Posts Tagged ‘bicycle’
Breakstone, White & Gluck Donates Bicycle Helmets and Safety Vests to Groundwork Somerville’s Green Team
Breakstone, White & Gluck was pleased to help students at Groundwork Somerville ride their bicycles safely this summer. As part of our Project KidSafe campaign, our attorneys donated bicycle helmets and neon safety vests to 25 students on The Green Team.
The Green Team is Groundwork Somerville’s environmental youth employment program, where Somerville youth work to make positive social and environmental change, while gaining valuable job training and career skills. The students spend summers working across the City of Somerville, building gardens, cleaning up rivers and engaging the community about ways to protect the environment and cultivate agricultural and forestry resources. The students rely heavily on their bicycles to travel between sites and bicycle safety is a priority.
Among The Green Team’s projects: developing The South Street Farm near the Cambridge border and participating in the planning of Somerville parks. If you shop at the Union Square Farmer’s Market or the Mystic Mobile Market, you may have bought produce from The Green Team gardens.
Breakstone, White & Gluck is pleased to support Groundwork Somerville. We encourage you to visit their website at www.groundworksomerville.org.
Breakstone, White & Gluck and Project KidSafe in Somerville
Breakstone, White & Gluck is committed to children’s bicycle safety. Over the past four years, our attorneys have donated over 10,000 bicycle helmets to children across Massachusetts through our Project KidSafe campaign. We have partnered with Groundwork Somerville for the past three years, donating helmets and safety vests.
We have been active in Somerville all four years of our safety campaign, also donating helmets to The Kiwanis Club of Somerville’s Bike Safety Day and helmets to every 5th grader who completes CYCLE Kids, which teaches bicycle riding and nutrition skills. In 2016, we were pleased to donate over 400 children’s bicycle helmets in the city. Read recent coverage in The Somerville Times.
Fourth Season Begins for Boston’s Hubway Bike Share Program
Hubway, Boston’s popular bike share program, launched its fourth season earlier this month. Four years shows a lot of ground covered for the program.
Hubway was launched on July 28, 2011, as a partnership between the City of Boston and Alta Bicycle Share, with 600 bikes at 60 rental stations. The program has been a big success and this season, riders will share 1,300 bikes at 140 bike rental stations in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline. The program hit the 1,500,000-rider mark last Thanksgiving, then closed out 2013 with nearly 10,000 annual subscribers (and that’s not counting the short-term memberships).
In the past, Boston split both operating costs and profits with Alta Bicycle Share. Boston paid for its share using private sponsorships and public grant money.
But Boston is now venturing out on its own. Under a new contract, Boston will fund all operating costs and pay Alta Bicycle Share for services. The city will buy all services for a lower rate, about 30 percent less. For each bike dock, this translates into about $70 per month for maintenance and operations. This is lower than other U.S. programs, such as the Capital Bikeshare in Washington D.C., which pays $111 per bike dock.
This is good news and comes at a time when other cities are struggling to pay the bills for their bike shares. Montreal’s bike-share program filed for bankruptcy in January and New York City’s bike program recently asked officials for millions of dollars in aid.
In addition to seeking public grants and private sponsorship, Boston has kept costs down by closing bike racks for the winter. However, this past winter, Cambridge sites were kept open as a pilot test program.
What is new with Hubway this season:
Cambridge. The city kept Hubway racks open throughout this winter, as part of a pilot program. The system saw an average of 2,000 Hubway trips per week, with no injuries or incidents reported. Six new stations are expected to open this season.
Boston. Ten new Hubway stations are expected in Jamaica Plain and Dorchester this year.
Boston bike helmets. The program asks all riders to agree to wear helmets in their rental contract and has partnered with city businesses to offer subsidized helmets in the past. Last fall, it tested the first bike helmet vending machine in Back Bay, on the corners of Boylston and Massachusetts Avenue. The vending machine holds three dozen helmets and accepts returns.
Bike helmets are required for cyclists age 16 and under in Massachusetts. In addition to requiring use for Hubway cyclists, Boston city officials have discussed the possibility of passing a local law mandating use by all cyclists to protect riders from the risk of long-term head injuries in bicycle accidents.
Brookline. The city will re-open the same four stations in Coolidge Corner, Washington Square and Brookline Village.
