B’ Spokes: In this article https://www.commutebybike.com/2012/06/14/in-search-of-good-psas-about-bike-lanes-and-sharrows/ Ted Johnson explores some of the material out there that explains bike lanes and sharrows.
In an ideal world all engineering would be intuitive and instruction manuals would be a thing of the past but we are far from having an ideal world. And I am still amazed that we are putting this stuff down on the pavement with little to poor educational material out there so people know how to use this stuff properly.
I am still amazed at the effort we had to do after the Nathan Krasnopoler crash (https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=2011030413431398 ) and I am appreciative that the Baltimore Sun picked up on some of these points to help get the word out but still I don’t like the idea we need a serious crash to get attention on the lack of education.
Pedestrian accommodation?
B’ Spokes: In this Non Sequitur comic by Wiley Miller he seems to get at the nuance of the walk signal that still allows motorist right and left turns… with or without the walk signal it is still cross at out own risk.
Bike Tour of Community Gardens 7/28
On Saturday, July 28, join other cyclists and environmental advocates for a tour of some of Baltimore’s best and most hidden community gardens.
The Charm City Farm and Garden Tour starts and ends at Cylburn Arboreteum, includes bike and bus tour options, and finishes with a party complete with live music, games, a garden-themed photo booth, and a gardeners potluck! Registration starts at 1, the tours starts at 2, and the party starts at 5. All are welcome to join for all or part of the event. See https://sites.google.com/site/charmcitygardentour/ for more information, and email charmcitygardentour@gmail.com to register! Hope to see you there!
As pedestrian accidents mount, Ocean City looks for answers, whoops I mean blame the victim and get the laws wrong
B’ Spokes: Years back I attended a statewide bike/ped safety meeting and the Ocean City Police really impressed me as having a handle on all the aspects of pedestrian safety but after reading this article in the Sun https://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-07-08/business/bs-md-oc-pedestrian-safety-20120702_1_pedestrians-ocean-city-crosswalk-signs I wounder what happened?
Surprising Aspects of Maryland Pedestrian Laws OK, actually that is about Florida pedestrian laws but as far as I can tell they are identical to Maryland (when I have the time I will repost with Maryland law citations. See Surprising Aspects of Pedestrian Laws for Maryland laws.) So what do we learn from this?
1) There Is No “Jaywalking” Law
2) Yes you can cross mid-block on Coastal Highway as it resembles the top half of this illustration
3) § 21-504.(a) In general. — Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian.
4) There are lots of unmarked crosswalks along Coastal Highway where the driver is legally obligated to stop for pedestrians, this is NOT Jaywalking!
- § 21-101.(i) Crosswalk. — “Crosswalk” means that part of a roadway that is:
- (1) Within the prolongation or connection of the lateral lines of sidewalks at any place where 2 or more roadways of any type meet or join, measured from the curbs or, in the absence of curbs, from the edges of the roadway;
- (2) Within the prolongation or connection of the lateral lines of a bicycle way where a bicycle way and a roadway of any type meet or join, measured from the curbs or, in the absence of curbs, from the edges of the roadway; or
- (3) Distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings.
5) A key outcome of this analysis is the importance of pedestrian desire lines to the location of new or improved pedestrian facilities (Accommodate pedestrians where they want to cross!)
6) “a nine-mile ribbon of blacktop eight lanes wide.” – I think I see the problem, over accommodating motorist and under accommodating pedestrians.
We Spend Too Much Time Trying To Predict Traffic
B’ Spokes: There is no doubt we have trouble getting bike lanes because of the perception of “all this traffic”, well Mark has a great post on traffic prediction which I will quote a bit:
discussions revolve around auto traffic like there was a tsunami headed for Baltimore
Read the full article: https://carfreebaltimore.com/?p=2103
John Crouch rides 1,600 to raise money for kids wheeelchairs
A nice heart worming story that started in Baltimore: https://nwahomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=346962
Photo of the NCR trail in the Sun
Teen Bicyclist Sent to Hopkins After Collision with Car
By Marc Shapiro, Owings Mills Patch
A 13-year-old boy was sent to The Johns Hopkins Hospital Friday after he collided with a car while riding his bike at 7:14 p.m., police said.
