Biking in Baltimore
I would like to offer Maryland drivers this advice based on § 21-303.9.(d) of Maryland’s Transpiration Code which says “The driver of an overtaken vehicle, on audible signal, shall give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle.
How this works is described in the following video:
I will strongly assert this has fewer errors then MVA’s advice to us.
UPDATE: .You know, I really should learn not trust Buel Young, HB 1156 was vetoed by the Governor. Seriously Gov, what gives? Negligent driving resulting in death= $287.50 and suspension of license is out of the question?
About HB 1156: https://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/billfile/HB1156.htm
Negligent driving: https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20100717104900514
Email the Governor: governor@gov.state.md.us (Not that it will do much good now but you never know.)
Originate post:
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One I missed that should be good for us:
HB 1156 – Victims’ Rights – Fatal Vehicular Accident – Suspension of License
This law allows the MVA to suspend, for up to six months, the license of a driver convicted of a moving violation that contributed to a traffic fatality. It authorizes the victim’s representative to be notified of a license suspension hearing held as a result of the moving violation, and the right to give an oral or written statement at the hearing.
And something bad for scooters and mopeds:
SB 344 – Motor Vehicles – Limited Speed Vehicles – Requirements and Prohibitions
This law limits vehicles with the maximum speed capability of between 25 and 55 mph to be driven on highways where the speed limit is at least five miles per hour less than the vehicle’s maximum speed. An auto dealer must inform the buyer of the limitations and the vehicle must be sold with an emblem designating it as a "limited speed vehicle."
[B’ Spokes: While Maryland was rated by LAB in having the best policies, some how Delaware’s comments sounds much like what happens here, no commitment to make dedicated, stand-alone, or strategic investments in on-road bicycling. In fact routine road accommodations has given us ZERO% progress over the last seven years. Thanks SHA for all your hard work, I’m sure things would be worse without your attention.]
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When Governor Jack Markell signed Executive Order #6 on April 24, 2009, ordering the creation of a “Complete Streets” policy at DelDOT, many Delaware bicyclists were giddy. If the Delaware bicycling community were blessed with its own version of Martin Luther King Jr., he might have yelled out “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Continue reading “In Delaware, Complete Streets Mandate comes to mean “Routine Accommodation””
Del. Joseph Vallario (D-Calvert, Prince George’s) doesn’t care about the needs of Maryland citizens, or for the democratic process.
Vallario is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in Annapolis, which is charged with voting on numerous bills that would make Maryland safer and protect its citizens. Only many of those bills never make it to a vote in the committee because Vallario makes a single-handed determination as chairman to keep them from being voted on. There are 21 other delegates in the committee who are unable to express their opinions because Vallario thinks he knows best and doesn’t give them a chance.
Here is what happened to my family: In 2008 our 15-year-old son was killed by a person speeding over twice the speed limit in Baltimore County.
This person was deemed reckless to the point where the state’s attorney wanted to charge him with automobile manslaughter, which could involve a jail sentence.
However, Maryland doesn’t have an adequate law to enable this to happen. Therefore the driver was charged with five driving violations and paid a fine of just over a thousand dollars.
Our family is destroyed, but the driver is free to go. It is true and happens many times each year.
For the past five years, legislators have introduced bills to establish an appropriate punishment for speeding and killing, and every year Vallario refused to let the committee vote on it. He is a defense attorney and often defends this kind of person, making lots of money. Is there a connection?
My wife and I went to testify for the bill’s passage this past spring, and Vallario walked out on our testimony. He ignored the pleas of state troopers and the state’s attorneys. Afterwards, I met separately with Vallario and he gave no reason other than that he doesn’t believe there should be a bill like this. He didn’t care that the speeders/killers went unpunished, or that the members of his committee didn’t have an opportunity to vote for their constituencies.
Joe Vallario needs to step down from this very important position and hand the reins over to someone who believes in the democratic process and who cares about the safety of Maryland citizens.
