Military ID required to enter Fort Story even while cycling

Saw several emails with people being turned away without having Military ID.

"Ride of Silence" DATE: May 19, 2010 TIME: 7:00 pm WHERE: Hundreds of locations world wide

Please remember this as you drive, walk or ride - share the road safely.

Join cyclists worldwide in a silent slow-paced ride (max. 12 mph/20 kph) in honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways.
WHY DOES THIS ORGANIZATION EXIST?

* To HONOR those who have been injured or killed
* To RAISE AWARENESS that we are here
* To ask that we all SHARE THE ROAD

THE RIDE OF SILENCE WILL NOT BE QUIET

On May 19, 2010, at 7:00 PM, the Ride of Silence will begin in North America and roll across the globe. Cyclists will take to the roads in a silent procession to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. Although cyclists have a legal right to share the road with motorists, the motoring public often isn't aware of these rights, and sometimes not aware of the cyclists themselves.

In 2003, Chris Phelan organized the first Ride of Silence in Dallas after endurance cyclist Larry Schwartz was hit by the mirror of a passing bus and was killed.
The Ride of Silence is a free ride that asks its cyclists to ride no faster than 12 mph and remain silent during the ride. There are no sponsors and no registration fees. The ride, which is held during National Bike Month, aims to raise the awareness of motorists, police and city officials that cyclists have a legal right to the public roadways. The ride is also a chance to show respect for those who have been killed or injured.
If there is a Ride of Silence in your area, we encourage you to join them. If there is not a ride planned in your area, please consider adding your city to the ever-growing list of sites. For complete information, go to:

Click to go to "Ride of Silence" website

A 6 minute segment on abc affiliate WVEC-13 “Dialogue” program showcases our local May is Bike Month activities and bicycling

The program will air on Sunday, May 9th at 12 noon.

Many thanks to Sharon Oakley with Bike Beat for arranging this great opportunity!

Ride safely,

Bruce

p.s. find all of the Hampton Roads May is Bike Month activities on http://www.facebook.com/VAmayisbikemonth

~Bruce

WVEC covers "Increase Pedestrian Safety on Shore Drive" FB Group

From WVEC.com.
Hat tip from Cheri's post in the "Increase Pedestrian Safety on Shore Drive" FB Group.

"A pedestrian hit at 64.4 km/h (40 mi/h) has an 85 percent chance of being killed; at 48.3 km/h (30 mi/h), the likelihood goes down to 45 percent..."

Some data on pedestrian deaths in urban areas from PedSafe, A Federal Highway Administration program:

Pedestrian crashes occur most frequently in urban areas where pedestrian activity and traffic volumes are greater compared to rural areas...

In recent years, an emphasis has been placed on improving the design criteria used by engineers to ensure that the needs of all users are being met; the Highway Design Handbook for Older Drivers and Pedestrians is one resource...

Speeding is a major contributing factor in crashes of all types. In 2003, speeding was a contributing factor in 31 percent of all fatal crashes. one resource

From the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

Speed influences the risk of crashes and crash injuries in three basic ways:

* It increases the distance a vehicle travels from the time a driver detects an emergency to the time the driver reacts.
* It increases the distance needed to stop a vehicle once an emergency is perceived.
* It increases the crash energy by the square of the speeds. When impact speed increases from 40 to 60 mph (a 50 percent increase), the energy that needs to be managed increases by 125 percent.

From Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles' Drivers Manual:

According to the Virginia Driver's Manual, cars on dry level pavement stopping distances are from 35mph - 135 ft, from 45mph - 195 ft and from 55mph - 265 ft.

Consider this, virtually all things being equal, driving 35mph from Northampton Blvd to First Landing State Park would take an additional 2.7 minutes.

OPCL has a Facebook Topic entitled "Speed Limit on Shore Drive"

Add to the discussion in Facebook.

Ocean Park Civic League, OPCL, website.

Review of 6 apps that stop cell phone use while driving

From NYTimes David Pogue review:

About half of all teenagers admit to texting while driving, for example, no matter how many statistics and horror stories we pass along to them.

So tech has created solutions:

There’s a new category of cellphone apps made just for this purpose: text blockers like iZup, tXtBlocker, CellSafety and ZoomSafer. When your car is in motion, they lock up your phone so you can’t text, call, e-mail or surf the Web.

Open Thread to discuss safely sharing Shore Drive

Please use comment link below.

Remember - you own your words.
Please keep comments related to Shore Drive only.

[Comments are moderated.]

"Increase Pedestrian Safety on Shore Drive" Facebook Group

Info about the group:

Name:
Increase Pedestrian Safety on Shore Drive
Category:
Common Interest - Politics
Description:
To many lives, young and old are lost on Shore Drive from pedestrian-vehicular accidents. A few months ago the city installed signs with flashing lights to warn drivers of pedestrian traffic, but they are not enough! Cross walks, and Traffic control devices MUST be installed ASAP! Please join this group before another innocent life is lost!
Privacy Type:
Open: All content is public.

As of the time of this post, there are 2,507 members.

How drivers see pedestrians

In rooting around on this topic, I came across some papers written by a hired gun PhD. One in particular stands out.

The author’s key points, some of which are commonly known: (the strength of his argument is how he quantifies and ties it all together)

-how even legal speeds can allow overdriving the distance that one is capable of seeing and avoiding for a pedestrian

-the effects of higher speeds at night and our ability to process what we see

-the role that age plays – those of us aged 50 and up detect pedestrians at substantially shorter distances than younger drivers (he quantifies it)

-how what we can process is zero sum- attention given to one thing comes at the expense of others

-the role of auto lighting: it’s designed to keep glare down for oncoming motorists, at the expense of spotting other things like pedestrians

-what our eyes see vs what the brain processes, especially at night; the role of contrast

-how we as pedestrians so badly under estimate a drivers ability to see us

-especially at night, one’s choice of where to cross a road is a critical factor in whether a driver will see you

-especially at night, one’s choice of clothing is a critical factor

-adverse factors such as rearview mirror posts, smoking, dirty headlights

-the role of alcohol and fatality rates (your risk of a crash after drinking and then walking is slightly higher (5x) than getting behind the wheel (4x)!) (importantly, it doesn’t take a legally defined staggering drunk to greatly increase ones risk)

So many things conspire to force both driver and walker into a death trap.

Thanks to Bruce for sharing this.