The Ada County Highway District is distributing a pair of public service announcements to local television stations, urging cyclists and motorists to give one another space on the road.

According to ACHD spokeswoman Robbie Johnson, the PSAs were originally produced by San Luis Obispo Bicycle Coalition in California and have been used in other places as well, including in Olympia, Wash. So far, channels 2, 7 and 12 have aired them and Johnson said 6 has received a copy as well. Incidentally, the local stations that use ACHDs traffic cameras are required to air the agency's PSAs as well, and Johnson said they must run a “minimum twenty (20) thirty (30) second commercial spots at no cost on an annual basis.” though Johnson said there is no quota or specific time slot when they must run. (Channel 6 does not broadcast the traffic cameras).

This is what ACHD sent out to the stations in July:

We have heard from bicyclists who have complained about bad behavior on behalf of motor vehicle drivers. Motor vehicle drivers have also spoken up about bicyclists who aren’t courteous. We all need to share the road — there is room for drivers and riders, and it’s the law. This is the message of the PSAs. One is directed toward bicyclists, and serves as a reminder to be considerate of motor vehicle drivers; the other PSA reminds motor vehicle drivers to make some room for bicyclists. By reminding people to share the road, ACHD hopes to raise public awareness of the presence of bicyclists on the roadway. Through this effort, we hope to encourage a safer street system for all residents of Ada County.

Kristin Armstrong starred in another PSA this summer, sponsored by CableOne. Here are the ACHD PSAs with a point of discussion below.

Both of these ads offer decent, simple messages. But I still fail to understand this obsession with the equivalency of biking and driving that has suffused the discussion this past summer in Boise. Cyclists do not kill drivers, thus if both share a right to the road, the major onus for safety is on automobile and truck operators. Furthermore, the equivalency argument, reinforced by this pair of PSAs, allows drivers mental space to be infuriated and enraged by the actions of cyclists, leading to a spiral of aggressive driving and injury.

Discuss.

Boise's cycling safety task force will hold an open house tonight to share its recommendations and take public comment.

The open house is from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight in the City Council chambers on the third floor of City Hall. A second open house is planned for Thursday, Aug. 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. at City Hall West in the Sawtooth Room (333 N. Sailfish Place, off Emerald Street between Maple Grove and Five Mile roads).

There is also a City Council meeting at noon today. The council will be briefed on several transportation plans, including an update on the streetcar issue. The council will also consider a series of city code updates that may or may not include some controversial changes. One resolution makes "Senior Managers and Command Staff, other than Police Lieutenants" at will employees. Another, scrutinized at the Boise Guardian, appears to give the Fire Chief managerial authority over hospital transport, i.e., ambulance services.

City spokesman Adam Park said the chief already has managerial authority over transport and that it does not change anything.

“That was something they added to memorialize the authority of the chief regarding EMS - to put it on the record,” Park said. “We still have the same budget process that applies to everything else.”

In other words, purchases like ambulances still require City Council approval.

Just to make it that much more exciting, the council is also reaffirming its crackdown on the Torch 2 at lunch today.

Boise has just released preliminary recommendations for improving bike safety in town, including accelerating some of the Ada County Highway District's future plans for cyclists, implementing a local three-feet to pass law and passing complementary cyclist harassment and dumb cyclist ordinances.

The committee, which included city, police, ACHD and Idaho Transportation Department reps, formed in late June. The detailed report from the safety task force was reviewed by a large citizen committee, including bike people, and two public forums are planned to review the 24 recommendations.

The forums are scheduled for: Tuesday, Aug. 25, 6 to 8 p.m. at Boise City Hall Council Chambers (3rd floor) and Thursday, Aug. 27, 6 to 8 p.m., at City Hall West Sawtooth Room (333 N. Sailfish
Place, off Emerald between Maple Grove and Five Mile roads).

