I try to ride my bike everywhere I need to go. I do this mainly because I lack the monetary resources to buy a second car for my wife to use, but also because gas prices are absurd, fossil fuels are killing our planet, and it’s good for the soul to use one’s legs to get around as God intended … but mainly, it’s because I can’t afford a second car.
In Idaho Falls, it’s a dangerous venture taking to the streets in something that weighs less than two and a half tons. It seems that most residents of our beloved city don’t seem to realize that there are others who use the roads for purposes other than zipping here and there in an SUV. We are called pedestrians, and we are fair game when it comes to sharing the road with machines.
En route to work every day, I regularly encounter the prospect of death, whether it be from an unattentive grandmother making a left turn without checking the sidewalk, an egomaniacle truck driver who plows on through the intersection without regard as to whether it is occupied or not, or someone who just doesn’t realize that pedestrians actually exist. In fact, just the other day, some gent in a massive black Chevy had the nerve to honk at me as I cross an intersection under the guidance of the “walk” symbol illuminated across the way. I wonder what must have been so important that this man could not have waited three seconds for me to remove myself from his vector that he had to let me in on his frusteration.
I hear, from time to time, of accidents rolling into the ER (my brother in law is an orderly as EIRMC) involving bikers being nailed by casual driver, bikers wrecking trying to avoid said drivers, and the like. So, this is my plea to you all – please, the next time you’re out driving the streets of Idaho Falls, pay attention to everything, even the things which weigh less than the tires on your car. It’s a matter of life and death for some of us.
I just hope that me or one of my fellow pedestrians don’t have to end up a greasy stain on the sidewalk before people start to take notice.
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Gato got runned over by Marcus many moons ago. Be ye daft, 2486? 
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
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{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for bringing this topic up, Jeremy, I’ve thought of writing on it several times.
I’ve seen two bikers get hit by cars. One guy just got banged up and walked away angry (the lady was on a cellphone), and the other girl sped out in front of the car and got rolled up into a ball, pretty bad shape. She was so messed up I actually cried for this stranger.
Witnessing these two accidents made me realize bikers need to be more self-aware and cautious of their surroundings than they should have to be, because drivers aren’t always watching (and speeding through an intersection is only fun when you know a car isn’t coming).
Drivers also need to grant more courtesy to pedestrians. IF drivers are pretty good about waving other cars ahead and giving right of way, and pretty bad about stopping when they see pedestrians waiting at crosswalks.
One design element many cities use to encourage pedestrian courtesy is raised and textured concrete areas where pedestrians cross.
I’ve actually found that the safest place to ride around in town is downtown, of all places. Woodruff is awful, and it’s unfortunatly my route to work.
Jeremy
Thanks for the post, you are so right about taking you life in your hands on a bike in Idaho Falls. I have found that 25th street has a good bike route. The back streets are the way to bike in this town, on 17th and 1st the drivers in those SUV’s don’t like it when you are on the sidewalks and they have to get into traffic. Idaho Falls could use more bike friendly areas.
Someone previously wrote about an event to promote bike awareness and safety:
http://idahofallz.com/2005/12/29/bike-rally-festival/
Jeremy,
Good post. Have you considered one of those tall flag things some put on their bikes? I know you shouldn’t HAVE to do it, but for the sake of staying alive until others wake up, is it something you’d consider?
Where do you think the real education about auto vs. peds/bikes should enter into someone’s training? Is it material for Driver’s Ed? Is it for a Citizenship Class? Is it something different? I don’t know. I would be interested in your ideas and keeping bikers alive.
And, I’m being a good sport, as my front yard is going to loose about 3 ft. due to Right of Eminant Domain. A bicycle path to a favorite destination is being created. No comment about the value of my property.
Thanks for writing this.
Funny haha I actually crashed on my bike tonight.
Not a vehicle, but hose sabatoge. Riding along, and someone’s watering the sidewalk, and their hose runs for 10 feet down the middle of the sidewalk.
So when I try to go over the hose on the wet sidewalk of course my bike flips and I land on my head. My arm was torn up and bloody and my glasses flew off. I couldn’t see and it took me 10 minutes in that dazed state to finally find them in the dirt, then rode the rest of the way home (only to get cutoff and nearly run over by some white trash).
Hoses. Please don’t run them along the sidewalk, especially down the middle of it. Perpendicular is best. Ouch.
Ok4Now – I would like to think that we shouldn’t need to educate people about looking out for pedestrians. At best, it should be compassion. At least, it should be common sense. People are so self-contained and self-obsessed these days that they don’t seem to realize that that massive chunk of metal they’re sending hurling down the road isn’t the only thing around.
It’s a sad state of affairs.
Joe – Get better, buddy. We’ll get dem hoses yet.
First of all, I hope you are feeling better Joe. It sounds like you took a nasty spill. Just out of curiosity, were you wearing a helmet? I realize that it is a personal choice but when you said you had a head injury it made me wonder whether you were wearing one and it just didn’t give you adequate protection.
