Category: Washington Bike Law

  • A Good Sign

    A Good Sign

    On my ride in today I noticed that SDOT fixed the bicycle and pedestrian crossing sign I reported down last year. Thank you SDOT! Maybe it was my haphazard shoving it the ground that spurred SDOT into action. It’s safely in the ground now (not unlike it was when I first praised it) I know…

  • A Bad Sign

    A Bad Sign

    This morning, while commuting to work near where another bicycle commuter was killed earlier this year, I saw multiple SDOT trucks.  One of these trucks was parked on the sidewalk that I and many other bicyclists use when coming from the West Seattle Bridge.  This resulted in bicyclists taking to the street, albeit the wrong-way. …

  • Elections and the so-called War on Cars

    Elections and the so-called War on Cars

    So it looks like Seattle’s Mayor McGinn will lose to Ed Murray. Here are the current returns in King County. Though I thought Mayor McGinn was a more articulate debater than Ed Murray, governing is not the same as debating.  McGinn and Murray are both progressives and simply not having the monicker “Mayor McSchwinn” may…

  • Counting is Wonderful

    Counting is Wonderful

    Yesterday I commented on the counting of bicyclists in spite of the government shutdown. Today, the government remains shut down, but bicyclists are not being counted. Here is the theme song for today’s post, straight from Sesame Street. This– the West Seattle Bike Counter– is not entirely shut down, but it certainly isn’t reliably working…

  • Seattle Just Ain’t What it Used to Be, Bikewise…

    Seattle Just Ain’t What it Used to Be, Bikewise…

    In 1902 the Seattle Times said, “Probably [in] no city in the United States is there a system of bicycle paths so excellently conceived, so well constructed and kept constantly in as good repair as are those in and around the city of Seattle”. For a sad overview of how we got here, read Knute…

  • Are We Not Traffic?

    Are We Not Traffic?

    Yesterday I wrote about signs blocking bike facilities.  They say the squeaky wheel gets the grease and changes were indeed made…  but, before we see that, here is the soundtrack for today. I don’t want to take credit for these changes… no really.  I don’t.   There are now TWO signs blocking this area: Besides…

  • Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign…

    One of my pet peeves is the placement of warning signs in bike lanes and on sidewalks.  It’s just a little reminder that, in the view of the sign placers, roads are for cars. This morning I noticed that the bike lane I typically ride in was blocked by SDOT trucks.   OK, I thought,…

  • Grate Way to Celebrate 50

    Grate Way to Celebrate 50

    Yesterday Washington Bike Law took the afternoon off to go for a bike ride in honor of John’s birthday.  I (Bob) ended up in the rear most of the way.  But, in defense, Dave’s family bike has an electric assist and, Mister Fifty– John– is a bike racer, not just a bike commuter.  Anyway, if…

  • Yielding, a Good Idea That Motorists and Bicyclists Should Both Follow…

    Bob is back from Copenhagen and other European places where bicycling is much safer than Seattle.  In my absence SDOT started a safety campaign that involves small election-style signs like this: I agree that bicyclists should yield to pedestrians… and even if I didn’t, it’s the law.  But it should also be the law that…

  • Iceland is for Brave Bicyclists

    This is a super-highway in Iceland: There is no shoulder. Sometimes, ther is no pavement. Here is a bicyclist, bravely peddling and wearing a helmet even: I suspect that these bikes are part of a tour. Note the kickstands on mountain bikes. Truth be told, I’ve been driving a Suzuki mini 4×4. Iceland is full…