Bike vs. Car Survivor Talks Cycling, Healthcare, and Cars

Photos courtesy of causticjb on Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0

Back in March, my friend Scott Calvert introduced me to an avid cyclist (and now a new friend) who had been in a horrible bike vs. car accident in San Francisco. His story so beautifully illustrates cycling, healthcare, and insurance issues that I asked him for an interview on PlanBike.

His name is Johan Beisser (pronounced "Yawn"). He's lived all over the world and all over the country both as a cyclist and motorist. He currently lives in San Francisco. Up until 7 months ago, he was using his bicycle in the city as a major mode of transport. Then, on September 16, 2009, something bad happened to him while riding his bike.

He was moving through the intersection of Polk and Geary when a car darted right in front of him. Things happened so fast that he could not avoid collision. Instinct seems to have brought his leg up to brace himself for the impact. Unfortunately, his leg went through a side window of the car and his body kept traveling until it totaled the outside of the car. The primary injury was a shattered hip socket. Although doctors managed to put his hip socket back together, the final result will be potentially severe arthritis in a decade or so.

Johan was about done with physical therapy when we met. Amazingly, he's walking pretty well now. Still, he's facing a number of long term effects of the injury: physical, financial, and psychological.

What follows is a Q and A with Johan Beisser about cycling, his crash, and his thoughts on both now after his experience.

PlanBike: How long have you been cycling as serious transport?
Johan: Off and on since 1996. I ended up using it really seriously in 2007 after getting a job in Mill Valley while I was living in Sausalito. At that point I was even preferring to ride the bike to the exclusion of the motorcycles most of the time.

PlanBike: How far do you typically ride?
Johan: A minimum of 6 miles a day, with 40 to 50 miles on Sundays. Occasionally, I'd do a "short loop" of 17 miles to and from Ft. Point (just under the Golden Gate Bridge) in the evenings, along the waterfront (basically along Embarcadero).The objective would be to beat the sunset to the bridge, and be home before dark.

Right now, due to my injury and healing process, I can't seem to do much more than 10 miles on a stationary bike before getting frustrated and bored.

PlanBike: What motivated you to start cycling?
Johan: Honestly, I just like things that don't balance themselves until they're moving.

I've been using a phrase "Two Wheel Revolution" for a while as a motivator around personal transport being smaller and more involved. I generally like small, light, and fast modes of transit, especially those that permit me to really experience the thrill of zipping along with the wind, weather, and road ahead. Sports cars, sport motorcycles, and light bicycles all fall in to this category.

This last time, it was a combination of economics and health benefits. I turned 33 in 2007 and something about being older got me to plan for the future a little more, and take the time to invest in my body and long term health. So, the natural choice was to buy a cheap Bianchi Pista, and start riding that to and from my job site. It turns out I really like the simplicity of a fixed gear, but hate the pressure on my knees when slowing down.

In 2008 I moved to Portland, OR, and stayed carless there. By then I'd sold both my motorcycles, and pretty much lived the fixed gear lifestyle: riding it everywhere in the city. Upon moving back to the bay area, I supplemented the Pista with a geared bike, and used it for everything from grocery runs to transit to meet friends.

PlanBike: How did you find Portland for bikes?
Johan: Portland is actually very bike-friendly. It's shockingly easy to go from downtown to the outer areas of the city by bike, park and lock it up. For example, you can go from SE Portland to the airport with your bike with it being welcomed on the light rail system, and every bus.

The city has not only embraced bicycles, they've actively cultured a true cottage industry around bike building, cycling as a real urban transport alternative, and bicycles as transport first. I can't, off hand, name a single business that doesn't have bike parking of some sort nearby or on premises.

I suspect it helps that the larger portion of PDX is topologically flat (SE/SW side), with the harder grades being NE/NW. Combined with an easy grid layout.

That said, there's still the typical "road rage" aggression against people on bicycles. Mostly surprising out of just how atypical it is for the city. I can say I never encountered it myself.