Somerville. Somerville will open 12 stations this year. One change is the Ball Square station will be moved to Magoun Square.
Read More
Product Recall: More than 10,000 Fuji Bicycles Recalled
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall this week of more than 10,000 defective bicycles after reports the product’s frame was breaking.
Fuji Saratoga Women’s Bicycles recalled about 10,500 bicycles sold nationwide from November 2007 through December 2011. The bicycles were recalled after the company became aware of 12 reports of bicycle frames breaking. There were two injuries reported, including a head laceration requiring 20 stitches.
The product’s defect is its frame was breaking in the center of the downtube during use, causing bicyclists to lose control and fall. Bicyclists are instructed to stop riding and seek a replacement bike frame.
About the recalled Fuji women’s cruisers bicycles:
- 2008 to 2010 models of Saratoga 1.0, Saratoga 2.0, Saratoga 3.0 and Saratoga 4.0. The model type will be printed on the bike.
- The bikes come in various colors.
- The bikes will have the words “Fuji” and “Saratoga” alone or “Saratoga” printed on the frame.
- Serial numbers beginning with ICFJ7, ICFJ8, ICFJ9, ICFJ10 and ICFJ11. The serial number is located on the bottom of the frame near the crank.
The defective products were imported by Advanced Sports, Inc. of Philadelphia and manufactured in China. They were sold at specialty bike shops.
Customers are instructed to obtain a free replacement frame. They can contact Advanced Sports Inc. toll-free at 888-286-6263 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday or visit www.fujibikes.com. They can also return the bike to any authorized Fuji Bicycle dealer for the free part.
Click here for more information on this recall.
In a smaller recall, the Mountain Bicycle Handlebar Stem has been recalled in the U.S. and Canada. Some 213 units were recalled in the U.S. and 83 in Canada by the importer, Shimano American Corp. of Irvine, Calif. The defective bicycles were sold at REI stores nationwide from October 2009 to November 2010 for about $120.
The bicycles were recalled because the bolt holding the front plate of the stem to the stem body can be pulled out of the threads while the bike is being ridden, causing the rider to fall. There has been one report of a rider falling and sustaining torso and arm injuries. Click here for more information on this recall.
The Boston product liability lawyers at Breakstone, White & Gluck have over 80 years combined experience handling complex cases involving serious personal injuries, wrongful death and defective products. We have obtained clients compensation in cases involving defective motor vehicles, recalled medical devices and dangerous pharmaceuticals.
If you have been injured, it is important to learn your rights and how long you may have to file a claim. For a free legal consultation, contact us today at 800-379-1244 or 617-723-7676 or use our contact form.
Boston Welcomes New Bike Share Program
Boston has a new bicycle sharing program, implemented on July 28th, and it is off to a great start. The program, which is known as Hubway, stations bicycles throughout the city at terminals. You can rent a bike for a short period of time, or become a member and have a year of privileges.
Hubway is another step in making Boston a bicycle-friendly city. The city, under the inspiration of Mayor Menino and with the guidance of Olympic cyclist and Bicycle Program Director Nicole Freedman (shown at right with David White, at the Government Center Hubway Station), has expanded its bicycle lanes and its bicycle parking, and it now has added convenient bicycle rentals.
Hubway deploys 600 bicycles at around fifty stations around the city. A bike can be picked up at one station and parked at another, making the program convenient for commuters, students, and tourists. There is even an phone application called Spotcyle which gives up-to-the-minute data on which terminals have bikes or available parking docks.
David White, one of the attorneys at Breakstone, White & Gluck, called these efforts “great steps to making Boston a safer place to ride your bicycle.” The program will also reduce pollution and promote fitness.
White explained, “Cycling becomes much safer as motorists become more aware of bicycles sharing the roadways. Populating the city with hundreds more bicycles will actually increase safety for all bicyclists.”
Hubway also promotes safe cycling by urging cyclists to always wear a bicycle helmet, and to always observe traffic laws, which apply equally to bicyclists.
White urges Boston cyclists to observe Massachusetts bicycle laws (read more here). He also urges cyclists to check their automobile insurance policies to make sure they have adequate uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which provides protection if there is a bicycle accident (read more here).
Congratulations to the City of Boston and Hubway!