Traffic
Sneak Parking Preview
June 29, 2006 
GUARDIAN reader “Bikeboy” offers a preview of the parking spot at 509 (507) Main which is designated for scooters and cycles.
Wouldn’t you know it, an SUV driver who can’t read took up the space. Interesting to see if the SUV folks take up the spot on Wednesday at 1 p.m. when Team Dave has scheduled the media event. Hillary H (HH) and friends used the GUARDIAN as a catalyst to get the attention of City Hall when they wanted to test drive parking spots for two wheelers.
A letter and some phone calls from GUARDIAN readers and a favorable response from the City Councilors and Team Dave got the job done. We will be on hand Wednesday for the media event and of course will offer testimonials about the power of bloggers!
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Jun 29, 2006, 10:50 pm
If I buy a smart car can I park it there?
EDITOR NOTE– Yes, if it has two wheels.
Jun 30, 2006, 12:14 am
can we get a close up on the back plate and send it in to the parking dept.
well, I guess that it just goes to show how this is gonna go. It won’t be easy for two wheelers to use that space resulting is loosing it. Well, at least the bike is using it…kinda.
Jun 30, 2006, 9:11 am
Good idea Slim Jim. Anyone notice the Yak rack on the vehicle? The guy has a bike, the weather looks nice, he has 1A plates, but he’s driving and using parking spaces for scooters. Just savor the irony.
But maybe he is just getting provisions…at the Cactus.
Jun 30, 2006, 11:30 am
Bikes and cars….the laws says equals….physics says not so equal. I like the idea of bikes and fuel savers but…..If the law says a construction worker must wear high visibility clothing and motor cyclist must were a helmet??? (not sure on that in Idaho). How about some safety rules and enforcement for all the ultra-lightweights about to mix with the well engineered crash cages.
Many a bike/scooter rider has been hard to see and in grave danger while running the red light on the wrong side of the street etc. As much as I’d like to ride a bike to school I fear sudden death at the hands of the person sipping coffee and talking on the phone while driving.
Jun 30, 2006, 12:41 pm
There really is no better training for learning to drive defensively than riding your bike in traffic, specifically because your life is on the line. It should be a mandatory requirement to get a drivers license. Not only would it teach defensive driving but it would educate potential drivers to be more sympathetic to the bike traffic out there.
But j., I’m not sure what extra safety requirements you are requesting beyond those already imposed. Driving on the wrong side of the road is already illegal and “running” the red lights is allowed for bikes only if it is safe to proceed through the intersection.
Jun 30, 2006, 1:31 pm
I said: scooters are hard to see? hmmm, so you must be one of those drivers who can’t see pedestrians and bike riders. For everyone’s safety you should ride the city bus PLEASE!!!!
cars hit cars too.
Don’t let fear rule your life.
Jun 30, 2006, 2:22 pm
Regarding bicycles in Boise traffic… I have a bit of experience. If you ride defensively, predictably, assertively, and legally, you’re almost as safe as being in an automobile.
(Obviously, if you ARE involved in an accident, you are more vulnerable.)
Although I have to occasionally compensate for a clueless motorist, I have WAY more close calls with Bozos on bikes… riding against traffic and straight toward me. (The Boise Police Department has chosen not to enforce that law unless an accident is involved. Imagine if they didn’t enforce against-traffic DRIVING! We’d have way more carnage like that old gal from Mountain Home who took out some poor dude on the Interstate earlier in the week.)
There are some great, common-sense bike-traffic laws on the books in Idaho (including the coast-carefully-through-a-stop-sign statute). Selective enforcement is a problem; no point in having a law that isn’t being enforced.
Jul 3, 2006, 9:04 am
So, this means that Scooters/bikes park in their own spots, and leave the full-sized car spots for those of us in cars, right?
Jul 3, 2006, 9:55 am
Kevin… you must be new to the conversation.