When I was riding to and from my job outside of Parker, CO I had the occasional thing thrown at me, a couple encounters with drunken cowboys in trucks. But, once in the urban areas this was again atypical. From what I hear, Denver has become very bike-friendly since I lived there (over 16 years ago now) and has tried to encourage more cycling. It helps that it's the traditional home for most of the Olympic Teams to train in.

PlanBike: Given the accident, what would you do differently?
Johan: It's hard to say. Right after the accident I was wondering what I did wrong, and my conclusion has been "nothing." I could have kept my knee lower during impact, or hit the brakes earlier, or assumed the driver was going to turn well before he did.

I don't for a moment think that my accident, as traumatic as it was, has put me off of riding bicycles on San Francisco city streets. What it will have done is made me trust traffic and cars even less than before. I did let my guard down that night, and made the tragic mistake of forgetting that people in cages don't see you, and are out to hit you with their cars.

PlanBike: What would bikeways in SF look like, if you had your way?
Johan: SF has made the mistake of trying to embrace cars and the car culture without having rebuilt infrastructure to put them somewhere or let them pass through the City without having to fight with traffic.

It's kind of a shame that the bike lanes (painted, and otherwise) mostly don't go anywhere useful, or suddenly stop instead of continuing along a certain commonly used road or bike way; my favorite example is 7th Street to Market, which forces you to either play in traffic, wait through 2 cycles of the light, or attempt to make a left on to Market street from the turn lane, while the average speed of car traffic is over 25mph. Frankly, the City gives lip service to bike friendliness and infrastructure, while in reality not caring one bit.

I'd love to see better bike lanes that go somewhere, with signed, posted, and known bike boulevards, much like Oakland, Palo Alto, Mountain View and San Mateo have set up. Not just scenic, but useful routes for going from Point A to Point B, that have equal enforcement
for all kinds of traffic. Bike lanes aren't of any use if cars are double parked, pedestrians walk in them, drivers open their doors without looking first, or the cars "sharing the road" are giving you
almost no clearance.

As nice a gesture as they are, the "Sharrows" painted on many SF streets are just decoration on the streets that drivers tend to just ignore. It doesn't seem to have raised awareness of cyclists on the routes that are marked that way.

PlanBike: What should drivers do differently?
Johan: Pay more attention. I have this same complaint as a pedestrian, motorcyclist, bicyclist and driver: people need to understand they're driving a 2000+ pound machine that takes awareness to use correctly and safely. A car is not a mobile workplace, breakfast table, washroom, or phone booth. Yet, daily, I see people using it for all of these things.

PlanBike: All told do you know roughly how much this accident cost in dollars? Any breakdown in costs would be great?
Johan: It's cost my health insurance company around $172,000. Maybe a little more, little less, but at that scale what's another thousand or so? It'll cost me around $13,000 to pay off my portion. Possibly less, and probably more. I honestly don't know yet.

I haven't really gone in to the breakdown, and I don't believe I can share it until the associated lawsuit has either settled or gone forward.

PlanBike: Do you think the recent healthcare legislation will help with accidents like yours?
Johan: Definitely. At least in my case, if my doctor is right and my hip deteriorates to the point of requiring replacement in 15 years, I can still get coverage to help the replacement. I suspect the change will reduce the number of lawsuits for medical payments - which is what mine is - and reduce the overall cost of some of the care. It won't change the charging and billing practices of hospitals.

Speaking of insurance. If you have a car or motorcycle, I'd push you to maximize your UIM (Under-/Un-Insured Motorist) coverage to something just above "reasonable" in your mind. You should raise your medical liability coverage well above the CA minimums. It'll help you when you have an accident, even if it feels like gouging right now.

I've learned a bunch about insurance and coverages through this, and little of it pleasant. I'm grateful to Anthem for not denying coverage so far, and for not dropping me as an insured. It's a bit of an abusive relationship, when you think about it in those terms.




Thanks to Johan for this talk. Hope he continues to improve and continues cycling.

Running Errands By Bike in the East Bay: All Kinds of Ways

While running errands on my bike this weekend, I saw so many others doing the same. It was  cool seeing all the different ways folks were getting it done.

