A New App Is Helping To Make Streets Safer For Cyclists

Almost every serious cyclist is familiar with this scenario: You’re riding along peacefully enjoying your surroundings, and then it happens — a car or truck appears directly in your path, parked illegally in the bike lane. You have to slow down or quickly pivot in order to avoid a collision. If there is busy traffic in your turning lanes, then such a scenario can quickly turn deadly.

A new bicycle safety application called OurStreets is designed to help make such incidents less frequent. The idea is simple: Anytime a cyclist sees a blocked bike lane or some other form of dangerous driver behavior, she can quickly open the OurStreets mobile app and take a quick photo of the situation. The image is then instantly uploaded to the OurStreets platform, where it is logged for analysis. Cyclists can also choose to take a photo and upload that photo at a later time.

The Value of Crowdsourced Safety

OurStreets partners with cycling advocacy groups and local safety advocates to compile and analyze the crowdsourced photos. All submitted reports are fed into a dashboard that includes crash and citation data compiled from national sources. All of this information is then used to help create unique insights and formulate safe street recommendations to stakeholders in various cities.

The app does not violate privacy laws, as the act of taking photos of aggressive driving or road hazards is legal in all 50 states. However, cyclists should avoid confrontations. The creators of OurStreets suggests that participants simply say that they are taking part in a crowdsourced safe streets initiative if confronted by motorists.

Why Work With the Law Offices of Gary Brustin?

Gary Brustin is not merely an experienced California attorney — he’s also an avid cyclist. Gary is a cycling law expert (he accepts no other types of cases) and he has the knowledge to handle the most complex cases. If you’ve been injured while cycling, don’t hesitate to contact Gary Brustin.