Tag: Steve Magas

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Show #638 – October 15, 2023

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Guests: Jamie Swan; Steve Magas

With the demise of events such as NAHBS, The New England Builder’s Ball, Classic Rendezvous Weekend, and even the postponement of The Philly Bike Show until Spring of 2024, any opportunity to see classic bicycles and talk with other enthusiasts is welcome.

I know most of you probably don’t live on or near Long Island, NY, but I still think this event is worthy of a conversation – especially when it’s with Jamie Swan.

Jamie is passionate about vintage bikes, passionate about helping people to learn about them, and passionate about sharing his knowledge and expertise. So, come next Sunday, October 22nd, you can head on out to Long Island, NY at the Smithtown Historical Society for a few hours of vintage and handmade bikes along with a swap meet.

Jamie Swan, frame builder and machinist extraordinaire, is the producer of this little event and he’s my guest today.  Jamie will fill us in on everything you need to know about the show as well as his incredibly cool “side gig” at the prestigious Webb Institute.

link to the google group for the LI Rendezvous

After my conversation with Jamie, I check in with Ohio Bike Lawyer, Steve Magas. 

When a group of riders literally ran into a downed wire, causing three of the riders to go down, two with injuries, they needed Ohio Bike Lawyer Steve Magas’ expertise to help with arbitrating the case against one of the big Internet providers.

So, what was the Internet guy thinking when he left the cones and other warning signs that usually placed on the roadway in his truck?  And, what’s the difference between riding on the road and on a trail or path when it comes to liability?  Steve will tell us the story of the riders and fill us in on what we need to know about our responsibilities on and off the road.

Steve Magas is a licensed attorney and has helped many cyclists who have been involved in crashes of all sorts.  He also has a large database of statistics – sobering statistics – about bicycle fatalities, and interestingly enough, Ohio has fewer than most states. Still, it isn’t zero!

In our conversation, it becomes really clear how important it is to take stock when you find yourself in a crash and get all the data you can gather. 

 

 

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Show #601 – May 9. 2022

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Guests: Noa Banayan; Steve Magas

This week we speak with Noa Bayanan.  Noa is the Director of Federal Policy for People for Bikes, and she helps us unpack the America’s Recreation Act of 2022.  This a bi-partisan piece of legislation that was introduced in the Senate in November of last year.

This bill provides for additional recreation opportunities and facilitates greater access to federal public lands

In it, there are two bills that pertain specifically to bicycling – one that helps to open up and connect “long trails” and the second that frees up some time and hassle for tour directors, ride directors, and even race directors who are tasked with the permits required to use state and federal lands.

Here is the information on how to contact your legislator(s) regarding the Recreation Act of 2022.

My second guest is Steve Magas – The Ohio Bike Lawyer.  

While I intended to just sort out the crash statistics for Ohio, hoping to be able to extrapolate them across the country, we actually do a lot more than that, diving into some of the reasons that fatalities – which were very high in the 1970’s began to decline until the early 2000’s – then began an upward trajectory.

In 2021, 21 people were killed on our roadways while riding their bikes.  In 2022, it was even more devastating when the total rose to 28.

Attorney Steve Magas has been tracking the statistics on fatalities as well as noting other pertinent facts in Ohio and Kentucky for many years.  In our conversation, Steve gives us some very important and detailed information about what is and isn’t important when it comes to being involved in a crash in addition to some observations about how and why things are so much worse these days.

Here is the information on the Ohio Bike Federation and the maps mentioned on the show.

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Show #301 – June 11, 2016

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Back in February, I spoke with World Bicycle Relief Ambassador Carlos Perea about his remarkable fund raising efforts on behalf of the WBR.

Little did Carlos know that just a few months later, he would be asked to take a trip to Africa with the WBR team to see first-hand how the work he was doing impacted the people who benefit from that work.

Tonight, Carlos and I talk about how he came to be one of the “lucky ones” to go on this tour, what he saw, and how he celebrated his 31st birthday!

After a break and some news, we head on down to Cincinnati to speak with Ohio bicycle lawyer, Steve Magas.

