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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Transportation New Mashup Site for Reporting Bike Incidents

Posted by Erica C. Barnett on Thu, May 21, 2009 at 10:14 AM

Bike Intelligencer reports that the Cascade Bicycle Club has just launched Bikewise, an interactive mapping site where cyclists can report crashes, problem spots, hazards, and thefts. The site has the potential to be a pretty awesome resource—in addition to detailed reports of crashes and other incidents (including solo crashes and crashes due to crappy pavement conditions), it includes word clouds showing lessons learned (the biggest: "Drivers don't always see cyclists," followed by "Get a better headlight"), the characteristics of cyclists who crash (people who ride road bikes are more likely to crash than mountain bikers) and the types of hazards facing cyclists in various spots around the city.

Comments (6) RSS

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Thefts? Are you on there yet, Erica? Or do you stick to only stealing wine.

Posted by StillNon on May 21, 2009 at 10:23 AM

@1 *Groan* Give it a rest.

Posted by N on May 21, 2009 at 10:34 AM

Very cool. Thanks for the heads up!

Posted by kitschnsync on May 21, 2009 at 10:52 AM

@1 - god, you are so boring, you make paint drying look exciting.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on May 21, 2009 at 12:58 PM

An existing bicycle hazard reporting site is: bicyclewatchdog.org

Posted by slugbiker

on May 21, 2009 at 1:27 PM

It seems like a good idea, but looking around at the site, it is currently pretty silly. A biker who rates his skill as "expert" says: "Bike lost stability and crashed" during a "solo accident" on his road bike due to railroad tracks. Yawn. Any "expert" Seattle commuter knows about railroad tracks and road tires. Do we really need a record of every instance someone falls off their bike? Should I enter a cluster of posts for all the times I've crashed at the Colonnade? And why no category for deaths? Also, the groundbreaking realization that drivers don't always see cyclists? No shit. I'll have to check back and see if this gets any more useful in the future.

Posted by seattlebikeguy on May 21, 2009 at 8:08 PM