machines pollute cities. Free public transport and driving restrictions for (inner) cities are a must to keep them habitable.

Frankfurt am Main up in smoke

Berlin or Frankfurt?

The skyline of Frankfurt am Main is glowing and blanketed in black (toxic) clouds of burning cars. Even bicycles are used as barricades. Huge anti-austerity demonstrations erupted at the European Central Bank's (#ECB) new headquarters (also known as the 'cathedral of money') in Bankfurt. The #Blockupy protests are directed against the austerity polices of the European Commission, ECB and IMF.

The tenor was summed up here:

"They want capitalism without democracy; we want democracy without capitalism." via JeromeRoos

In times of temporary peace cyclists gather for breakfast or Kaffe und Kuchen at Cafe Kante, in Bornheim.

Cycle to the beach

Rows of SUVs are parked along Manly beach, but there is no parking for bikes at the main beach. The Pacific is acid and hot. The beach is serviced nearly 24/7 with fossil fuel.

The more cylists, the less accidents OECD

Safety in numbers
The more bikes are around, the less the risk for an accident. To provide safety for cyclist, cities should provide a sufficient bicycle infrastructure. This 2013 OECD reports on "Trends relating to fatalities, injuries and crash rates are presented alongside international data on levels of cycling."

Cycling, Health and Safety, Analysis of international trends in bicycle use and cyclist safety
DOI:10.1787/9789282105955-4-en

In good cities one can cycle to work and education without stress. It appears 'normal' to go to the movies (Babylon) or an ADK concert/ exhibition at the Brandenburg Gate by bike.

Cyclist killed, law breached, driver not charged

 

The recent killing of Alberto Paulon by a car door suggests a problem with law enforcement in relation to cyclists in Victoria.

'Dooring' has been explicitly made an offence because it is dangerous. It is one of the main causes of injuries to cyclists.  It is common when offences are committed which cause death that it is taken seriously by the authorities, e.g. speeding, red lights, etc, - more seriously than when no one is hurt.

In the case of Alberto Paulon no charges were laid apparently because the driver saw "the first bike coming, but didn't see the second bike". Given that almost 2 million people cycle daily in Australia and that more than one of them may be expected on a road at any given time, it is hard to understand the relevance of this. This needs to be explained to the public.

The message that the non-enforcement of the law in this 'incident' sends to car drivers is that killing cyclists with doors is nothing for drivers to be concerned about. No fines, no points lost, no day in court.

One of the purposes of the law is to send messages to the public about the consequences of engaging in acts which are prohibited. This a deterrence. Enforcement is crucial. A court may say that the circumstances demand lenient treatment of the person who killed another as a result of their breach of the law. However for this to happen the person must be charged, not let off.

See also
The car door is potentially a deadly weapon

The car door is potentially a deadly weapon

Alberto Paulon, 25, was knocked to the road when a person in a parked car opened their door, and he was then hit by a passing truck in Melbourne. (source) (video)

Paulon was riding to work. The 'accident' happend in an area where one in ten residents regularly ride to work. (source)

"Car drivers and passengers need to recognise that the car door is potentially a deadly weapon and was in this situation

Victoria Police issued 180 dooring notices in the past 12 months. The fine is $369." (source)

Cyclist groups are pushing for government-backed safety awareness campaigns (source)



In Paul Virilio's dromology there is no 'accident' or even 'incident', there is only an integral accident. The accident is inherent in the set up of the technology and its (fossil fuel) culture.

Paul Virilio: Der eigentliche Unfall. Wien: Passagen 2009, Allem Anfang wohnt ein Unfall inne Buchrezension

see also
Cyclist killed, law breached, driver not charged

Update:
Eliminating the risk of "Dooring": Good cycle infrastructure design keeps cyclists out of the door zone and saves lives, A view from the cyclepath

Spring is in the air

A bicycle of one's own - Celebrating International Women's Day

Celebrating International Women's Day. Clara Zetkin organised the first International Women's Day. "It was inspired by the struggles of women workers in the U.S., particularly textile workers in New York City, who organized a massive march in March 1908." (source)

Where else could one find a public plaque of her but in Berlin Mitte.

Association between Traffic-Related Air Pollution in Schools and Cognitive Development in Primary School Children

"Air pollution is a suspected developmental neurotoxicant. Many schools are located in close proximity to busy roads, and traffic air pollution peaks when children are at school. We aimed to assess whether exposure of children in primary school to traffic-related air pollutants is associated with impaired cognitive development. Children attending schools with higher traffic-related air pollution had a smaller improvement in cognitive development.

Human brain development is a complex and lengthy process... "

Association between Traffic-Related Air Pollution in Schools and Cognitive Development in Primary School Children: A Prospective Cohort Study, PLOS

Just pink

With a bicycle on Berlin's public transport system

Berlin is criss-crossed with public transport. No private car is needed here. If one wishes to take their bike on the BVG, one has to pay an extra fee. With a valid ticket one has access to all public transport in Berlin: S-Bahn, U-Bahn, buses, trams and ferries. On the S-Bahn, U-Bahn and tram, bicycles can be carried in, especially when there is a bike symbol on the carriage. With this app one can get up-to-date schedules and trip plans for Berlin's public transport system

Many of the underground/ U-Bahn stations have a lot of stairs and tunnels and either no lift or are not easily accessible. Maybe one day they could get bike lifts to assist people with heavy bikes doing their daily travelling.

Berlin and problem bears

The bear is the symbol for Berlin. Since 1280 it has been on the coat of arms. Bruno is believed to have been the first brown bear on German soil in 170 years. He was declared a Problembär ("problem bear") and was shot and stuffed. Knut was a celebrity polar bear that died of dysentery and encephalitis after lifelong captivity. Both bears generated a lot of revenue before they went into teddy heaven.
But there is still a real 55 ton problem....

Being in a car-centric environment - Unter den Linden

Being in a car-centric environment dwarfs the human. Unmotorised people walking or cycling have to move with the dictate of the machines moving. They are forced to breathe the exhaust and the dust of the asphalt. They run for their lives to not be squashed by the ever bigger cars.

Unter den Linden ("under the linden trees") is a large boulevard in the Mitte (middle) of Berlin. There was a time when flâneur wandered in the shady place. At other times it was a playground for military machines and parades. Today, many trees have disappeared and the place is studded with building sites and pipes.

Despite all the obstacles of this car-centric city 'design', one can dodge most hassles with a bike on this multi-lane parade. There is always time for a cup at Café Einstein Unter den Linden.

Click to enlarge

Glitter Illusions for Babies in Berlin Mitte

This bike stands in the not yet 'developed' Postfuhramt.  A beautiful 19th century post office that could house many horse-drawn postal wagons. Occasionally one can still hear the clip clop of (tourist) horse-drawn carriages on the cobbled streets of Mitte.

After 1989 a space-time of creativity arose. Bicycles were the dominant mode of transport in the area.

Once the old houses of the East where made trendy, people came from everywhere to live the life of a permanent party. The parties led to a lot of offspring and money flowed from the West to boost the project. With an influx of families and the associated capital the streets and footpaths were populated with inner city SUVs and family vans to cart the family and all its gear around the inner city. Many areas are like a big 24/7 creche now. A lot of cars are squeezing into the small streets and footpaths. The rest of the streetscape seems an endless row of child care, child speech therapist, child psychologist and child psychiatrist.

"Childhood" is a modern development: Philippe Ariès, Centuries of Childhood (1962)