In light of the horrific crash in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Tuesday, June 7th, Steve and I discuss the charges against the driver of the truck that killed five cyclists and seriously injured nine more. Then we look toward the future and what we hope will be a turning point in the cars vs cyclists predicament.

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Show #257 – August 1, 2015

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Guests: Physics Professor John Eric Goff; Ohio Bike Lawyer Steve Magas

We’ve seen the winners of the TdF. We’ve seen more than our share of crashes in this year’s event. And, we’ve seen controversy. So, what’s left? Well, how about something a little more techy-geeky?

Dr. John Eric Goff, physics professor at Lynchburg College in Virginia, does a little calculating – PRE-race, to predict finishing times for all 21 stages of the Tour de France; and, he’s been doing this for a few years now. How accurate is he? And, how does he do it? Just you wait and see.

Dr. Goff, author of Gold Medal Sports, is interested in the physics of sports and is off to Sheffield, England for a one-year sabbatical that will include some more interesting projects with sports related topics; maybe even one that involves bicycle tires! And, he’s my first guest this evening.

Then Tim and I rattle off some news items before we head on down to Cincinnati to talk with bicycle attorney Steve Magas.

Evidently, statistics in bicycle crashes – especially as they relate to deaths – show a marked decrease; but, are these statistics correct or is something else going on? Steve, who always has fascinating things to tell us, will fill us in on that and more.

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Show #195 – May 25, 2014

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Flying solo this week! And, I’ve got a jam-packed show for you.

We start out with our friend Charles Pelkey – The Live Update Guy (AKA “LUG”) – as he’s blogging and covering the Giro D’Italia. In what was a clear upset, Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), snatched the lead from Cadel Evans in last Thursday’s only time trial of the 3-week event. Charles thinks there is still a lot left in the last week of the Giro with all the mountain stages still to come.

We’ll speak with Kate Powlison from People for Bikes, who gives us some information about “United for Bikes”. a special month-long initiative from PFB and World Bicycle Relief for National Bike Month. In addition to raising funds for both organizations, a generous anonymous donor has pledged another $10,000 in matching funds over the next few days!

We’ll hustle on down to my hometown, Cincinnati to speak with Ohio Bicycle Federation board member and “the Ohio Bike Lawyer” Steve Magas.  Steve will fill us in on an upcoming State House Bill 145 – AKA “The 3 foot bill” – which is running into opposition but perhaps not for the reasons you might originally think.

After a short break, I’ll speak with endurance athlete and former junkie (yep, you heard that right!) Shane Niemeyer. He unfurls his no-holds-barred, raw, and unfiltered story in his just released book “The Hurt Artist – My Journey from Suicidal Junkie to Ironman” (by St. Martin’s Press). This is one of the best books I’ve read this year AND it is quite the page turner.

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Show #175 – Last show of 2013

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Guests: Bike Lawyer Steve Magas and RKP’s Patrick Brady

 

It’s time to pack 2013 in a sturdy box, tape the lid shut, and store it away with all the other completed years. But before we do, let’s take a final look, courtesy of two friends of The Outspoken Cyclist. Don’t worry, there are no top ten lists here, and no soft-focus retrospectives, just honest conversations about what happened on two wheels over the past 12 months.

First up is Steve Magas, an attorney practicing in the state of Ohio, specializing in bicycle crash and injury cases. Diane and Steve start this week’s show with a look back at some of the notable events involving cyclists and the law, including some high profile bike-car collisions. Check out Steve’s website for some great data about crash circumstances. We can’t control for the “random acts of intoxication or stupidity” but by looking at how the majority of crashes happen, we can take steps to avoid those situations, or at least be extra vigilant around them.

Our last official guest of 2013 is Patrick Brady, publisher of Red Kite Prayer. Patrick was recently awarded with a silver medal in the Lowell Thomas Travel Writing Competition, sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundatino. Today, Patrick is here to talk about the impact of doping scandals on pro racing, equipment trends, charity rides, and what he has planned for 2014.