Some of you may have heard a snippet of Boston Cyclists Union co-founder Pete Stidman talking about the need for better crash reporting on WBUR over the weekend, well here’s a longer interview aired on Tuesday, April 20th’s broadcast of the Neighborhood Network News with Chris Lovett on Channel 9! We’re big fans of Lovett’s local reporting over here so it was an honor to have the BCU’s first TV appearance take place in the NNN studio.
And don’t forget to attend the Mayor’s Safety Summit at Boston University’s Morse Auditorium, on April 21 at 5:30 p.m.
Bike Safety Priorities in Boston from Chris Lovett on Vimeo.
A few notes on what he’s talking about.
Here’s a map showing the Boston EMS ambulance run data for pedestrians and cyclists struck by motor vehicles.
Here’s a police training video from Portland, Oregon that demonstrates the kind of informed enforcement on cyclists the BCU endorses.
The “Safety in Numbers” study is by P.L. Jacobsen and it’s called “Safety in Numbers: more walkers and bicyclists; safer walking and cycling.”
And here’s a news story called “Risky cycling rarely to blame for bike accidents, study finds,” about the Transportation Research Laboratory study mentioned in the interview.
@bostonbikeunion
Jacobsen’s study uses a faulty mathematical formula which shows a safety-in numbers effect even when fed random data. That is not to say that safety in numbers doesn’t exist or never exists, but that Jacobsen has not demonstrated it. this has been noted by several other researchers. There is a discussion of this issue on my own blog in connection with another safety-in-numbers study.
Yet it is a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Injury Prevention. Doesn’t mean he’s right, of course. But haven’t seen a peer-reviewed study that refutes safety in numbers either. hmmm.