“The bicyclist was heading west on Academy Avenue,” said Lt. Stephen Doarnberger, assistant commander of the Baltimore County Police’s Franklin Precinct. “The car was traveling north on Highfalcon [Road] and the bicyclist did not stop at the stop sign.” [B’ Spokes: How do we know this? Driver testimony only?]
The teen was thrown from his bicycle after colliding with the 2005 Acura TL, which was driven by a 60-year-old Reisterstown man. The severity of his injuries is unknown, but he was conscious at the scene and able to speak with police officers, Doarnberger said.
No charges will be filed in the incident.
https://owingsmills.patch.com/articles/teen-bicyclist-sent-to-hopkins-after-collision-with-car
[B’ Spokes: I am under the opinion that at fault discussion should exist on both sides of car/bike collisions, so I am concerned that there is no mention (consideration) that the driver may be at fault in this case. Granted this is a kind of intersection that cyclists might be prone to not fully stop for but I will assert we rarely ride in front of a car that we can see coming.
My next assertion is that motorist in Maryland rarely obey the speed limit, with 10 to 15mph above the speed limit being rather typical, and that is rarely seen as illegal behavior by the police, this concerns me a great deal especially on roads where cyclists and pedestrians are present. Speed can make the critical difference between life and death and between a crash and no crash.
It is known in traffic engineering circles that intersections need “daylighting” (be free of obstructions) so cross traffic can get an adequate look down the road so they can cross safely. How much clear space is needed depends on the speed of the road. But what if the cross traffic speed is exceeding the designed speed of the clear zone? The cross traffic would be invisible until it was too late to react.
And that’s what I speculate might have happen here (or more correctly, I would feel a lot better if the speed of the motorist was carefully looked into.) From my Google Earth snapshot below I drew a 4 second line (2 second reaction time + 2 second stopping time) for a car that is traveling 35mph. It looks to me as the cyclist approached from the east (top of photo) a 35mph motorist was hidden behind the tree but would have been visible if the motorist was traveling 25mph.
§ 21-101.(t) Right-of-way. — “Right-of-way” means the right of one vehicle or pedestrian to proceed in a lawful manner on a highway in preference to another vehicle or pedestrian.
I’ll note that I have yet to see this portion of legal code applied to crashes with cyclists and pedestrians, to summarize, a motorist loses their legal right-of-way when breaking the law (such as speeding.) My point in this is a cyclist/ped should not be at fault if a motorist zips around a corner and hits them. We need time to react to traffic and we should not have the legal obligation of having to yield to traffic traveling too fast for conditions.
Conclusion: Cyclists, please keep in mind that not all low traffic intersections are created the same, some hide speeding traffic too well and give you very little time to react, use your hearing to hear approaching traffic. Motorists, please 35-40mph in residential is not acceptable. Police, please enforce the traffic laws. Thanks to all who help make this world a little safer.]
Somewhat related:
Cokinos, who was 23 at the time, was speeding at 56 miles an hour in a 30-mile-an-hour zone when he struck Luis — who was crossing Springtown Road in front of his home.Seven months later in November, a Montgomery County District Court judge found Cokinos not guilty of negligent driving or contributing to an accident.
SIMPLE SOLUTION
B’ Spokes: I just discovered this blog called Bickeyface, it’s really cute, here is a sample (click the pic for the original page):
Study shows biking customers spend more
Posted by Jonathan Mau, Bike Portland
"Survey results suggest that patrons who arrive by automobile do not necessarily convey greater monetary benefits to businesses than bicyclists, transit users, or pedestrians. This finding is contrary to what business owners often believe."
https://bikeportland.org/2012/07/06/study-shows-biking-customers-spend-more-74357