Scooters and motorcycles can park in “full-sized car spots” – could before, could afterwards. (Obviously the meter must be fed, no matter the vehicle type.) The issue was that Boise City Parking Control was only allowing one scooter/motorcycle per full-sized spot. Any reasonable and objective person can see that such a rule is extremely inefficient. (Kinda like moving people one person per car. Just not an efficient use of available space and infrastructure.)
This is NOT a “2-wheel vs. 4-wheel” issue. If 3 or 4 scooters/motorcycles are legally parked in the space occupied formerly by one car or SUV, there’s a good chance that a couple spaces will be freed up for additional cars and SUVs.
Jul 3, 2006, 11:55 pm
bikeboy, you are such a kind person.
thank you!
Jul 4, 2006, 1:08 am
First, Osprey said:
If I buy a smart car can I park it there?
EDITOR NOTE– Yes, if it has two wheels.
Well, duh, Mr. Editor: Every car has two wheels. Yep, and three wheels, and four wheels (five if you count the steering wheel or the spare; six if you count both of them. But no matter how many of them you count, it still “has two wheels” — plus some more.
As for riding against traffic: Yeah, it’s dangerous, but still not so dangerous as riding with your back to drivers who either just can’t see bicycles, scooters, small motorcycles and pedestrians — or some who seem to see them and then try to hit them or run them off the road.
As for the parking spaces — rather than use up a lot of paint to make special spaces (which, apparently, fourwheelers still will park in), why not just get rid of the idiotic law that says only one vehicle per space?
Wouldn’t cost a cent, and would free up lots of spaces for those bigger machines that can’t fit more than one to a space.
As for riding in Idaho’s big city — yeah, there are quite a few streets where it’s not extremely dangerous, but anybody riding on West State and a few others probably could be stopped by a cop and charged with attempted suicide.
— gp
Jul 5, 2006, 10:24 am
Interesting post Gordon. First go check the front page article in Boise’s daily paper for safety tips on riding or any bikeshop for safety rules of the road. Riding against traffic is unsafe and illegal. I’ve never faced the prospect of someone intentionally trying to hit me on my bike but if you are aware of such an event I trust you will report that person to the proper authorities. Its called aggravated assault and if someone is injured or killed its a much more serious felony.
I know there is a feeling of power when one gets behind the wheel but I have yet to encounter such apparent lawlessness from drivers. Unfortunately I have encountered it from misinformed cyclists who make up their own minds on what is safe and legal. We don’t tolerate it from drivers, we should not tolerate it from errant cyclists.
Jul 5, 2006, 11:53 pm
Hey, what’s the problem here?
That cute little SUV was probably parked there for “just a minute” while the soccer mom or dad ran into a local establishment to pick up something. It even looks like they might be a Boise State fan.
Take a closer look at that parking job. It would make a Driver Ed instructor proud. Front wheels between the two “box” white lines, the rear tire just behind the first white line, and the rear bumper nicely clear of the second white line. Sign? What sign?
Heck, if anything, the bike is a problem. The owner obviously doesn’t know how to park. It’s straddling the white line. It might even get hit as the SUV owner turns slightly to the right (just like their Driver Ed instructor told them to do) as he or she backs up to get out of that free parking space.
Actually, I think SUV owner probably can read. They probably are a Guardian reader. Because they read the Guardian they know the sign really doesn’t go into effect until today (7/5).
And Osprey, you’ll have to wait until 2008 to buy a Smart car in the US.
See: http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/
JQP
Jul 6, 2006, 4:32 pm
Gordon, cyclists can hear cars approaching from behind. Consider riding a bike on a street where the cars are going 30mph and you’re on a bike going 20mph. On the left side of the road, there is a 50mph difference in speed between the bike and cars. On the right side, the difference is 10mph.
Would you rather slam into a brick wall head on at 50mph, or backwards at 10mph.
It seems like that whenever the topic of bicycles comes up in a public forum, somebody asserts that cyclists should ride on the left side of the road. Is it responsible journalism to publish such DANGEROUS misinformation? No, it isn’t.