My errands started just before dark on Friday evening. I shrugged off my usual reticence to ride at night and do some shopping after work like I would with a car. Given what I've invested in my Exposure light, why not?

While riding down Shafter (a nice unofficial bicycle boulevard), I discovered Randall on his Bilenky cargo bike. This Bilenky had a huge wooden tray in the front where Randall had a couple of large bags stowed. The bags took up only a fraction of the space available.

Randall says he has hauled as much as 130 pounds on his cargo bike. That's a 90 pound sack of cement plus tools. Incredible! Still, he warned that kind of load is untenable on any kind of hill. A more manageable maximum weight seems to be 60 pounds. That's still not too shabby. That's most people's groceries for the week. Randall says he's been really focusing on using his bike as his primary transport vehicle for 3 years. He laments still having a car and using it for some things. Nevertheless, he gets quite a bit done with his Bilenky.

On Saturday I ran some more errands by bike. After seeing Randall, I decided to take it up a notch and haul a 2 foot long box to the post office even though I don't yet have a rack on my bike. Using some old inner tubes, I managed to lash the box to my backpack reasonably well. It wasn't pretty but I got it done.

After that, I did more shopping on University Avenue and then a birthday party on Piedmont Avenue.  That totaled 20 miles of riding.

On the way to Piedmont Avenue, I came across Johnny who was getting it done without a rack as well. No Bilenky cargo bike here yet he's hauling his guitar and a few spare wheels. Go, Johnny, go! I've got to get some straps like that for my backpack.

It was great seeing so many of my fellow east bay residents realizing PlanBike with such gusto. Personally, I felt like a lightweight. Although I commute a lot and run a lot of light errands on my bike, I've been torn about how to haul serious cargo by bike to my house at the very top of the Oakland Hills. Given what Randall says about the hills, a Bilenky seems out of the question.

Currently, I ride a carbon road bike. The carbon makes the 700 foot vertical climb I do most days very manageable, even with my laptop. However, most bike shop guys I talk to tell me carbon doesn't take kindly to being bolted to metal racks, whether they be stationary trainers or cargo racks.  I guess I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and use my heavier mountain bike with rack to get things up the hill. Regardless, I'm even more inspired after seeing all the activity down the hill.

Cycling the 2010 Olympic Winter Games: Part III

See also Part I and Part II.

On the way home from working on the alpine race courses in Whistler, B.C. for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, I stopped in Vancouver to see the city's Olympic sights. In addition to seeing all the extraordinary places for the public to gather for the Olympics, I found extraordinarily diverse and abundant facilities for getting the public to the games without cars: some really nice trains to get people across the long distances and some superb facilities for bikes. Amongst the bike-friendly facilities in Vancouver, I found everything from sharrows to bike lanes, to dedicated bike paths complete with separate pedestrian lanes. Deluxe!

It started with a ride from the airport to downtown on the sparkling new subway train, completed just in time for the Olympics. It's not quite a system yet since it only has one line with about 8 stops but it is a very nice beginning. This train is fully automated so there's no driver compartment to block your view at the front of the train. You can sit and look through the front windshield as you whiz through tunnels and over bridges. It was also free to volunteers of the games. I had done lots of research on getting to and from Vancouver but I hadn't done any research on getting around the city itself. I had anticipated an expensive and time-consuming bus or rental car ride into town from the airport. I was so psyched to have the new light rail system, the "Canada Line", to quickly whisk me into town for free. It gave me even more time to explore.

The only bummer was the usual message on the train platform that instructs bikers not to use the train during times of maximum use: the Olympics. This is similar to the rush hour rule on BART in San Francisco. The stated reason is always that the train system is too congested for bikes at these times. However, it is precisely those congested traffic periods when you want people out of their cars and onto bikes. That does indeed add to congestion on trains. However, San Francisco's CalTrain system demonstrates that any increase in congestion from bikes can be addressed with a dedicated bike car. That is obviously added cost but if it removes cars from the road during congestion it provides obvious value as well.