The recommendations include engineering tasks, like maintaining bike lanes, improving intersections and clarifying sidewalk use by cyclists; enforcement options like the 3-feet to pass ordinance for cars, better defining right of ways and scaling back penalties on cycling violations to infractions; and education including a public information campaign and increased education in schools and through driver ed.

Unclear in the report is wether or not this will be legal.

Boise Police continue to cite bikers who are injured by cars, part of a stepped up enforcement of bike laws in the wake of three cyclist deaths this summer.

This morning, two cyclists were cited after run-ins with vehicles.

According to police communications director Lynn Hightower, a pickup truck hit a 62-year-old man on a bicycle as he crossed Main Street near 27th St. just before 8 a.m. Hightower describes the incident this way: "Vehicle, a pick up truck was headed westbound on Main. Witnesses say a cyclist rode out of a parking lot and proceeded to ride across approx 3 lanes of traffic, until the pick up truck hit him."

The cyclist was cited for "failure to exercise due caution when entering a roadway," and a $46.50 fine.

Then, a half hour later at Orchard and Clark streets, police allege that a cyclist in his early 20's ran a red light at a high rate of speed and struck a Ford Mustang in the intersection. His bike was damaged beyond repair. He was cited for a red light violation, also a $46.50 fine.

Injuries to both cyclists were described as scrapes. Neither wore a helmet.

Yesterday, the Statesman had a story about another man who broke his neck after crashing with a car. In that case, according to the Statesman, the driver was cited for not paying attention.

Bikers filled the patio of the Falcon Tavern and spilled onto the sidewalk Thursday, July 17 at the Bicycle Law and Safety panel discussion, hosted by Johnson & Monteleone, L.L.P.. The featured authorities, all avid bikers, were:

Thomas J. Lloyd III — Attorney, Johnson & Monteleone, L.L.P
Officer Anthony Dotson — Boise Police Department
Sergeant Clair Walker — Bike Patrol, Boise Police Department
Senator Elliot Werk — Idaho State Senator, District 17
Kristin Armstrong — ‘08 Olympic Gold Medalist, Women’s Time Trial

With the growing number of bicyclist deaths, disharmony between motorists and cyclists took the forefront of the discussion. For Lloyd, the root of this problem lays in an attitude of avarice toward motorists some bikers harbor, and, conversely, a belief that bikes don't belong on roads, held by some motorists.

"It's not black and white. I've been on the road and I've seen us both screw up," said Lloyd.

Furthermore, murky bike laws and conflicting municipal codes complicate the status of bikes on the road. Are bikes vehicles? Citing a letter from a citizen that summed up his position, Sergeant Walker, supervisor of the bicycle patrol unit, read: "bikes are best treated as vehicles, not special needs children."

The law, as Lloyd explained it, defines "vehicle" as a variety of transportation methods, not just automobiles. On this vehicle list are bicycles, horses, mopeds, motorcycles, and, in response to one inquiry, "Falkor from The Never Ending Story", although the law doesn't mention luckdragons specifically.

Lloyd drew enthusiastic applause when he raised the issue that a major concern of bikers is that police are slow to issue citations when a biker is picked off by a driver. In response, Walker explained that the BPD is dedicated to finding exactly the right penalty for the fatalities in question, also drawing an applause.

After telling a story about a man who leaned out of a car and yelled unmentionables at him, Senator Werk gave BW a shoutout on the recent discussion on single-speeds.

"I loved what they said about the single speeds," said Werk. Werk stressed education for the younger generations to create a more bike-friendly future. Biking projects, such as separate biking lanes, need funding, for which Werk proposed using money from biking fines.

"If you violate law, that money goes to safety," said Werk.

Kristin Armstrong, fresh off the plane from Italy, staved off jet lag to share some biking tips. In particular - steer clear of car doors.

"A lot of incidents happen with the door," said Armstrong.

