Larger photo here

Most news outlets carried the story of the car plowing through a Critical Mass bike event in Porto Alegre, Brasil. 15 were injured, eight severely. There are some very graphic videos posted on youtube if you search for Massa Critica Porto Alegre.

The police tracked the man suspected of being the driver, Ricardo José Neis, 47, to a private psychiatric clinic that he checked himself into on Tuesday. On Wednesday he was placed under detention there on suspicion of deliberately driving into the riders.

The city’s police chief, Rodrigo Pohlmann Garcia, said he expected Mr. Neis to be moved to a prison in the next few days.

“We found him in a hospital last night, and doctors told me he was emotionally unstable and suicidal, so we are keeping him in a psychiatric institution for the time being,” Mr. Garcia said.

Neis now claims that he acted in self-defense. Critical Mass bicycle activist rides take their name from the organic flow of auto vs bike traffic in Beijing, but their rides disrupt traffic and often lead to violent confrontations with drivers or police in the West. Neis raised the bar, however.

We just had a cyclist accident in town:

Investigation pending in accident that critically injured bicyclist

City police are stressing that the investigation into an accident that critically injured a Johns Hopkins University student who was riding a bicycle near campus is still pending. Nathan Krasnopoler, 20, was hospitalized after being struck Saturday by a vehicle being driven by an 83-year-old woman. ...

The student was riding his bike in a marked bike lane on West University Parkway at the intersection with West 39th Street when he was hit by a vehicle trying to turn right, police have said. When officers arrived, Krasnopoler was trapped under the vehicle, according to a police report.

They're stressing that because the local cycling community is incensed at early reports that the cyclist was found at fault, which happens with depressing regularity. Bike Baltimore responds by citing the law:

§ 21-1209.(d) Yielding right-of-way – Unless otherwise specified in this title, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a person who is lawfully riding a bicycle, an EPAMD, or a motor scooter in a designated bike lane or shoulder if the driver of the vehicle is about to enter or cross the designated bike lane or shoulder.

A few weeks ago, I sat in on a meeting of the Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Committee. I've been following the Bike Baltimore blog for over a year, almost since it started. Bike Baltimore recently started a Facebook group, which I joined, which got me invited to the meeting. I dithered a bit but the office building is only a short walk from the office. Even though the snow had been cleared from the roads, I was leery of black ice, so I had been walking to the light rail stations. I walked past the red light block on Baltimore Street, where some fellow told me I was passing up the finest show in town. Everyone else at the meeting came by bike, and were allowed to bring them up to the office.

They all seemed to know each other, except for the the invited guest, Police Major Tony Brown, who seemed ill-at-ease at first, but asked very direct questions about what we cyclists felt were the biggest problems facing us. Some of the others offered a few complaints about being harrassed by aggressive drivers at certain locations. I was thinking that we were not addressing the real issue, but being new, I decided to be more of a listener. Someone blamed cyclists that disregard the law, and others blamed bicycle messengers, the buccaneers of pedaling, for pissing off drivers.

I see reality a bit differently. We build roads for traffic. Often the roads have sidewalks. According to the letter of the law, trucks, cars and bikes are supposed to use the roads, and pedestrians and perhaps children on trikes are supposed to use the sidewalks. The law varies as to how bikes may use the road. The old standard was that bikes stay to the right, while newer laws entitle a bike to full use of a lane.

That last part is the fundamental disagreement. Auto drivers don't even want to slow down for other cars, much less to follow bikes. They don't even want to change lanes to pass bikes, and cyclists don't want to be forced into the curb by cars passing in the same lane. But trying to claim the entire lane really ticks off drivers.

One solution is to build separate bike lanes, but even if money can be found, taxis and even city officials park in those lanes. Another is to require that autos and trucks stay at least three feet away from bikes, but enforcement seems unlikely. In some respects I think this will play out like the situation with LGBT rights. I don't think American drivers will tolerate bikes until more and more of them have cyclists in their family, or in their workplace, or in some way identify personally with cyclists.