As for biking in Idaho Falls, that is a subject that is dear to my heart. I love to ride my bicycle but it is a real challenge to ride on the streets of I.F. I agree with vote4change that the back streets are the way to go. I mostly ride mountain bikes so I even like to use the canal banks to get around. If you aren’t in a huge hurry and don’t mind a little dust once in a while it can be fun and safer than the streets.
Idaho Falls could do a lot more to promote bike awareness and safety. With gas prices rising bicycling should become more and more popular as a means to get around town. You can really get from one side of town to another in a relatively short amount of time. I would like to see more bike lanes incorporated into the main arterials, as well as more bike racks (for parking) throughout the town.
The biggest problem I see while riding around town is lack of courtesy by motor vehicle drivers. Maybe it isn’t even lack of courtesy, just lack of awareness that others are sharing the road. And some people won’t take a few extra seconds to yield the right of way to bikers and pedestrians. Until the bicycle users become more numerous (or more vocal) I don’t see things changing very soon.
I would love to see Idaho Falls become friendlier to bikes and pedestrians. Maybe Mayor Fuhriman could proclaim a “Bike to Work Day” once a month or even once a week to promote public awareness. I believe that the more bicyclists there are on the road, the more the motor vehicle drivers will get used to seeing them. Then just maybe they will adjust their driving and courtesy patterns accordingly.
I hear you there. I’ve been close to being cleaned out by cars several times and even a District 91 Short Bus. I ride down 12th Street just about every day. A couple months ago I was crossing the canal by the Bonneville Drives and a car was coming up to one of the stop signs. He kept edging forward and finally noticed me biking down 12th. The look on that guys face when he rolled his eyes and let out a big sigh of exasperation was amazing. I had the right of way and this guy made it look like I was creating a huge problem by delaying him for 5 seconds. Since I was paying attention and didn’t know if this dude was going to pull out anyway, I just rode around behind him. Drivers around here are amazing, that’s for sure.
i may have been driving that short bus. i don’t feel it nessasry to look out for bikers or pedestrians. i am much bigger and you had just better get out of the way or you’ll get run over
I.F. is without a doubt filled to capacity with high performance cars being driven by low performance drivers. You know that when families have 20 kids then alas your chances of getting nailed by a child in a car is far greater than anywhere else.
One Eyed Trout – are you sure you weren’t riding in the short bus?
Hmmmmmm……. One eyed is most definitely a passenger on that bus……
i got kicked off the short bus in the 3rd grade never to ride again. i had to walk to school. in six feet of snow. uphill both ways. barefoot.
to make up for it i now drive lifted trucks and big deisel guzzeling SUVs. i got a couple of naty muscle cars from the late 60’s and i’m sure i drive those to fast and never watch out for pedestrains or bikers with one exception. if the sign says SLOW CHILDREN PLAYING i drive very slow. i can still remember what is was like to be one of those slow kids.
Jer,
I totally agree there are a lot of idiot drivers in IF who don’t give any respect to bicyclists or pedestrians. I have been on the receiving end of that disrespect, and it is truely scary.
But I think you are confused about whether you are a pedestrian or a bicyclist. If you are riding a bike, you are not a pedestrian. A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot. You are a cyclist, and your bicycle is a vehicle. You have all of the rights and duties applicable to the driver of any other vehicle. So please keep your vehicle off the sidewalk and out of the crosswalks. A ‘walk’ signal is not the same as a green light, unless you are a pedestrian.
And what is it with all the idiots riding their bikes on the wrong side of the road in this town?
I am not a lawyer or anything. But if you want to read the laws that apply to bicyclists in Idaho, here’s a link.
http://www3.state.id.us/idstat/TOC/49007KTOC.html
Got to go, the short bus is here…
Hmmmm …
(3) A person operating a vehicle by human power, or operating a motorized
wheelchair or an electric personal assistive mobility device upon and along a
sidewalk, or across a highway upon and along a crosswalk, shall have all the
rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances.
Maybe I’m reading that wrong, but isn’t it saying that while a cyclist is on the sidewalk, they are considered the same as pedestrian?
Besides, law or not, a cyclist is always at risk of being clobbered by a vehicle that travels ten times its speed and weighs a few thousand pounds more. By this alone, it should be a motorist’s priority to look out for a cyclist. It may or may not be the law, it’s what is right.
Thanks to commenter Cyclist above for the link to the Idaho pedestrian and bicyclist statutes. Unfortunately, they probably should have read them first, because I found that commenter in error.
Cyclists are treated as pedestrians 49-721(3) but have rights to the road like a motor vehicle. 49-714(1)
Yes it’s dual and it may suck but it’s the way it is because cyclists will try to stick to sidewalks for safety but sometimes have to take on the road.
Common sense dictates a bicycle cannot be called a vehicle nor compared to those wheeled missiles with all the legal requirements (license plate, tags, bumper, rear-view mirrors, etc.)
Ahhh word origins, I loved that course. Pedestrian’s base is ‘ped’ meaning foot, which applies to both walkers and bikers. Which is why the Idaho statute affords pedestrian rights and responsibilities to bicyclists also.
