The Road Commission for Oakland County is widening another road.  This time it’s Tienken between Livernois and Sheldon Roads.

If ever a county road needed bike lanes, this would be it. It would connect Livernois, the Paint Creek Trail, Stony Creek High School, and Sheldon Road (a main access point for the Stony Creek Metropark.)

We need cyclists to give their input to the Road Commission.

A public meeting is planned for January 21st from 4pm until 7pm in the auditorium at Rochester Hills City Hall, 1000 Rochester Hills Drive (south of Avon Road between Livernois and Old Perch roads).

According to the Road Commission, “Public input will help shape the ultimate project design.”

If you are unable to attend the meeting on the 21st, please submit your comments to:

The Road Commission for Oakland County
31001 Lahser Road
Beverly Hills, MI 48025
E-Mail: dcsmail@rcoc.org
Phone: 877-858-4804

If you can attend the meeting, the Road Commission will likely provide their normal technical brush offs.  Here are what you can expect:

Brush off: The Road Commission has a policy of not accomodating bikes on the road.

Answer: The Road Commission mission is “to provide the public with leadership in safe and convenient road.”  Bike lanes are the safest place a cyclist can bike.

Brush off: The Road Commission will build a safety path for bicycles.

Answer: Safety paths are wide sidewalks and are not safe nor satisfactory solutions for for bicyclists according to MDOT and AASHTO.

Brush off: On-road facilities aren’t safe.

Answer: Studies find that bike lanes are the safest place to ride a bike.  Wide sidewalks are the least safe.

Brush off: The Road Commission doesn’t have the money.

Answer: Ask them, “is there no money to make this road safe for cyclists?  Is there money to make this road safe for motorists?”  There is grant funding for non-motorized facilities. No less than one-percent of the Road Commission’s state road funding must be spent on non-motorized facilities such as bike lanes.

There is a tendency to not blame motorists in the public discourse.  It’s reflected in the terms used by officials and the media when collisions are called “accidents” and drivers “lose control of their vehicle.”

This week the Detroit News reported on Wrecks blamed on nature while the Freep Press says Slick Roads Cause Accidents.

It’s apparently easier to blame Mother Nature than Motorist Nature.

Tom Vanderbilt’s How We Drive blog had an excellent article on this topic which we covered back in October.  Though we’ve already posted this quote from Vanderbilt, it’s so good that it’s worth repeating:

Whether from personal on-road experience, or from reading studies, or from examining in-car footage of crashes and near-crashes, I am often struck by how often people seem to put themselves, and others, at great risk. Following closely at high speed on the interstate, or driving fast through a neighborhood street, they act in a way that suggests they believe that nothing could go wrong, or that they would be in control if it did. Over time, this behavior is typically rewarded, perhaps through sheer luck, until the ‘black swan’ event that they never expected actually happens. Then, as is often the case, begins a process of denial, an attempt to assuage the cognitive dissonance that has come between the image of themselves as a good and cautious driver and an event that was ‘beyond their control.’

And unfortunately our language, media, and public officials often reinforce this beyond-your-control excuse.

Police have arrested a 49-year old woman they believe was involved in hit-and-run that left a cyclist severely injured in Fort Gratiot.

According to the Times Herald:

St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon said the woman was arrested about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday after a car believed to be involved in the hit-and-run accident was spotted parked outside a residence. The woman was taken into custody after police went to the home and found her inside.

St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon said the woman was arrested about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday after a car believed to be involved in the hit-and-run accident was spotted parked outside a residence. The woman was taken into custody after police went to the home and found her inside.

This same article has a horrific picture of the damaged bike.

The Times Herald reported earlier that the cyclist, Michael Eckert was now in good condition at the St. John Hospital.

Michael Eckert, a 50-year old cyclist and assistant managing editor of the Times Herald was struck in a hit-and-run in St. Clair County.

According to an article in the Times Herald:

Police said the vehicle involved is believed to be a mid-sized, purple Pontiac that may have damage to the passenger side front door. The driver is believed to have fled the scene of the accident north on Pollina Road.

Eckert’s wife, Theresa, said a man found Eckert lying by the side of the road and called 911. She said one of Eckert’s shoes was found 200 feet from his bike.

Eckert sustained multiple broken ribs, a broken clavicle, a collapsed lung and there was a problem with the vertebrae in his neck. Eckert was able to speak, however, Theresa Eckert said.

According to one commenter on the Times Herald web site, Eckert rode with lights on his bike: “He does wear red led flashers and a headlight while riding, See him every night.”

If you have any information, please call the sheriff department at (810) 985-8115

Tom Greenwood of the Detroit News writes a decent column about commuting, but he’s kicking off 2009 on a sour note.

It’s the first day of 2009, so let’s start the year with some fun famous first facts concerning cars, roads and traffic.

Greenwood’s first “fun” fact is the first car crash occurred in 1896 when a motorist hit a bicyclist.

His second “fun” fact was in 1899 when a motorist killed a pedestrian — the first fatality caused by a car.

Injury crashes and fatalities are not fun and should not be trivialized.

We reminded him that in Michigan last year, motorists struck 2,160 bicyclists (18 fatalities) and killed 133 pedestrians.

Tom Greenwood can be contacted at commuter@detnews.com, (313) 222-2023 or by writing to The Detroit News, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226.