San Francisco Website Launches Bike Accident Tracker
The staff at Editor and Publisher (E&P) announced on February 08, 2011 that “The Bay Citizen in San Francisco has launched a bike accident tracker on its website, BayCitizen.org.”
P &E also reports that the user-friendly interactive map shows viewers, “every bicycle accident that has been reported to the police in nearly two years.” Here is how it works: “Users can click on an accident to get the full details on the location along with who was at fault and why.”
In addition, according to the site, “bike ridership in the city has grown 60 percent since 2006.” So initially–one can see why this is such a great resource for anyone living in the Bay area, especially for those who plan on biking anytime soon.
The tracker can be found here, where the authors of the site explain their rational for launching this site. Chiefly, the Bike Accident Tracker seeks to protect those who bike in San Francisco. But after taking a look for myself, I realized, it is more personal than just that.
For example, after a sting of 2010 fatalities including, “the death of Nils Linke, a 21-year-old German tourist killed by a drunk driver on Masonic Avenue,” things needed to change. The site authors also explain, “Overall, bike crashes jumped 8% in the past two years, while ridership grew 3%.”
However, those behind Bike Accident Tracker will be the first to admit, Many bikers and drivers disagree over whose behavior needs to change most.” Yet, according to the site, some changes are already being made.
The city, for example, “is installing new bike lanes after winning a four-year legal battle,” and the site reports that other new innovations are on the horizon, “like separated lanes on busy Market Street” which “aim to make commutes less harrowing.”
The bottom line is, the folks who created the Bike Accident Tracker have “analyzed every bike accident reported to the police in nearly two years.” This resource then allows residents and tourists for that matter to find bike lanes for commutes and spot trouble zones when riding for pleasure.
Finally, this network of electric eyes on San Francisco bike riders will allow for safer routes for everyone by holding those responsible for accidents accountable for their actions.