People who follow the news know that every year, around this time, there seem to be an increase in trusted information sources warning us about bicycles and pedestrians colliding with cars, and the correlation with Daylight Savings Time. Some of these vehicle collisions are fatal, and we remember when someone dies. Invariably the reports quote police officers and traffic safety officials attributing said automobile collisions to the twice-a-year annual changing of the clocks, the explanation being that either the onset of darkness is sooner and people are in a rush to get home, or there's not enough light early in the morning when people are in a rush to get to work, or people have to wake up earlier than they are used to, and this disruption in the body's Circadian rhythm means people are less aware at the wheel. In many cases, you add on the idea that some motorists have problems adjusting their eyes to the new light level, or the sun may be in their eyes, or it's too dark, and one can readily see why accidents might abound around the changing of the clock. The idea then that there is a correlation between Daylight Saving Time and an increased rate of accidents sounds plausible, even somewhat convincing. But what if there is no increase in traffic accidents around Daylight Savings Time? In order to avoid confirmation bias (the notion that "people see what they want to see", in that it is a particular human weakness that we all remember the purported evidence that supports an idea we want to believe, and we discard any suspect evidence that threatens that belief), one should approach an answer to this question using the power of science.
In the past, there've been studies to support this claim. However, the latest study, culled from Wikipedia, seems to show, at the very least, the jury is still out, and that there may even be no connection:
According to earlier studies, this change in time-schedule leads to sleep disruption and fragmentation of the circadian rhythm. Since sleep deprivation decreases motivation, attention, and alertness, transitions into and out of daylight saving time may increase the amount of accidents during the following days after the transition. We studied the amount of road traffic accidents one week before and one week after transitions into and out of daylight saving time during years from 1981 to 2006. Our results demonstrated that transitions into and out of daylight saving time did not increase the number of traffic road accidents.
2010 Jun 27. Daylight saving time transitions and road traffic accidents. Lahti T, Nysten E, Haukka J, Sulander P, Partonen T.
I was in Los Angeles last week to attend an event; a friend from high school had gotten married, and his wife was having a baby shower. Shortly after I received the invitation, the best deal I could find was 3 weeks away, and so I booked the first flight leaving Oakland on a Tuesday morning, and the last flight coming back to Oakland the following week on a Wednesday night. My sister, who lives in LA, being a mother of an almost 4-year-old girl, hadn't been getting much sleep, and she balked at picking me up when my plane arrived at Burbank airport at 7:15 am. I decided that, when I arrived at my destination airport, I was not going to jump into a rented car, but get on my bike and, depending on the grace and mercy of the public transit system, ride to where I needed to go. The last time I was in Los Angeles was 4 years ago, for my sister's own baby shower, and I had a rental car for a week; by the time I came back to the Bay Area, I had gained 10 pounds, due to increased caloric intake and lack of physical activity. This time I was going to save money and get some more exercise. Here's what I did to become a green traveler (or, a green traveller, as they say in the United Kingdom):
What you will need:
tape measure
folding bike
bicycle lock
clear plastic garbage bag
bungee cord, also known as a shock cord
Confirm your airline's baggage policy. I was allowed to check-in two bags for free, in accordance with the Southwest Airlines checked bags policy:
Weight and Size Allowance: Maximum weight is 50 pounds and maximum size is 62 inches (length + width + height) per checked piece of luggage. ...[O]verweight items from 51 to 100 pounds and oversized items in excess of 62 inches but not more than 80 inches (e.g.; surfboards, bicycles, vaulting poles) will be accepted for a charge of $75 per item.
If you don't want to be forced to pay $75 at the ticket counter, use measuring tape and a scale to make sure your bicycle conforms to the size and weight limitations. Besides your folding bike, I recommend you bring a backpack as your other bag, because your folding bike's wheels are smaller than your standard bicycle, and you don't want to make your ride even more unstable by having a heavy bag slung around your neck, hanging off one side, making your bicycle ride unpleasant and unsafe.
If your bicycle lock is a U-lock, it's likely the TSA agent may consider that it can be used as a weapon, so don't try to bring it onto the airplane cabin in your carry-on; rather, lock your U-lock to your bicycle during the check-in.
Pack light. Erykah Badu, in her famous "Bag Lady", exhorts, "Bag Lady, you're going to miss your bus. You can't hurry up, cause you got too much stuff."
Do not be the bag lady, who would surely hurt her back, dragging all her bags like that! Besides my folding bike, I had one backpack, into which I put my laptop computer, a change of underwear and an extra pair of shorts, an extra 16-inch inner-tube, and hard plastic steel-core tire levers, in case I got a flat tire. I got a lot of my tips for how to pack light from this article.