Moving on, here's the first thing I saw when I left the subway station: a guarded bike parking lot. Right on Vancouver! This is what you want if you are really serious about encouraging cycling as serious transport: real space and security for your bike while you are away. No more lugging around your own lock which has to be so large and heavy that it makes riding a pain. This kind of bike parking also means you can count on your ride being as fully functional as you left it: no wheel, seat, or light theft or vandalism to worry about. If you are returning home late at night, this place provides the kind of piece of mind and predictability you need in order to rely on your bike to get you home.


From here, I took a streetcar, on loan from the Belgium Transport Company for the Olympic games, that took me from the Olympic Village subway station to Granville Island. This thing was too narrow to squeeze a bike into but any cyclist would probably ride from a Canada Line station to Granville anyway. At this point in my trip, my bike was stuffed into a bike case at the airport so I was hoofing it. That was just as well because this clean new, oddly narrow, train was a pleasure to ride. Sadly, I'm told it will get dismantled after the Olympics.

At Granville Island, I had breakfast at the Swiss House. This is the place setup by the Swiss government to allow folks to gather and cheer on Swiss athletes. They had rented the beautiful Bridges restaurant during the games which was right on the water next to the water taxi station. They also provided these electric bikes. Go Switzerland for choosing a beautiful spot with such a wealth of transportation options that do not involve a car. The breakfast, the free Wi-Fi, oompah band, and alpine skiing in HD, were all fantastic.

Once I got into downtown I found all manner of bike-support. The first that I saw was a sharrow-type configuration on a one-way boulevard. Note the bike icon on the street sign. I hadn't seen that before, but I like it as a way to tell drivers and riders what to expect on the roads they intersect as well as the roads on which they are driving or riding.

Second, I found dedicated paths with painted stripes to separate pedestrian and bicycle traffic. This was on the way to Saxony House: the house for cheering on German athletes during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. These bike paths are pretty nice but the pedestrians in this photo demonstrate the problem with just using paint to separate traffic: people just ignore it.

Regardless, while sitting on the back deck at the Saxony House enjoying my grilled pork loin sandwich and a beer, I found this beautiful site. This bike rack is right on the dock and, at least, one sailor was using his bike this day.

Next, I found bike lanes, and dedicated bike paths that parallel the roads. Here, it is not just strips of paint separating pedestrians and bikes. These are the minimum of what you want in a bike path: an island separating cars, bikes, and pedestrians. You hear about this specified in road design theory but you rarely see it in practice, especially the separation of pedestrians. Bike lane sceptics often stress how unsafe it is to cram bikes and pedestrians on the same path. Often, you find cities address this with paint to separate the two on the same path. However, that never seems adequate. You consistently find pedestrians walking wherever they want on the path. In this case, the pedestrians couldn't ask for more.

Or could they? Just when I thought Vancouver's bike facilities couldn't get much better, I saw this near Stanley Park in Vancouver. This heavily engineered, lighted, underpass was obviously not cheap to build. Yet, it is totally dedicated to human-powered transportation: bike and pedestrian lanes only. It has no support for cars whatsoever (except over its top). What a beautiful representation of Vancouver's priorities! Go Vancouver!

Some of the biggest users of bicycles in Vancouver that I saw were the police. These guys were super-friendly and very enthusiastic about cycling as serious transport. Mario, pictured here not far from the Olympic cauldron, has been on a cycling beat for 2 years. He says it is his favorite kind of beat so far. I asked if the bike helped in a chase situation, he said it sometimes can. He likes that he is so much more engaged with citizens on a bike while he is still able to get around city streets about as quickly as a car. He also likes how well it keeps him in shape. The other officer pictured here is actually riding inside the airport. He had similar things to say about cycling. Cycling as serious transport does not get much more serious than this. When I look at these guys, I see calories burning, skies and roads clearing, as well as social barriers and health costs plummeting. What a wonderful example these guys are setting for the rest of us.

See Part I and Part II of this story.