Each year there are tens of thousands of fatalities on the nation’s highways. A disproportionate of those are non-motorized users — bicyclists and pedestrians. Given that the NTSB has made over 13,000 safety recommendations, you might think at least some of those would relate to the dismal state of our bicycle infrastructure, right?
A search of the NTSB online database finds hardly any mention of bike safety. I could find just a single report, which simply gives general guidance that the use of bicycles should be encouraged by the DOT and Dept. of Health. It was issued in 1972 — during the Nixon Administration.
I spent over an hour trying different keywords, but could find nothing else on bikes. On the other hand, I had no trouble at all finding reports on airplanes, trains, and automobiles.
It is ironic because the NTSB was specifically created by Congress to give outside, independent advice to highway planners. State and Federal transportation agencies have been so clueless about bike planning, you would think this would have been the one area where the NTSB outside “experts” provided guidance.
So for anyone at the NTSB who might be reading this, here are a few suggestion topics:
- Incorporating Dutch cycle guidelines into highway design manuals
- Design of car doors to reduce/eliminate bicycle “dooring” (perhaps an interlock system in the door latch that flashes the rear hazard lights for at least 3 seconds before opening the door).
- Improve visibility from truck cabs, so as to reduce bikes/ped collisions.
- Designing car bonnets to reduce pedestrian injury/fatality in a collision.
I am sure NTSB staff can think of some others — if they aren’t too busy worrying about airline baby seats.
Side guards on trucks to reduce the chance of the back wheels running over someone.
[…] say about the hundreds of people who are killed every year riding bicycles. In fact, Network blog Systemic Failure reports it’s been more than 30 years since NTSB weighed in on cycling […]
Point number 4 is, to some extent, already happening thanks to Euro NCAP safety regs. Many, if not most, models on sale today are designed as world cars to some extent, so they have to take pedestrian regs into account (this has been a matter of consternation in some enthusiast circles since the need to put distance between the hood and hard engine components has led to “puffier” front-end styling).
Maybe, but I could see some technologies, like pop-up hoods and pedestrian airbags, being removed from American models in order to save costs– either on new cars or during maintenance– in the absence of regulations that require them.
The riff about baby seats on airplanes is a good example of why I’m worried about Deborah Hersmann’s possible larger role in the DOT. Her agency just has an advisory role now. Do you really want a “safety at all costs” mindset for cyclists (and for transit) at this Federal agency?
[…] The Last Time the NTSB Made a Bike Infrastructure Recommendation was in 1972 | Systemic Failure […]
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[…] fact, the last time the NTSB looked at a bike or ped issue was way back in the year 1972. Apparently, the NTSB believes the US has the most perfect infrastructure for bikes and […]