Bicycle tour in Japan will be impossible

[Kaz]

Hello, I'm a cyclist in Japan.
Bicycle tour in Japan will be impossible.

The National Police Agency made a proposal last month.
The proposal aims promotion of safety use for bicycle
According to the proposal, the Road Traffic Law is expected to be revised
next February.

Why tour in Japan will be impossible?
The point is "safety" which the National Police Agency thinks.

In 95% of the proposal, effective use of the bicycle is appealed.
They seem to be better for bicycle.
But, there are traps cleverly concealed in the flattery.

The following description exists,
* When the bicycle ride is dangerous in the roadway, the bicycle traffic is
prohibited there.

This is a strange description, because the bicycle traffic can be prohibited
even by the existing law if it is necessary.
So, this means, they'd like to change the traffic law ... "The bicycle must
be operated on sidewalk."

Some member of the National Police Agency would like to ban bicycle from the
roadway.
They tried many times to change the traffic law.
Up to now, member with fair sense in the police agency has been holding it
off.
It seems to have failed in this time.

Bicycles should be ridden in the roadway according to current law.
However, bicycle is permitted on most of sidewalk.
Such permission was introduced to the law since 1978 as an emergency
evacuation measure.
Now many people believe that the bicycle should be ridden in sidewalk.

This made very bad situation for cyclists also for pedestrian.
When we ride bicycles in roadway, some driver try to punish cyclist.
A lot of bicycle users misunderstand that sidewalk is safer.
Such people give pressure to pedestrian, and harm them occasionally.
They are also accident-prone with car.
The law amendment bill will become the one to deprave this situation
further.

Japan is very good place to ride around.
But it will change.

I can not invite cyclist to Japan any more. Sorry sorry sorry, it is too
late...
And I must quit bicycle ride as hobby if the law is realized.

--
Kaz, Japan
hkaz1807[at]olive.livedoor.com

[Roland Mosl]

"Kaz" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
> Hello, I'm a cyclist in Japan.
> Bicycle tour in Japan will be impossible.

Why not change to electric scooter toors?


--
Roland Mosl
http://car.pege.org cars and traffic
http://live.pege.org building and live
http://www.pege.org

[Christian Ascheberg]

Roland Mosl wrote:

> "Kaz" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> ...
>> Hello, I'm a cyclist in Japan.
>> Bicycle tour in Japan will be impossible.
>
> Why not change to electric scooter toors?
>
>
do you think about a dummy electric drive, Mr. Mosl?

please, no thread again about electric scooters!!!

Bycicle are human powered vehicles. And my opinion is, that there is no need
for something different. My may to work for example some more about 80
kilometers a day I go by bycicle. I feel well, have much health, hear the
wind an smell the air. In spring I can hear the birds sing. No ssssssssssss
from a electric or some other engine.

Best regards to all. And I feel with You Kaz san. I hope with You, that the
law will not come. If it would come, I will discuss with my wive not to buy
japanese products in future times. Especially not cars.

yours sinceralls
Christian Ascheberg

[Claire]

Kaz wrote:

> Hello, I'm a cyclist in Japan.

Greetings, Kaz-san!

> Why tour in Japan will be impossible?
> The point is "safety" which the National Police Agency thinks.

> So, this means, they'd like to change the traffic law ... "The bicycle must
> be operated on sidewalk."

If this is indeed the case, then advocates such as yourself must
present the evidence, and it is overwhelming, that bicycles are much
more safely operated in the roadway than on the sidewalk.

Here is a text of testimony I have presented at public meetings --
perhaps a form of it would be useful to you:

---
A major 1996 study of about 2000 cyclists by William E. Moritz
calculated the Relative Danger Index of various facilities for
cyclists.

Relative Danger Index Facility (Note that the Danger Index shows
relative danger per mile traveled; lower numbers are safer)

(Safest) 0.41 major roads with bicycle facilities
0.51 signed bike routes (wide lanes and signs, no other special
facilities)
0.66 major road without bicycle facilities
0.94 minor road without bicycle facilities
1.39 multi-use trail
(Most dangerous) 16.34 sidewalk

While these "Danger Index" numbers are often surprising to
non-bicyclists, they are NOT controversial. Moritz's data confirms two
earlier major studies (1994 and 1974) and pretty much every other study
of bicycling accidents ever done. I have not been able to find any
studies that convincingly contradict the general thrust of these
results.

Riding your bike on the street with traffic is MUCH safer than riding
on the sidewalk.

Why do the results of the bicycle accident data so greatly contradict
the common sense of most road users that says that "bicyclists who
drive in the street are in great danger - they would be so much safer
if they were off the road on sidewalks"?

The reason is actually rather simple: The "rear overtaking" accident,
so greatly feared by motor vehicle drivers, novice bicyclists, and
policy makers who aren't familiar with the bicycle accident data,
actually accounts for only 1.3% of bicycle accidents.

On the other hand, something like 75% of bicycle-car accidents are from
motor vehicles approaching from the front or sides. These accidents
happen when the bicycle or auto is at an intersection or driveway.

In short:

Sidewalk riding is the least safe for cyclists.

Why?

