Biking in Baltimore
[B’ Spokes: I love outdoor cafés! And I love better uses for dead car storage areas (parking spaces.)]
The pop-up café on Pearl Street has boosted foot traffic and improved business for nearby restaurants. Image: NYCDOT
Last Thursday evening, Manhattan Community Board 2 voted down five of six approved pop-up cafés in their neighborhood, choosing parking spaces over public seating.
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Continue reading “SoHo’s Rejected Pop-Up Cafés Won’t Appear Elsewhere”
Cycling advocates and business owners learned about bicycle-friendly business tactics at a Frederick Bicycle Coalition workshop Tuesday afternoon.
The C. Burr Artz Public Library Community Room was packed with about 35 participants, including a panel of speakers.
Tom Rinker talks to business people every week who are interested in becoming more bicycle friendly. Even more often, he hears from workers interested in finding employment that accommodates bicyclists.
"People do think about it, especially young professionals," the Bicycle Escape store owner said.
Businesses can benefit from being bicycle friendly, he said, including being more attractive to potential employees and creating a more creative environment with less stress, Director of Economic Development Richard Griffin said.
Making strides toward becoming a bicycle-friendly business is easy, according to Bill Nesper, director of the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle-Friendly America Program.
Participating in Bike to Work Day — scheduled for May 20 — and providing bike safety tips to employees can get businesses on the right track, Nesper said.
FBC member, business owner and bike rider Bob McCutcheon would like to apply for the bicycle-friendly business designation in the future, but needs to add bike racks for customers and employees at his downtown store, McCutcheon’s Apple Products Inc.
"More bicycle-friendly businesses mean a more bicycle-friendly city," McCutcheon said.
The Commuter Check for Bicycling program, a national benefit to allow bike commuters to receive $20 per month as a subsidy to pay for commuting costs, is certainly friendly.
People can use the vouchers at participating businesses to pay for things like bike storage at work, the purchase of bike-related equipment and repairs, said Paul Doran, director of sales for the program. Rinker’s business utilizes the vouchers, though they haven’t had many cyclists turn them in.
Clyde Hicks, co-owner of The Trail House outdoor shop, would likely apply for the designation, he said.
"I thought we were (bicycle friendly)," he said at the Tuesday workshop, where he learned about more extensive measures the store can take to aid cyclists.
"Most businesses we deal with can find quite a few things they are already doing that is (potentially) accommodating," Nesper said.
Continue reading “Businesses receive lesson in bicycle-friendly tactics”
We’re pleased to announce the official prizes for the 2011 Bike Month Challenge. A special thanks to all of our in-kind sponsors, listed to the right. Please make sure you visit their websites. The Bike Month Challenge Registration opens on Friday. We’re all really excited!
| Category | Measure | Prizes |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Prize | Total # of points | Bike-themed cake “trophy” from Charm City Cakes, Waterfront Partnership Entertainment Package including tickets and gift cards ($374 value), $100 gift certificate to Baltimore Bicycle Works |
| Second Place | Total # of points | Complete bike overhaul including cables ($175 value), courtesy of Twenty Twenty Cycles, $75 driving credit toward new or existing Zipcar membership and bag full of Zipcar goodies |
| Most Bicycle Commuting Miles | Total miles biked | Endura Rain Jacket and Pant (Courtesy of Joe’s Bike Shop, $240 value), $100 gift card to Race Pace Bicycles |
| Best Bike to Work Day Coordinator | # Coworkers Participating | Chrome Messenger Bag (Courtesy of Joe’s Bike Shop, $120 value), $100 gift card to Race Pace Bicycles |
from Getting There by Michael Dresser
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But proponents argued that a simple traffic charge — which can be resolved by mailing in a fine without a court appearance by the defendant — isn’t appropriate in a case where someone is killed through a driver’s negligence.
“This much-needed legislation addresses a critical loophole that traffic safety advocates, including AAA and the families of victims have been trying to fix for nearly 15 years,” said AAA spokeswoman Ragina C. Averella. “It’s a loophole so large that negligent and irresponsible Maryland drivers who kill have been escaping through it for years."
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“It is embarrassing that Maryland has this massive loophole in its law. When you look at the statutes and accompanying penalties in other states, this bill is more than fair and sensible. It provides a measure of justice for all concerned,” she [Adiva Sotzsky] said.
But Frosh said in an interview last week that drivers found to be negligent in the deaths of others can face costly civil penalties. He said his view is that in most cases, jail terms should be reserved for those who intentionally caused harm.