I decided to enclose my bike in a plastic bag in an effort to conform to Southwest's Special Luggage Sports Equipment Policy:
Bicycles (defined as nonmotorized and having a single seat), including Bike Friday and Co-Pilot, properly packed in a hard-sided bicycle box that fall within the dimensions and weight limits established for normal Checked Baggage, (i.e., 62 inches or less in overall dimensions and less than 50 pounds in weight). Pedals and handlebars must be removed and packaged in protective materials so as not to be damaged by or cause damage to other Baggage. Bicycles packaged in cardboard or soft-sided cases will be transported as conditionally accepted items.
"Conditionally accepted" means Southwest assumes no liability for damage sustained during transport. I decided on a see-through transparent bag because I imagine the airport baggage handlers will be a bit more careful if they are able to see that it's a bicycle they are handling, than if the bicycle was in a canvas bag or hard-sided case. Once your bike is unfolded at your destination airport, you can easily store the plastic bag in your backpack.
You will also want to bring a spare inner tube that is in your folding bike's tire size, and tire levers, in case you get a flat tire. Los Angeles has a lot of gas stations, bike shops, and people with bicycles and tire pumps in their garages, where you can use a pump if need be, but if you will not be in a densely populated area, you may also want to bring along a bike pump. By the way, for those of you concerned with how the change in air pressure during a flight may or may not affect the compressed air in your bicycle tires: before I began my voyage, I had my tires inflated beyond the recommended upper limit, and at both of my destination airports, when I received my bike, there was never any problem with my tires or inner tubes.
My 2005 Dahon Presto Lite. This model is no longer available for retail sale. I bought mine second-hand. It came without mud guards.
Folded size, with right pedal, is 30 x 20 x 17, for a total of 67 linear inches. On this model, the right pedal is easily removable. Folded size, without right pedal, is 30 x 20 x 11, for a total of 61 linear inches. Weight is about 18 pounds.
Folded bike with U-lock, locked to frame.
Folded bike with U-lock, locked to frame, covered by clear plastic garbage bag, and secured with bungee cord.
Did you ever have any problems, or unexpected events or hiccups, with checking-in your bike at the airport? On my recent flight, during both check-ins, with my removable right pedal affixed, neither Southwest ticket counter agent made an issue of the extra few linear inches or, for that matter, ever took out a measuring tape. There was one incident where, during my first check-in, a Southwest ticket counter agent said she would have to charge me $50 to transport a bicycle. However, I pointed out that, on their website, the Southwest policy is that bikes under the size and weight limit count as checked-in baggage and are not subject to a fee. The agent looked up the policy, gave my folding bike a once-over, looked at the bike's weight, and said it was ok.
If you're looking to buy a folding bike, I recommend:
though one drawback is the guide doesn't have folded-size dimensions. If you have the time to look for a second-hand, well-maintained bike for a good price, I recommend Craigslist, which is how I found mine.
Conceivably, you could also bring a folding bike with you on a boat cruise, or sight-seeing in an RV or tour bus. So now you have another option as a green tourist. Next time you travel, don't rent a car; bring a bicycle.
Protect your bike from those who may see an opportunity to abscond with the valuable, quick-released perch for your peachy derriere.
a tempting target for a would-be thief
Foiled again! Thanks seat leash
Were anyone to happen upon this scene, look around and see no one watching, the thought might cross your mind to simply loosen the quick release and walk off with someone else's property like it was yours. The Great Recession created lean and mean times, changing the way Americans spend. With such general apprehension and fear, you can find some amazing bargains in the bicycle market right now. I decided to overcome my reluctance to spend and make the big purchase that, as an avid bicyclist, you might be saving for as well. My new second-hand bicycle is a lightly used 1997 Marin Team Titanium that has a quick release binder bolt for adjusting the height of the seat post.
Let's start by getting our vocabulary straight (thanks to Sheldon Brown for helping me put names to bike parts):
saddle (also called bicycle seat)
saddle clamp (also called seat sandwich)
seat leash (also seat security cable)
seatpost or seat post (also called seat mast, seat pillar, or seat pin)
stolen (also pilfered, nicked, or made off with)
Y hex wrench (also 3 way hex wrench. This is a tool, commonly seen in bike repair shops, that has the 3 wrench sizes to fit the socket heads on most modern bicycles. 'Hex wrench' can be used interchangeably with Allen wrench or L wrench)
I tried numerous times to figure out a way to use a seat leash to secure my bicycle seat and seat-post, but the closest I got was a half-baked solution where I added the end-loop as an ingredient into the seat clamp mechanism, so that the clamp was gripping a combination of saddle rail and seat leash loop. This made for not the best grip on the saddle rails, and, while you were riding, the bicycle seat was prone to moving horizontally back and forth, a rather unpleasant event for any rider. The light bulb flashed atop my head last Sunday, September 6, at around 11:25am, when I stepped into the Missing Link repair shop and spoke with Andy Renteria, who told me it's possible to secure the saddle and seatpost to the bike with a security cable. He used his forefinger and thumb as an analog for the end-point loop of the seat security cable, and wrapped it around the saddle clamp, between the seatpost and the saddle rail. The breakthrough for me on how to secure your bike seat was using the saddle clamp itself as the focal point on which to anchor the endpoint loop: Thanks Andy, at Missing Link repair shop
The seat security cable has end loop which uses the saddle clamp (I call it a seat sandwich) as a focal point. Also in the picture is my beloved Planet Bike Superflash Stealth Tail Rear Light
From start to finish:
use the Y hex wrench, or any appropriate Allen or 'L' wrench, to remove the saddle
insert one loop through the other and wrap your seat security cable around the seat stay, or any focal point that has stops and forms a closed area. Take care when wrapping your security cable around the seat stay that you avoid the part of the frame closest to the tire
with the remainder of the bike security cable in your hands, visualize the saddle clamp itself as the focal point on which to anchor the endpoint loop, and affix said loop on the clamp
now install (or rather, reinstall) the saddle into the seat clamp mechanism, making sure the seat leash end-point loop is between, and stopped by, the seat rail and the seat post.