Every driveway crossing the sidewalk becomes a dangerous intersection
with poor sight-lines. At intersections, the bicyclist enters the
roadway at unexpected places (not where drivers expect a fast-moving
vehicle to come from).

Roads, especially those with wide lanes or bike lanes, are much safer.

Why?

Better sight lines.

Drivers, even inattentive drivers, simply don't run over objects that
are square in front of them, in their central field of vision, even if
the object is a bicyclist.

But not only is it safer for bicyclists not to be on the sidewalk, it
is also much safer for pedestrians. Bicycles cause two thirds of
serious - defined as requiring an emergency room visit - pedestrian
accidents on sidewalks. So, even if bicycle riding on the sidewalk is
relatively rare, they are a major contributor to serious injuries to
pedestrians. Cyclists move at about ten times the speed of pedestrians,
and this difference in speed poses a significant hazard.
---

> Japan is very good place to ride around.
> But it will change.
>
> I can not invite cyclist to Japan any more.

Another factor, then, is loss of tourism dollars. I myself have always
dreamed of doing the 88 Temples of Shikoku Pilgrimage
(http://www.43things.com/things/view/557081), and I have always wanted
to do so via bicycle. If Japan bans bicycles from the roadway, I don't
think I could consider Japan a safe place for me and my family to ride
any more.

Best of luck in fighting this new legislation!

Warm Regards,

Claire "Akiko" Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/Welcome.htm

[Marcus Endberg]

Roland Mosl wrote:
> "Kaz" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> ...
>> Hello, I'm a cyclist in Japan.
>> Bicycle tour in Japan will be impossible.
>
> Why not change to electric scooter toors?

Why not learn english instead?

Nimm' endlich Deine verdammte Elektrodingenswerbung und geh sterben!


- Marcus

--
http://www.radsport-bad-lippspringe.de/
http://www.fahrrad-helm.de/ http://rad-weg.nueb.de/

[Kaz]

Hello, thanks for replies.

perhaps Mr. Moesl made the comment from humor. It let me laugh.
It also brought me a good idea -- I will always go with a small trailer.
In Japan, a bicycle with a trailer is treated as a light vehicle. A
light vehicle should not go on any sidewalk.

But it is only a counter measure against worst situation.
Such discussion is too early.

Cyclists in Japan try now all possibilities to prevent the bad
legislation. I also must do something.
I'm researching good ideas which can throw the legislation away.

Claire "Akiko" san, your text inspired me.
The difficulty is that a lot of people in Japan believe that bicycle
should be ridden on sidewalk.
In fact, about 75% of bicycle users don't know where they should ride.
About 95% of bicycle users choose sidewalk to ride if possible.
This means that few people will resist this legislation.

The situation is so bad, but I (or we) don't give it up.
I will use the logic in your text when I will explain what is wrong on
the legislation.

Thanks again, and have a nice day!

--
Kaz
hkaz1807[at]olive.livedoor.com

[Brian Huntley]

Kaz wrote:

> The difficulty is that a lot of people in Japan believe that bicycle
> should be ridden on sidewalk.

Kaz: A few years ago, there was a movement in Texas, USA, to ban
bicycles from using the "Farm-to-Market" (FM) roads. These roads
radiate out from Texan citys and in my limited experiance (I live
thousands of kilometers away but have visited several times.)

Fortunately for the two-wheeled Texans, they had a both a large
groundswell of support from the comon cyclist and a hugely useful boost
from Lance Armstrong, who spoke to the legislature during public
commentary. The cyclists won.

Perhaps the Japanese Olympic Cycling team or some other body could help
get some pro-bike publicity against this bill in the Diet.

[Tom]

It will be very interesting to follow this development. I am an
American cyclist living in Japan. The cycling here is better than
almost anywhere. But I do know that there are portions of cities that
scare me to death. I cycle primarily on country roads away from
traffic, but cycling through the cities is inevitable.

I expect there to be a good debate on this from the cycling public -
which is a huge percentage of the traveling people. I will speak to
the owner of my LBS this weekend to find out what he expects the result
to be, or the impact if this legislation passes the Diet.

VW

On Dec 19, 10:34 pm, "Kaz" > wrote:
> Hello, thanks for replies.
>
> Cyclists in Japan try now all possibilities to prevent the bad
> legislation. I also must do something.
> I'm researching good ideas which can throw the legislation away.

[Martin Schmachtel]

["Followup-To:" nach de.rec.fahrrad gesetzt.]
Kaz schrob:

> This is a strange description, because the bicycle traffic can be prohibited
> even by the existing law if it is necessary.
> So, this means, they'd like to change the traffic law ... "The bicycle must
> be operated on sidewalk."
>
> This made very bad situation for cyclists also for pedestrian.
> When we ride bicycles in roadway, some driver try to punish cyclist.
> A lot of bicycle users misunderstand that sidewalk is safer.

Apparently, they make the same mistakes in japan they did here. I hope it
won't last long... What about road (racing) bikes? Do they have to ride on
the sidewalk as well? Or is there no bicycle racing except Keirin in Japan?
I plan to go to japan next year and take my road bike with me, hope I won't
need to race on the sidewalk...

ciaole
schmadde