PAULINE'S PICKS: Oregonlive.com Looks at Bike Accidents and Fatalities in Portland

By: Pauline Millard There's a lot of talk about going green and reducing carbon emissions, specifically from cars. An easy way to do that is to ride a bike, and some communities, such as Portland, Oregon, encourage it.

Despite the eco-consciousness, cars are still very much used, and sometimes bikes and autos don't always get along, particularly at intersections.

Oregonlive.com recently put together an informative multimedia project that looks at how bikes and cars share the road in Portland.

The bulk of the project is a large Google map with the sites of bike accidents and fatalities highlighted on it. When you click on a location, you get a description of the accident, or even an Oregonian story about it, if it was fatality.

This concept of layering information over maps is a big trend in online news lately, and came up several times during the Online News Association conference in Toronto a few weeks ago.

In addition to the maps there are some videos of what the streets are like in downtown Portland. There are also some charts and tables that examine things such as commutes on bikes versus commutes in cars (bikes have a shorter commute).

Overall I think it's a great project that looks at the downside of trying to be more environmentally conscious and how a community can perhaps improve.

Here are some of my past Picks:

SeattleTimes.com Puts Candidates On the Spot With User-Submitted Questions

'The Roanoke Times' Educates Readers About Childhood Obesity


The 'Oakland Tribune' Looks at Area Violence in 'Not Just a Number'