Cyclists upset over US bridge's speed limit
Source: Agencies |
April 25, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
PLANS to put the brakes on bicyclists riding across the Golden Gate Bridge has cycling enthusiasts crying foul in this urban center of two-wheeled activism.
Thousands of commuters, residents and tourists ride the bridge's stately span each day, and occasionally there is a smash-up when bikers collide with tourists drinking in the views or run into each other.
Still, the city was taken by surprise last week when bridge officials proposed speed limits as a way to lower the accident rate on San Francisco's signature landmark.
The initial plan would hit riders with a US$100 fine if they don't slow to 8 kilometer per hour around the bridge's iron towers, or 16 kph along the bulk of the 1,280-meter span. There is now no speed limit, and authorities say some riders have been clocked going over 32 kph.
But after groups of cyclists protested, the bridge's board of directors decided to postpone a vote on the limits to allow public debate.
"Five miles per hour is definitely slower than I would ever go," said Uri Friedman, a manager at Pedal Revolution, a non-profit bike shop near the hip cafes of San Francisco's Mission District. "This just kind of penalizes someone who knows how to ride their bike. As it is already, having to navigate through the tourists as you're trying to get out of town on a ride makes for a potentially frustrating experience."
On Saturday, as busloads of tourists snapped photos using the stately span as a backdrop, Frances Denner was recovering from a near wreck on her rental bicycle. She said she thought speed limits sounded wise.
Completed in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the world's great engineering feats.
Thousands of commuters, residents and tourists ride the bridge's stately span each day, and occasionally there is a smash-up when bikers collide with tourists drinking in the views or run into each other.
Still, the city was taken by surprise last week when bridge officials proposed speed limits as a way to lower the accident rate on San Francisco's signature landmark.
The initial plan would hit riders with a US$100 fine if they don't slow to 8 kilometer per hour around the bridge's iron towers, or 16 kph along the bulk of the 1,280-meter span. There is now no speed limit, and authorities say some riders have been clocked going over 32 kph.
But after groups of cyclists protested, the bridge's board of directors decided to postpone a vote on the limits to allow public debate.
"Five miles per hour is definitely slower than I would ever go," said Uri Friedman, a manager at Pedal Revolution, a non-profit bike shop near the hip cafes of San Francisco's Mission District. "This just kind of penalizes someone who knows how to ride their bike. As it is already, having to navigate through the tourists as you're trying to get out of town on a ride makes for a potentially frustrating experience."
On Saturday, as busloads of tourists snapped photos using the stately span as a backdrop, Frances Denner was recovering from a near wreck on her rental bicycle. She said she thought speed limits sounded wise.
Completed in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the world's great engineering feats.
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