Expensive gas means there are more bikes on the streets

Corvallis has been at or near the top of the League of American Bicyclists' list of bicycle-friendly communities since it started tracking such things in 2003. However, despite miles of bike lanes and public-awareness campaigns, crashes between bicyclists and motorists might be on the rise because of an increase in bicyclists on the road and carelessness by both drivers and bicyclists.

Corvallis police records indicated there were 26 collisions between bicyclists and motorists this year as of July 15. That number is a 73 percent increase over the same period in 2007, when 15 collisions were reported.

Albany's police records do not extract specific occurrences of collisions between cyclists and motorists only. There were 40 crashes involving bicycles in 2007. In 2008, the agency recorded 17 such collisions as of July 24.

Although police records could be an indicator of current trends, they might not tell the full story.

Jerry Rooney, a volunteer bicycle safety instructor who has taught the Corvallis Municipal Court bicycle diversion class for several years, believes police reports include only about half of all accidents between bicycles and cars.

"If there are no serious injuries or damage involved, they may just agree to go their separate ways," Rooney said.

Indeed, those who monitor radio traffic heard over police signal scanners over this year have noticed that collisions between bicyclists and cars are an almost daily - sometimes twice-daily - occurrence. But many are called in by witnesses but end without a formal report because they involve no serious injuries and damage, so the parties go their separate ways before police arrive.

More bicycles mean more accidents

Although the exact number of bicycle collisions is not available for Albany and Corvallis, "It seems intuitive that we're seeing more cyclists on the road," said Ron Irish of the Albany Public Works Department.

"I don't know if it's high gas prices, weather or both … Odds are they're not as experienced (as frequent bicyclists). At the moment, that doesn't seem to translate into more accidents in Albany."

Safety instructor Rooney said the high gas prices are forcing more inexperienced bikers onto the road, and they are unprepared to mix with drivers who don't always see bicycles or recognize the rights of bicyclists in traffic.

"I definitely see more people riding around," Rooney said. "All my cycling friends say the same thing. Some look like they haven't ridden bikes in quite a while. They're trying their best; they could just use a bit of coaching."

Rooney said inexperienced riders have much more experience as walkers, and they tend to transfer those habits while in the saddle, often riding the wrong way on a one-way street, sneaking through red lights, failing to signal their intentions or riding on sidewalks. Aside from being discourteous to pedestrians and illegal in the downtown area, sidewalk riding is a dangerous practice.

"People coming out of driveways and alleys don't always look down the sidewalk for bicycles; they pull up past the sidewalk to look for cars."

Danger zones

In Albany, reported bicycle accidents do not appear to recur often in the same place. But in Corvallis, there are a few hot spots that experienced bicyclists warn of:

Second Street downtown, south of Van Buren Avenue, has no bicycle lanes. Vehicles are parked at an angle on both sides of the one-way street. Bicyclists traveling legally down both sides of Second Street often can be seen carefully dodging cars that are backing out of parking spaces on either side.

However, knowing of the danger and the slow speeds at which most vehicles back out of the spaces means few accidents serious enough to warrant a police report.

Bicyclists tell a different story about areas of Corvallis where there may be bike lanes, but motor vehicle traffic is traveling at greater speeds. Clusters of accidents have been reported in 2008 at various locations along Northwest Kings Boulevard, between Northwest Monroe and Circle boulevards, according to Corvallis Police reports.

In 2007, pockets near the Oregon State University campus and cross streets near Third and Fourth streets downtown also appear to have recognizable accident clusters.

In Albany, bicycle accidents tend to be fairly random, Irish said.

"They don't tend to cluster," he said. "They're either on a busy street or neighborhood. In neighborhoods, they often involve children. On busy streets, there are high incidents of riders riding (against traffic) that have a higher risk of being hit from cars going in and out of driveways."

Perhaps the most deadly combination of vehicles and bicycles, however, happened last fall in Portland: A tall vehicle approached a light as it turned green just as a bicyclist also approached, in the vehicle's blind spot. The vehicle proceeded to turn right; the bicyclist continued straight, and was killed.

Safety authorities say that the ultimate factor in bicycle and vehicle is not who has the right-of-way, but courtesy, awareness and common sense.

Get involved

• Bicycle safety class n Corvallis:

A free bicycle safety class is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library.

The class is designed to raise riders' awareness of useful techniques for safe cycling as they commute throughout the city and countryside.

Areas to be covered include: the bike, the rider, traffic, the law, the rights and responsibilities of the rider and motor vehicle driver.

Jim Munford and Jerry Rooney, who have taught the Municipal Court bicycle diversion class for several years, will teach the class.

Preregistration is required due to limited space.

To preregister, call the mayor's office at 766-6985. For information, call Jerry Rooney at 752-6588.

• Bicycle & Pedestrian Bicycle Commission n Albany

Meets: 12 p.m., Aug. 12

Location: City Hall - Periwinkle Room 333 Broadalbin S.W.

• Bicycle & Pedestrian Bicycle Commission n Corvallis

Meets: 7 a.m. Aug. 1

Location: Corvallis Library n Main meeting room

645 N.W. Monroe Ave.

More on the net

• Oregon State University Department of Public Safety:

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/

security/bike_safety/index.php

• Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center:

www.bicyclinginfo.org/

• League of American Bicyclists map of bike friendly communities:

www.bikeleague.org/programs/communities/