Ed Kohls, Baltimore
Continue reading “Vallario has been blocking unsafe driving penalties”
From Lane Change: Kate Ryan Reports
22 year old Danny Elizabeth Alay-Mateo died Tuesday morning as a result of her injuries in a hit-and-run in the Piney Branch area of Silver Spring. Police are continuing their investigation into the fatal pedestrian collision. They need the public’s help. Emphasis in bold font is mine. Here’s the release from Montgomery County Police:
Piney Branch Pedestrian Collision Now Being Investigated as a Fatal
Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Collision Reconstruction Unit (CRU) are continuing to investigate a serious pedestrian hit-and-run collision that occurred in the Piney Branch area of Silver Spring.
This morning at 10:30 a.m., the pedestrian, Danny Elizabeth Alay-Mateo, succumbed to her injuries at an area trauma center. She was 22-years-old and resided in the 9100 block of September Lane in Silver Spring.
On September 25 at 8:13 p.m., 3rd District officers and fire/rescue personnel responded to the 8700 block of Carroll Avenue for the report of a pedestrian struck. The preliminary investigation revealed that for unknown reasons, Alay-Mateo was in the northbound portion of the roadway of the 8700 block of Carroll Avenue. For reasons still under investigation, a dark colored vehicle struck her and failed to stop and remain at the scene.
The description of the striking vehicle is a 1994-998 GMC Jimmy, Chevy S-10 pick-up truck, Chevy Blazer, or Oldsmobile Bravada. The vehicle could possibly have minimal damage to the right front headlight, the hood, and/or the windshield. The right side exterior mirror was located at the scene and the plastic housing compartment is believed to still be attached to the vehicle.
Detectives have interviewed several witnesses, but would like to hear from anyone else who may have information about this collision and/or the suspect responsible. Those persons are asked to call the Collision Reconstruction Unit at 301-840-2435. Those who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). Crime Solvers will pay a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information provided to them that leads to an arrest and/or indictment for this felony crime.
Continue reading “Woman Dies As A Result of Hit-and-Run Injuries”
The scene at Georgia Ave. and Aspen Hill Rd. (Julie Parker)
This is just tragic, as much as I am for a proactive approach to pedestrian safety there should also be a systematic review of where accidents happen and up grade these intersections and if the pedestrian was “j-walking” and no crosswalk within 1/4 of a mile, put one in. Install countdown signals, refresh paint on the crosswalk (totally invisible in the photo) get rid of only on demand pedestrian signals for crossing busy roads.
More details and comments in the links after the fold.
Continue reading “Child in stroller struck by SUV in Aspen Hill, injuries ‘life-threatening’”
by washcycle
Maillot Jaune: A study in NYC determined that drivers often drive in, and park in, bike lanes. Even protected ones. I’m shocked. “Stringer staffers measured bike lane violations at 11 locations during the morning and evening rush between October 5 and October 7. Motorists blocking bike lanes, wrong-way cycling, and pedestrians wandering into the lane were the most widespread types of misuse. Out of 275 motor vehicles blocking bike lanes, 35 were part of the city’s fleet. Of those, 19 were cops….The Borough President is recommending that NYPD crack down on bike lane-blocking motorists. He suggests putting traffic enforcement agents on bikes to patrol lanes and issue summonses to both motorists and cyclists” You can see the result of the study here. I’m also shocked that the media sensationalized the story.
Podium – A jogger wearing headphones made a sudden u-turn on Dallas’ Katy Trail. She was hit by a cyclist (who was reportedly not speeding and calling out before passing) and subsequently died. BikePortland reminds users to not wear headphones, look before turning and pass at a speed that allows for a crazy Ivan.
Podium – An Indiana bicyle cop was killed in a hit and run crash. And a philanthropist was killed during the final leg of a cross-country bike ride to raise money for victims of last summer’s oil spill.
Maillot Vert: Isaac Johnson was a black inventor who invented a type of folding bicycle frame back in 1899, but he did not invent “the bicycle frame” as is sometimes claimed.
Maillot a Pois Rouge: Greg Cohen at the National Journal thinks we should make roads that are more forgiving of distracted drivers, which prompted a response by LAB’s Andy Clarke. Meanwhile Maryland started banning the use of handheld phones while driving on Oct 1 but only as a secondary offense, which may do little good. It’s talking on the phone while driving that is truly dangerous, not holding the phone in your hand. Furthermore, some research shows that laws banning handheld devices can be more dangerous, because drivers continue to use them anyway, but with the added distraction of trying to hide their use and pull their eyes farther from the road in the process.