Officer Dotson noted that the five-member bike patrol unit rolls in a geographically small area, mostly downtown and the greenbelt, and cannot police everything. Walker stressed that expanding his team would benefit the safety of the biking community. In the meantime though, Walker urged bikers to be more assertive about reporting incidents. His advice — if you're on the line about whether to call something in, do it. "You need to call the police. We love to respond."

UPDATE: ITD spokesman Steve Grant reports that this new info will NOT appear on the Idaho Driver's Test, just in the manual.

HONKING — Never honk when close to a bicyclist, it is startling.

That's one of the new recommendations that will appear in the new Idaho Driver's Manual to be published later this summer.

"Significant effort was placed in garnering input from bicycling advocates from around the state," stated Idaho Transportation Department's Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Mark McNeese in a press release. "We appreciated the contribution from these individuals and the manual will be greatly improved because of their commitment to improving safety on Idaho's roadways."

Boise Sen. Elliot Werk and "statewide bike advocates" helped put together the info for new drivers about sharing the road with bikes.

Here is the important part:

Bicyclists are legally allowed to ride on all Idaho roadways, have the same rights as motorists, and are required to ride with the flow of traffic. They must ride as close to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway as safety allows, except when passing, turning left, avoiding an obstacle, or when the roadway does not allow a bicycle and motor vehicle to travel safely side by side.

We don't have time to look at it right now, but this ITD Web site on mobility might have some other good information on it.

In today's BW we call out Boise bicyclists for not demanding attention and rights. But perhaps we jumped the gun a little bit. Today we find out about two events that could start to shift the focus, though the first one starts out as a silent ride.

On July 6, bikers will gather at 5:30 pm on Smith Street south of Hill Road where Kevin Pavlis was killed, and ride in silence to Boise City Hall.

In a Ride of Silence cyclists take to the roads in a slow, silent procession to honor cyclists who have been killed while cycling on public roadways. The Ride of Silence is a free ride that asks its cyclists to ride no faster than 12 mph and remain silent during the ride. The ride will be escorted by the Boise Police Department.

And via the Facebook, on July 16 at 7 p.m. at the Falcon Tavern, 705 West Bannock St., there will be a panel discussion on rules and rights of the road with:

Senator Elliot Werk — Idaho State Senator, District 17
Kristin Armstrong — ‘08 Olympic Gold Medalist, Women’s Time Trial
Sergeant Clair Walker — Bike Patrol, Boise Police Department
Officer Anthony Dotson — Boise Police Department
Thomas J. Lloyd III — Attorney, Johnson & Monteleone, L.L.P.

So the action continues... citydesk will bring you all the Boise biker news that's fit to blog.

The City of Boise has put together a "Coordinated Community Response" for bike safety in order to address the three cyclist deaths that have occurred this summer. The team includes people from police, prosecutors, the Ada County Highway District, and an unnamed (or yet-to-be-named) rep from the Idaho Transportation Department. The City Council reviewed a draft report last week and is expected to suggest any revisions by Wednesday.

The report states as its purpose:

After three bicyclist fatalities in less than a month, an unusual and tragic circumstance for all Boiseans, Mayor Bieter has called together local agencies and community table partners to address this important public safety issue. The Mayor is directing agency leaders to find ways to further educate drivers and cyclists about bicycle safety, and to develop supporting strategies to address this serious problem.

The Mayor has directed a team of city leaders and staff, including Boise’s county and state highway partners, to immediately review current efforts to promote roadway safety and to make recommendations on improving safety for cyclists in the immediate and longer-term future. Because the problem, by its very nature, involves the interaction between cyclists and motorists, any solutions must address both sides of that interaction in a balanced manner.

The group will examine the League of American Bicyclists Six E's: Engineering, Enforcement, Education, Encouragement and Equality (between cars and bikes). It will also put together an evaluation process.

The team will report back to Mayor Dave Bieter by August 24, quick by government standards. Mike Zuzel, who represents the Mayor's Office on the team, said there will be a large component of public outreach and comment in late July and August.