Oh God Yes! BU Makes Awesome Puppet Safety Video

We need so many more things like this. LOVE IT! More info here.

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City Will Improve Comm. Ave For Cyclists

In response to recent deaths, the city and BU have teamed up to improve Comm. Ave. From BU Today:

More warning signs, better bike lane markings, and highway reflectors will be added to the campus’ mile-and-a-half strip along Commonwealth Avenue to improve safety in the wake of the death of a student cyclist in December.

Those improvements, recommended by a joint BU-city working group, will be made by the city. Safety advocates, including Craig Hill, chairman of BU’s Bike Safety Committee, commended the measures, while cautioning that additional improvements may be necessary in the future.

“I’m hopeful that these changes will help protect bicyclists and pedestrians traveling along this very busy stretch of Commonwealth Avenue,” says BU President Robert A. Brown. “I am also extremely grateful for the city’s continued support of bike safety initiatives that safeguard all people who use the city streets that pass through our campus.”

The improvements will include:

• Signs. New signage will designate a “High bicycle and pedestrian activity zone,” and instruct drivers to “Share the road” and “Yield to bicycles when turning right.” Other signs will post a 25-mile-per-hour speed limit. Part of the stretch had been posted for 30 mph.
• Pavement markings:. The existing bike lanes, installed five years ago, will be painted at intersection crossings with skid-resistant, high-visibility green paint, and white bike-shared-lane markings will be added within the green paint at busy intersections and at long crossings. The width of the bike lanes’ edges will be increased to six inches, from the present four inches.
• Reflectors. Highway reflectors, recessed into the pavement, will be installed along the outside of bike lanes between intersections, and more closely spaced before each intersection crossing.

Warning signs to improve safety will be installed on Commonwealth Avenue. Photo courtesy of Tetra Tech

Read the rest of this long, and in depth article here.

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BU Police Remind Cyclists They Need To Follow The Rules

Cue the gnashing of teeth, in five four three two…

Over the three days BUPD officers were stationed along Comm Ave, they stopped a total of 152 cyclists and gave 10 of them a $20 citation. About half of the offenders were members of the BU community, and some were stopped more than once. On Wednesday morning, three of the five people given tickets had been pulled over on Monday.

The safety campaign will continue this week and any cyclist stopped for a violation will receive a citation.

Read the entire article here.

Personally I don’t see anything wrong with this, they do targeted car enforcement all the time.  The fact is you have to follow the rules, get over it.

Thats how I feel, leave your thoughts in the comments.

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BU Student In Critical Condition After Crash

Got this in the email today, sad news, will try to keep on top of it as things change.
Thanks for the news tip Craig.

Hope she recovers.

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Via the Daily Freepress.

A male Boston University student hit a female biker with the car he was driving at the corner of Buick Street and Commonwealth Avenue at about 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The victim was a BU student also, said Sargeant Patrick Nuzzi of the Boston University Police Department.

The biker’s head smashed the windshield of the BMW sedan, which is registered in New York, said a Boston Police Department officer on the scene who wished to remain anonymous.

Despite being a BU student for the past four years, the driver had failed to get a Mass. license and is considered under state law to be driving without a license, the officer said.

New bike lanes on Comm. Ave. have made it easier for bikers to be safe, but the lack of traffic laws specific to bikers has led to accidents, he said.

A friend of the offender had to drive the vehicle away from the site of the accident and have his license verified by police.

The BPD officer said that the charges against the vehicle operator will depend on the victim’s medical condition, but it is up to BPD to decide.

The female student was rushed to Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is in fairly critical condition and could possibly be suffering from head trauma, he said.

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BU Pedestrians Need Extra Help

Spotted on Comm Ave, honestly I think we might need to put some sort of lights/audible alarms as well, BU students seem to have…trouble, crossing Comm Ave at even the best of times.

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