Pedestrians (people walking) are also quite endangered by the road design and driver aptitude in this burg. I’ve been hit by a car while riding and had a friend hit while walking. I think that having the prosecuters office should clamp down on traffic accidents involving pedestrians would help.
I read in the IF bike plan that anyone over 14 is not allowed on the sidewalks, so that should solve your problem, Joe. We’ll let the kids take care of themselves. A similar thing happened to me when I was a kid and went to the hospital, but that was before they invented bike helmets.
argggh, I heard enough of that already from my wife, thanks 8^)
Wow, maybe I SHOULD have read them first.
It looks like if you ride your bike on the road, you are treated like a vehicle, and if you ride on the sidewalk or in a crosswalk you are treated like a pedestrian. Which makes sense. Thanks for the education.
This town deserves cross town bike paths and the pedestrians deserve the right of way. I can get anywhere to anywhere in this town in 20 mins on my bike. Why drive?
You know only two things keep me from biking more: arriving in a big sweat and cargo loads.
A few years ago I was really big on riding 20 minutes to my work. I left so as to arrive with at least 20 minutes to cool off outside before work, and I carried extra socks and a ziplock bag for my sweaty socks (never smelled them).
But I got tired of dealing with the sweaties and stopped riding as much. Plus then I got a nice truck and wanted to drive it. I should trade it in for a beater, then I’ll be more motivated to ride my bike.
Oh and cargo is a problem. I have a rack behind my seat and use bungie cords, but it’s limited. If I wanted to buy items at a store, forget it, there’s no room.
Maybe a business that delivers your bought items from whatever Idaho Falls store back to your home by the day’s end would encourage more biking?
I’m thinking of tourists who get their shopping items shipped back home. Imagine taking the family on a bike ride to Target, buy a cartload, call the delivery service, and bike home.
By the end of the day (or a couple hours), the service stops by the Target counter with your determined codeword, and delivers it to your home.
Mmmmmm. I sound crazy.
“Maybe a business that delivers your bought items from whatever Idaho Falls store back to your home by the day’s end would encourage more biking?” – Yes with internet ordering and a town this small it really could make more sense to send one car to 100 houses than 100 cars to store x.
Certainly there are practicalities involved in the question of why to drive, and one of those practicalities is that it is infact frighteningly dangerous to get around this town. Exploring the question may indeed lead to solutions. If the city design and services allow freer, safer biking and walking, more people will participate. And the more people who ride, walk,etc, the better!
One of the few things I miss about city life ( I mean a real city such as Denver, though don’t for a second think I don’t love Idaho Falls ) is the dedicated bicycle routes. I could cross the entire city safely, either from bicycle paths, bike lanes, etc. In a city like Idaho Falls where a great many people only care about getting from point a to b, and anyone in their way be damned, it would be nice to have such niceties available.
I was at Walmart the other day and was reminded of another problem that is somewhat related. It isn’t the same as people on bikes, but it shows the ignorance of drivers.
I’ve had this happen several times where I am crossing the crosswalk at the entrance of the store to either go in or come out of the store and have cars speed up trying to beat the people trying to cross. It wasn’t like I walked right out in front of them. I stopped and looked for cars before crossing then just as I start walking across a car would approach and would speed up in front of me, and of course I had my two little kids with me too.
The worst time this happened, I was coming out of Smith’s with my 1 week old baby and four year old. I was carrying my baby in the carrier and trying to get a hold of my four year old’s hand. A truck sped up and swerved to go around me in the middle of the crosswalk. He barely missed hitting all three of us. The girl sitting next to him was clearly embarrassed and actually punched him in the arm.
People need to slow down and be more aware of pedestrians. There is no where you need to go that is too important to be a little more cautious.
I have to say I take offense to the idea that if you drive anything bigger than a four cylinder car you don’t pay attention. I drive an suv and I don’t mind stopping and waiting the extra few seconds it might take a pedestrian to cross the street IN A CROSSWALK. Of course I think most of the problem is the 8B drivers. They are some of the rudest drivers I have ever seen. I lived in two actual cities and have never seen this level of disrespect for fellow drivers. The people here are very rude so don’t expect them to pay attention anytime soon. And just so there is no question about me, I lived most of my life here in Southeast Idaho. I am not some out of state jerk that just moved here. I do hope to see some improvement someday.
We wouldn’t have all these roads if it weren’t for automobiles. If you disagree, read your history.
#1 bikers, wear helmets, use lights (especially in low light), wear reflective and/or bright clothing, obey traffic laws (you are not “special” no matter the circumstances, you have responsibilities, too), and watch out for yourselves
#2 drivers, be alert and courteous to your fellow drivers and road-users, and obey traffic laws
I can identify with both sides of this discussion. I have been a biker, a pedestrian, and a driver. Post #27 is right on. Bikers need to be aware of pedestrians particularly in places like on the Greenbelt. I have come closer to being hit by a bicycler on the Greenbelt coming up behind me than being hit by a car while bicycling. One of my pet peeves is bicyclers who ride right in the middle of the traffic lane and will not move over.