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There’s a new Chief of Police coming to Salisbury

NEWS RELEASE: Mayor Announces Salisbury’s Police Chief
Mrs. Barbara Duncan will be relocating from Yonkers, NY where she served as Chief of Police for the City of Mount Vernon Police Department since 2008. The City of Mount Vernon is the third most densely populated city in New York State. It shares a border with Bronx County in New York City.
Mrs. Duncan is qualified and motivated with skills developed over a 21 year career in law enforcement with 14 of those years in the executive leadership level.
Since 1989 she served as a police officer for the City of Mount Vernon and created and implemented a Bicycle Patrol Unit, served as patrol Sergeant with overlapping duties to Organized Crime/ Internal Affairs. Mrs. Duncan was instrumental in creating the Citizen Police Academy.
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Carroll Co. cyclist killed after collision with truck

Charges pending against driver who police say failed to yield
By Liz F. Kay, The Baltimore Sun

A Carroll County cyclist was killed Tuesday afternoon after he was struck by a tractor-trailer while riding in Union Bridge, according to Maryland State Police – the latest cycling fatality on Baltimore-area roads.

Arthur John Martin Jr., 51, of New Windsor was riding his bike on Shepherds Mill Road when a tractor-trailer driven by Anthony Edward Woodie, 37, made a right turn onto Route 75 in front of him, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Based on preliminary investigation, troopers say that Woodie failed to yield to Martin when turning, but do not believe alcohol or high speeds were a factor.
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Man riding bicycle in downtown Taunton crashes into parking meters; car hits him

Apparently a reckless cyclist plows down two parking meters, ripping the meter head off of one and then swerves into an innocent car, thankfully the driver was not charged. The cyclists may have been under the influence (how else can you explain having the power to bend parking meter poles?)
Worse reporting or police investigation ever.
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If you ride a bike, check your auto insurance

[B’Spokes : Note that I really can’t verify any of this and it’s from out of state but it might at least be a starting point.]

from Dave Moulton’s Bike Blog by Dave Moulton

If you ride a bike and own a car, and let’s face it most of us do, check your car insurance; that’s right your car insurance.

If you are hit by a car while on your bike and end up with $60,000 or more in medical bills, it will not help you if the driver at fault has only minimum legal coverage of say $25,000.

Worse yet he may have no insurance, or as is happening in more and more bicycle/car crashes, it is a hit and run. The driver leaves the scene and there is no one to make a claim against.

Most cyclists do not know that in most cases you can claim for expenses and compensation from your own insurance company, and if you are not at fault you are not penalized. However, this is only the case if you previously bought sufficient coverage on your own policy.

I was advised to do this a few years ago by an attorney friend of mine, and as a result I upped my underinsured and uninsured driver coverage to $250,000. It is advisable to carry at least $100,000 and up to $300,000. It may cost you $8.00 a month for the extra coverage, but the peace of mind it brings is worth it.

This advice was reiterated in a free book I just received called “The Utah Bicycle Accident Handbook.” As the title suggests it applies to the state of Utah, but much of the advice is good in most states.

The book also pointed out that I might consider Personal Injury Protection, or No Fault Coverage. This allows for my medical expenses to be covered immediately, instead of having to wait for the other party’s insurance to accept responsibility for the accident. If they do eventually accept responsibility my insurance company will seek reimbursement from the at fault insurer.

I had a serious bike accident a few years ago, and I was fortunate in that the person who caused the accident owned a business and had excellent auto insurance. There was also a witness who came forward, and I had an attorney who specialized in bicycle cases handle the claim.

I would advise anyone to do the same. An attorney will take a third of the final settlement, but they take no money up front, so it is in their interest to get the best settlement possible.

Insurance companies are in the business of paying out as little as possible, that is how they make a profit. In my case I would have had no idea what would have been a fair offer, or just how much they would have paid, but an experienced attorney has that knowledge and experience. 

The League of American Bicyclists has a list of attorneys who specialize in bicycle accidents 

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Environment Maryland endorses Gov. O’Malley

From Brad Heavner – Environment Maryland

I couldn’t stand by with Bob Ehrlich calling himself an environmentalist in this year’s campaign. I was there when he fought us on the renewable energy standard, Program Open Space, and many other environmental initiatives. We can’t forget.

A couple of those stories are in our new video. Please take a look and share it with your friends and family.

You can watch it here.

The video talks about Gov. Ehrlich’s lobbying efforts to kill legislation to reduce pollution from power plants. It also describes his attempt to sell land that was protected with taxpayer dollars to a developer to build luxury homes. The video was shot on the property involved in the controversial land deal in St. Mary’s County.