Well, I just finished notifying the local hospitals that we’re going to be riding our bicycles en masse from Reno City Hall Plaza to Sparks City Hall and back. They didn’t seem too worried or inclined to staff up their emergency response machinery. Notifying them was required by the Reno Events Committee as part of giving us a permit to do the event.
What event am I talking about?
A Bicycle Parade
It’s the Bicycle Awareness Parade – a ride to celebrate new bicycle-friendly laws!
All the bicyclists in Northern Nevada (wishful thinking here) will be riding from Reno City Hall Plaza to Sparks City Hall and back on October 1st, from 9:30 until noon. Besides just having the fun of a big bike ride, we’re riding to bring awareness to the new laws affecting bicyclists that go into effect on that day:
• Prohibiting hand-held cell phone use and texting,
• Requiring motorists to give a bicyclist 3 feet of space when passing from behind, and
• Increasing penalties for a motorist causing injury to a bicyclist or pedestrian to those of reckless driving.
Imagine several hundred bicyclists, some in “3 feet please” jerseys or t-shirts, riding to promote bicycle safety! Won’t that make a big story on the evening news, telling motorists that a change in driving behavior is required!
You say you don’t have a “3 feet please” jersey to wear in the Parade? That’s okay, of course. But if you want one, there’s still time to shop online. Get a jersey or t-shirt from www.3feetplease.com. If you put “GoNV” in the discount box, $5.00 of the purchase price will 
go to the Nevada Bicycle Coalition to support safe bicycling in Nevada.
So save the date – October 1st, 9:30 ‘til noon – for a great, celebratory bicycle ride with all of your friends and neighbors.
Don’t like the no hand held phone law though. It’s really not that complicated to drive and talk on the cell phone at the same time.
I don’t like it either but for a different reason. Many studies have shown that talking on the phone while driving impairs the driver similar to being legally drunk, regardless of whether the phone is hand-held or hands-free. Check out this article – http://unews.utah.edu/old/p/062206-1.html.
This paragraph in particular caught my eye – “A 2003 study showing that the reason is “inattention blindness,” in which motorists look directly at road conditions but don’t really see them because they are distracted by a cell phone conversation. And such drivers aren’t aware they are impaired.”
So that would be you, Derrick, driving and talking on the cell phone, not knowing you are impaired. Good Luck!