This Week in Bike Reads

Parts Who says you can’t enforce a three-feet-for-passing law? In San Antonio, undercover bike cops—with automobile backup—are stinging drivers for passing too closely. On the other hand, an improvement to Maryland’s own three-feet-for-passing law, which is admittedly confusing, was defeated in committee. The U.S. DOT is getting into the design-standard game, which could render AASHTO’s largely pedestrian- and bike-unfriendly guidelines moot. “Does intrinsic bias against cyclists explain why a grand jury recently failed to hand up an indictment against a driver suspected of vehicular homicide in last summer’s death of 41-year-old rider Alexander Motsenigos?” asks the Boston Globe. Its editorial board seems to think so. Hey! The new D.C. bike map is available! Want a copy? We’ve got some. Biking can help families get exercise in ways they normally may not. NPR exemplifies a couple of car-free families based in Portland, Ore., but we’re pretty sure it wouldn’t be impossible to do the same in D.C. Mobility Lab handily summarizes trends in cycling in the D.C. area. More people are riding (but there’s considerable spatial variability) and there’s more infrastructure, but, as always, there’s room for improvement. It’s not congestion and it’s not safety: The 2009 National Transport Household Survey concluded that what people care about is transportation that’s affordable. Scroll down past the giant (accidental, we presume) ad for Rapha racing gear to read the Washington Post‘s profile of a 21-year-old from Northern Virginia who could make us stop thinking about Lance Armstrong. Should we encourage our bike ambassadors to emulate this guy, who dons a Lucha Libra mask and stops Mexico City traffic for pedestrians? Photo by Flickr user ranpuba. Contribute to our Flickr pool!