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Continue reading “AAA, lawmakers seek new auto manslaughter law”
Has anyone seen coverage of Street Smarts for the Balto Metro Area yet? Are we going to get anything better then just "we will be ticketing j-walkers"? Does anyone know?
Continue reading “Campaign to protect pedestrians, cyclists as number of crashes in the District rises”
By Lori McFerran
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In some areas, a biking economy is already taking over. Cities like Portland, Ore., and Baltimore, Md., are making it easy for people to cycle around town with special bike lanes and routes, and parking spaces for bikes. There has also been a huge uptick in bicycle-related businesses, like bike repair shops, which are a boost to local commerce.
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Continue reading “Turning the economy on two wheels”
Unlike Maryland where a driver has to be doing something grossly wrong like being drunk while driving (unless HB 363 passes.) In this story:
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"There’s no initial evidence of any external factors (that contributed to the collision)," McGowan said, noting investigators will look at all possibilities.
Daley was charged with one count of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation. She was issued a summons to appear in Wrentham District Court on a date to be set by the court, police said.
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Seems very different then here where the driver needs to do something "wrong" (other then run over someone plainly visible in the road.)
Continue reading “Should have, could have seen the cyclist = motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation (not Maryland)”
[B’ Spokes: We really need an incentive program to get more of our officers biking to work.]
A Portland Police Bureau Sergeant who was riding his bike into work yesterday morning was involved in an altercation with a man driving a car that has resulted in the driver being arrested for hit and run and attempted assault.
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Larry Fornshell’s booking photo.
Continue reading “Off-duty Portland cop allegedly assaulted while biking to work”
[B’ Spokes: I’m going to skip over the details of the fatality and share the ending of this article. And yes I am thinking of some of the bicycling fatalities here in Baltimore, we are urged to be patient till the investigation is completed and then there is no discussion, the conclusions are final. ]
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BY: KEVIN SCHWARTZ AND SHWETA KRISHNAN
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Peter Cadden, unable to convince law enforcement officials that their conclusions were incorrect, says he thinks there should be some sort of independent board citizens like him can appeal to if they have a disagreement with the police. Such boards do exist in municipalities across the United States, often in bigger cities like Boston. Their focus is typically cases of police misconduct. Experts said they were not aware of any boards that would handle a case like Cadden’s. Because of the technical expertise necessary to assess reconstruction reports, as well as the relatively small impact such cases would have, the experts said it would be very difficult to create such a board.
“It’s hard enough to get a civilian review board that has any teeth when it comes to police misconduct,” said Barbara Dougan, a lawyer speaking on behalf of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Lawyer’s Guild. “I can’t imagine that you’d have any success at all to have a body that would reassess more technical reports.”
There is no civilian review board in Mattapoisett and nothing like it in Plymouth County. Bradley said district attorney policy when a citizen has a complaint about a report is to check back with the supervisor of the agency that authored it, which his office did in the Cadden case. “There’s not a whole lot they can do if [the reconstructionist] refuses to admit it’s wrong,” Bradley said. “I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s difficult to prove [a report] is botched if you have an experienced trooper giving an opinion that was approved by his experienced supervisor.”
According to Dobson, the accident reconstructionist hired by Cadden, the State Police are usually reluctant to revisit a case once a report is filed unless litigation is involved. “[Reports are corrected] almost never,” he said. “It goes into the hands of the attorney, who brings it to life only in the trial.”
Kevin Reddington, a Brockton attorney who handles accident reconstruction cases, said the motive for not changing reports is probably fear of punishment, rather than malicious intent. “Unless there’s some sort of relationship—it’s probably just an overwhelmed guy who mixed up his numbers,” he said. “What happens is they take an adversarial approach. They don’t want to end up in front of a jury, where he’s going to have his head handed to him.”
Over the past year, Cadden has appealed again to the district attorney’s office and the attorney general’s office and met with Police Chief Lyons. The officials have listened and even re-interviewed a witness, but they did not reopen the case. Cadden is frustrated and still insists the State Police report reached the wrong conclusion, but he is out of options.
“I almost feel like this is an irreversible process from their perspective,” he said of law enforcement officials. “You can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”
Continue reading “WHAT’S A CITIZEN TO DO WHEN THE POLICE BOTCH AN INVESTIGATION”
[B’ Spokes: A before and after a picture should be enough of a highlight to show the “advantages” of car-centric planning over accommodating people.]
from Strong Towns Blog by Charles Marohn