Traveling at a high rate of speed, I was on the right side of the road northbound on Martin Luther King Jr Way, having just passed Angel Light Books & Gifts. I crossed in front of the fenced playground area of Shelton's Primary Education Center (Since I wrote this, Shelton's moved, and the building is now occupied by American International Montessori) when suddenly a car door flipped open directly in front of me. My right shoulder caught the top of the door corner and my right pedal the edge of the lower door, and I was thrown off my bike, landing on my back in the middle of the street. After I heard a female voice ask if I was alright, I got up, dusted myself off, and took notice of the driver standing before me, dressed for an early summer morning and ready for work, possibly at the very school we had collided in front of; on the other side of the vehicle stood another woman, who may have been a passenger, dressed similarly and carrying her purse and some papers. I made sure I was ok, asked the driver if she was ok, and picked up my bike to inspect for damage. The African American female driver seemed genuinely concerned about my well-being, and I noticed that the tip of the lower metal edge of her car door was bent and protruding, having clearly been struck by something, which I later surmised had been the right pedal of my bike, the force of which had spun me around and thrown me out onto the street on my back. I seemed to be in one piece, though my bike had some minor damage; I was still in a hurry to get to Kinko's in downtown Berkeley to print out a document before riding into work. I felt embarrassed for not being more attentive to the parked vehicle immediately ahead of me and to my right, whether there were any occupants to worry about, and I remarked to the woman that I was ok, but that the repair to her car door would cost a lot more than the repair to my bike. I was operating under the assumption we were both at fault for the incident, and given the possibility in the back of my mind I might be held liable for any damages to the woman's car door as a result of my haste, I didn't see the need to exchange information with the driver. I remarked to both ladies that it was an interesting way to start the day, got back on my bike and rode off, noticing the slight wobble in my now out-of-true front wheel.
Over the next two weeks I saw a noticeable dark bruise appear on the upper part of my right chest where it had caught the car door's corner and felt severe pain in my right shoulder area whenever I picked up my bike and lifted it, or made certain motions with my right arm; luckily for me, gradually the sharpness lessened and over time the ache in my shoulder disappeared.
On Saturday morning, July 18, 2009 at 11:15am I was at Missing Link's repair shop to get my wheel trued. I asked the bike mechanic Bill about his summer plans for his two kids, then described the incident that led to my being in his shop, and was surprised to hear from him that the woman was almost surely responsible for the incident, that a driver is almost always at fault for a bicyclist being "doored". This idea was reinforced when on Thursday, July 23, 2009 I was listening to my favorite radio personality Len Tillem's noon to 1pm call-in radio show. A woman named Sunny called saying her daughter, who was driving, had opened her car door and a female cyclist had collided with the door, breaking her wrist. Sunny claimed the bicycle rider, a woman in her early 40s, caused the accident and so was liable for any damages resulting from the impact of the bicycle against the car door when her daughter opened it. Sunny explained her rationale for defending her daughter as not motivated by the expected protective instinct a mother might have for her child, but simply that the woman on her bike was riding too close to the vehicles. In her daughter's defense, Sunny, herself a cyclist, pointed out how some states have the door zone law, but in California there is unfortunately no such law, only a pending statute. Len seemed skeptical, saying Sunny's daughter, if she had just checked over her shoulder, would have seen the cyclist, and was in a better position than the woman on the bicycle to prevent the collision. Later, Jim, a retired California Highway Patrol officer, called in to confirm Len's initial assessment, saying that whenever a bicyclist hits a car door that opens into traffic, the person who opened the car door is at fault, quoting California Vehicle Code section 22517. In response to Sunny's rationale, Jim added that a bike rider is required to ride as close as possible to the right side of the roadway:
I'm a Taipei, Taiwan-born immigrant who received a BA in English Literature from UC Berkeley, and recently became an American citizen. I've been a computer programmer in California for the past several years and am currently pursuing graduate studies in Biostatistics. Recently, I was challenged intellectually when crafting a response to a woman whose son was shot at a sideshow in Oakland, CA.