Maillot Blanc: A company in florida is selling “DUI scooters” – scooters targeted to drivers who’ve lost their licenses due to a DWI. That would never catch on in Maryland. No one loses their license. When I was in London, there was a service you could hire if you’d drank too much to drive home. A sober person would meet you at your car and put their folding bike in your trunk. They’d drive you home and then ride their bike back (some of them had foldable scooters, which is why I’m connecting the two).
Lanterne Rouge: After seeing a driver nearly hit a cyclist, a woman threw a bag of dog poop in the driver’s face. I don’t condone that, but at least SOMEONE enforces the law. She was charged with assault and battery with a weapon. A weapon? Only if it was a great dane.
From the League of American Bicyclists (LAB)
With nearly 34,000 traffic fatalities in 2009 — 630 of them of bicyclists – there is a huge need to spend safety funds quickly and strategically. However, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released information showing that states have spent just 62 percent of the total available from the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), one of the most significant federal safety funding sources. In our Advocacy Advance report, we discuss how HSIP funds can be spent on bicycle and pedestrian safety projects and how the spending rate, or “obligation rate,” has been extremely low since the beginning of the program.
It is disappointing to see states are still not aggressively tapping into these funds.
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[B’ Spokes: OK this is a national problem covering all modes of travel, so the big question is how does Maryland stack up? OK gentlemen place your bets, is Maryland doing better or worse then the national average?
The answer is worse, with Maryland spending only 44.6% from the Highway Safety Improvement Program verses 61.9% nationally and the best state (Wyoming) at 88.9%.
Combine that with Maryland’s absolutely the lowest spending rate of Transportation Enhancement money on bike/ped projects with $20M in the bank still unobligated it really looks like improved road safety is a low priority for Maryland. So while we are waiting for Maryland’s 2009 pedestrian fatality rate ranking to come out any bets on on the movement of our current ranking of 6th worst fatality rate?
Continue reading “States still slow to spend safety funds”
SAVE MONEY. SIMPLIFY LIFE. GO GREEN.
LIVING CAR-FREE IN HOBOKEN HAS NEVER BEEN THIS EASY!
Turn in your parking permit at the Hoboken Parking Utility and receive more than $500 in rewards.
Continue reading “Hoboken: Surrender Your Parking Permit and get a bike helmet”
Updated update: While I did get a written response John Kuo, I will not post it. The issue is the only tools at John’s disposal are the Drivers’ Manual and Drivers’ Ed materials, he is not in a position to interpret laws. While this seems reasonable at first glance using car centric MVA materiel to interpret bicycling laws and having more AAG’s (Assistant Attorney General) in the phone directory then I can shake a stick at, this is really turning into more bother then what should be necessary. For now Maryland’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and Maryland Highways Safety Office (Peter Moe) is working on this issue, so hold off on writing folks till we see what they come up with.
By my analysis the hang up is around “§ 21-1202. Traffic laws apply to bicycles and motor scooters.” So what John has at his disposal he asserts is applicable to cyclists. But just as the Drivers’ Manual fails to mention all the exceptions to our riding far right rule (such as when a lane is too narrow to share) they also fail to mention all the exceptions to § 21-1202. Bicycle law is more akin to Slow Moving Vehicles (SMV) then regular Motor Vehicles (MV) capable of doing the speed limit. So while it is illegal for a MV to go so slow that it impedes traffic a SMV is basically limited to stay in the right thru lane (unless making a left turn or avoiding hazards) and cycling rules are very similar.
The upside to all this there has been a lot of conversations around improvements at MVA and John is a pleasant person to talk with and very receptive to ideas but as far as bicycle laws he knows what he knows and that’s that. Again let’s wait till we see what others can do before jumping on anyone’s case.
Update: I just got a call from John Kuo MVA Administrator he sends his apologies and they will be issuing a correction as well as putting information about how to drive safely around cyclists on the MVA web site. They will also be consulting with Peter Moe of Maryland Highway Safety Office who does a good job of presenting issues fairly, his work can be seen here
Good job to everyone who responded! We got some serious attention on this. Thank you.
Original alert after the fold. (No longer applicable.)
Continue reading “Updated Update: MVA Misfeasance”