Click Veronica’s photo for some light-hearted Friday satire from our friends at StreetsBlog:

For this Streetfilms exclusive, we were granted unfettered access to Veronica Moss, lobbyist for the Automobile Users Trade Organization (AUTO). Veronica gave us a few precious moments inside her SUV to talk about roads, traffic, cyclists, and big cities. While instructing us on proper honking techniques for “old people” and children, she also offered up some choice bons mots. Here’s a sample:

• “People need to be able to drive their cars — that’s an American right!”
• “Bikers are a pimple on the butt of any city.”

The excuse of not having money to make your community more bike friendly just got a whole lot weaker thanks to Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG).

This funding is another a portion of the overall economic stimulus package and it can fund bicycling planning, construction, and programming:

Entities may develop and implement programs to conserve energy used in transportation, including but not limited to:

• Development of infrastructure such as bike lanes and pathways and pedestrian walkways;
• State/locals/regional integrated planning activities (i.e. transportation, housing, environmental, energy,land use) with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled;
• Incentive programs to reduce commutes by single occupancy vehicles;

Nearly $58 million will go to Michigan cities, townships, and counties that already receive block grant funding (see list below.) A minimum of just over $11 million will be awarded competitively among Michigan’s other communities.

The application deadline is June 25th, 2009. Any awarded funds must be obligated within 18 months.

Royal Oak, Novi and Detroit

Both of these cities are applying for EECBG funding to develop non-motorized transportation master plans. These plans would help both cities develop a strategy for making their cities more walkable and bikeable. (Troy is current going through this plannng.)

Detroit already has a non-motorized transportation plan, so we will be encouraging them so spend a portion of this funding on implementing the plan.

What Can You Do?

We are encouraging all cyclists to contact their local government and ask that they apply for EECBG funding to make their community more bike friendly.

If your city doesn’t have a non-motorized transportation plan (and nearly all don’t in Metro Detroit), EECBG funding can pay for one. This is a good starting point for cities looking to become more bike friendly. For cities like Royal Oak and Novi, these plans costs between $40K and $50K

As mentioned, some cities are automatically eligible for a specific amount of funding. Here’s a listing for eligible cities in Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne County. For a complete listing, visit Michigan’s Recovery web site.

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For the first time, the Spirit of Hope is having a Blessing of the Bikes event in Detroit’s North Corktown neighborhood.

The event will be held this Sunday, May 31st during 11 a.m. worship. The church is at the corner of Trumbull, Grand River, and Martin Luther King.

If the weather cooperates, this will be held outside, otherwise we’ll be bringing the bikes inside the church.

This is open to bicycles and motorcyclists.

In fact it was the latter that inspired this event. According to the Reverend Matthew Bode, a member of the church suggested this event last year. Unfortunately it didn’t happen and that member was involved in a motorcycling accident that summer.

Reverend Bode is not sure how many cyclists to expect but is hoping for a big crowd.

As we noted earlier, we think this sort of event puts a much more positive spin on cycling.

“You have made a sound decision to purchase your Davies, Craig Motoring Helmet. Wear it and don’t feel self-conscious. Driving even for the most proficient is dangerous.”

Yes, someone used to manufacture helmets for motorists. (via Copenhagenize)

Ridiculous?

Perhaps not according to a recent study of head injuries in Arizona by the Arizona Department of Health Services. The study found the primary causes of death for closed head injuries were firearms (44%), motor vehicles (21%) and falling (20%).

The motor vehicle causes of death were further broken down as follows:

• 38% pedestrians
• 34% motorcyclists
• 24% motor vehicle occupants
• 4% bicyclists

Apparently we need helmets not only for motorists but pedestrians as well.

So what about the causes of non-fatal closed head injuries? Most of them (47%) are caused by motor vehicle collisions, which again breaks down as follows:

• 67% motor vehicle occupants
• 15% motorcyclists
• 11% pedestrians
• 4% bicyclists

Of course not all non-fatal bicycling-related closed head injuries were due to motor vehicle collisions. According to this study, only half were. Even still, if we double the bicycling numbers, far more motor vehicle occupants receive closed head injuries and far more die from them.

Given this data, why are helmets heavily promoted for bicyclists but not at all for motor vehicle occupants? Why do these helmet campaigns make cycling without a helmet sound unsafe yet we don’t expect motorists to wear them?

And just to be clear, this isn’t about being anti-helmet. This is more of a call to be realistic about cycling safety and against the continous message that cycling is unsafe and always requires a helmet.

State Representative Marie Donigan recently traveled to Washington DC to meet with Ray LaHood, the Secretary of Transportation.

She went to discuss transportation funding, including transit. She also took copies of our Detroit Greenways Network brochure to share our vision for a more walkable and bikeable Detroit.

As it happened, she met with three of LaHood’s deputies who, according to Donigan, “loved the brochure and the project — having greenways and walkable communities is essential.”

Donigan is now trying to get them to Detroit for a visit in July. She hopes that visit can include a tour of the RiverWalk and Dequindre Cut.