from Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space by Richard Layman
from a citizen workshop earlier in the week.
Continue reading “Obstacles for walking and biking, District 4, Baltimore County”
Hernando Today: Bicyclist injured after being chased by dogs
Hernando Today: Bicyclist injured after being chased by dogs
By HERNANDO TODAY STAFF
Published: April 7, 2010
BROOKSVILLE – A bicyclist was injured Tuesday morning after two dogs chased after him, causing him to flip over along Mondon Hill Road, deputies said.
Allen Hughes, 65, was riding along the road with a group of bicyclists when two brown dogs sprinted toward them and ran into Hughes’ bike, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.
Hughes said he was unable to avoid hitting the dogs and one of them went between his front tire and the rim of his bicycle and that caused him to flip over, according to the incident report.
While on the ground, Hughes was run over by another bicyclist, deputies said.
He was treated at Brooksville Regional Hospital for an injured right shoulder and right hip, according to the sheriff’s office.
Contact was made with the dog owner, Roderick Miller, who lives at 23451 Mondon Hill Road. He said his dogs run freely on his property and have been in the roadway before, deputies said.
No charges were filed.
Continue reading “Hernando Today: Bicyclist injured after being chased by dogs”
Bike advocate files suit over crash
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The suit is a matter of principle, the 63-year-old former Eugene city councilor said. Nicholson alleged that the Connecticut- based insurance corporation rebuffed his direct efforts to obtain such compensation.
“If this woman had run a red light and fractured the side of my car, I don’t think the attitude would be the same,” he said. “They seem to have the attitude that when a car hits a cyclist, it ought to be free. I expected to be responded to and that they would consider it a serious issue.”
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Continue reading “Bike advocate files suit over crash”
N.J. law now requires drivers stop for pedestrians in crosswalks
A new New Jersey state law goes into effect Thursday that mandates that motorists must stop — and remain stopped — for pedestrians in the crosswalk.
In the past, motorists were required only to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.
State Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Division of Highway Traffic Safety Director Pam Fischer are traveling the state Thursday to remind New Jerseyans of the change.
"For years, too many pedestrians have been dying in traffic accidents in New Jersey," Dow said. "With these changes to our law, motorists and pedestrians will no longer have to play a game of chicken when it comes to maneuvering on our roadways. The law brings new clarity that drivers must stop and remain stopped for pedestrians at intersections and crosswalks, and pedestrians, in turn, must use due care and not jaywalk or step into traffic outside of those crossing points."
Motorists who violate the law face a $200 fine, plus court costs, and 2 points on their license. They can also be subject to 15 days of community service and insurance surcharges.
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[B’ Spokes: There is also an added assumption that if a pedestrian is hit in a crosswalk the driver is at fault.]
Continue reading “N.J. law now requires drivers stop for pedestrians in crosswalks”
Alleged drunk driver hits judge he faced in 1998
from Stop the Maryland Unsafe Driver by Driver
ROCKVILLE, Md. — A man has been charged with driving drunk and hitting the car of a retired Maryland judge who once spared him jail time in previous drunk driving case.
via https://www.pantagraph.com/news/weird-news/article_2e370598-46fd-11df-bcab-001cc4c002e0.html
(Judges, perhaps there is a way to evaluate a person’s propensity to re-offend? What are the clues? Could this have been one of those persons that a personal breathalyzer would have stopped?)
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[B’ Spokes: I would like to point this out "Collier spared him jail time, even though the man had been arrested on drunk driving charges twice in three months."
Driving needs to be treated as a privilege, not a right! ]
Continue reading “Alleged drunk driver hits judge he faced in 1998”
Don’t even think of walking here
Via Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space by Richard Layman
This photo is digitally doctored (the word walking was substituted for parking), but otherwise the photo is accurate. (It’s on Warren Road in Cockeysville.)
Continue reading “Don’t even think of walking here”
Commuters embrace new fiscal ‘cycle’
Published 05/02/10
About two years ago, Liz Thibodeau resolved she’d rather not stare into the bumper of a car each morning in stop-and-go traffic.
Paul W. Gillespie — The Capital
Geoff Elliott, owner of Green Pedals on McGuckian Street in Annapolis, sells electric bicycles. Green Pedals will participate in the city’s Bike to Work Day event on May 21 to encourage local commuters that bicycling can be both effortless and better for the environment than automobiles.
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According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey conducted three years ago, a little less than half of a percentage point of workers nationwide – or just more than 650,000 people – used a bike as transportation. However, many bike sellers and associations believe that number has since grown due to the economic downturn and bouts of sky-high gas prices.
Some entrepreneurs are so convinced that bike commuting is on the rise, they’re hoping to build a business centered on it.
Geoff Elliott opened Green Pedals on McGuckian Street in Annapolis almost a year ago. He sells electric bicycles, and they can cost a customer about $1,500 to $3,000 apiece.
These vehicles, which can be pedaled while offering a little bit of electrical power assistance, can run on lithium-ion batteries for about 30 miles between recharges. Because of current laws, the bikes are capped to not exceed 20 mph.
An electric bike’s target market may very well be the work-commuting cohort. Without having to grunt through the difficult legwork, a rider could potentially arrive at the office armpit-stain free. In other countries where electric bikes are more popular, this already seems to be the case.
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Complete streets? Not in Montgomery County
from Greater Greater Washington
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The new Transportation Policy Area Review will replace the existing Policy Area Mobility Review (PAMR) and Local Area Transportation Review (LATR) tests. These tests, which have been widely criticized, focus on how fast cars move through intersections, blocking development and imposing new infrastructure requirements whenever cars slow down.
These tests may have their places, but not in modern pedestrian-friendly plans. The reason is simple: you can’t have a pedestrian-friendly community if cars move fast.
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Continue reading “Complete streets? Not in Montgomery County”
It’s just a shame and that’s all
[Note on format on this article; Headlines-link, comments and brief intro to next headline.]
Mother, 17, hit and killed while pushing son in stroller https://www.explorebaltimorecounty.com/news/105884/mother-17-hit-killed-while-pushing-son-stroller/
Here is an idea for complete streets: between an interstate entrance/exit, shopping mall, major road, lets put in only two crosswalks (none across the high speed right turn lane) and lets save some money on paint and not put in the zebra stripe for the crosswalk (at least per Google Street View.) This is a fine example of car centric design.
https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Baltimore,+Maryland&ll=39.336822,-76.490623&spn=0,0.308647&z=12&layer=c&cbll=39.336822,-76.490623&panoid=prdlf_vOY8hPs_vOlzp-GQ&cbp=12,48.65,,0,1.6
And then a couple miles away
Girl, 13, Hit By Car In Essex https://www.wbaltv.com/news/23324973/detail.html
2 Teen Pedestrians Struck In Separate Incidents https://wjz.com/local/pedestrian.teen.2.1670220.html
Road not designed for pedestrians to cross = pedestrian error
Safe crashing with infant fail:
2 adults, infant injured in 3-car crash in Owings Mills https://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-04-06/news/bal-md.briefs062apr06_1_owings-mills-three-car-accident-two-adults
I am totally speechless on this one, does being in a car distance you that much from reality and the potential harm you can do?
Motorist Mom Mows Down Cyclist Son https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2010/04/28/motorist-mom-mows-down-cyclist-son
Maryland Highway Safety Office: 2009 Annual Report
[B’ Spokes: To highlight some of that 7% "improvement" mentioned earlier, pedestrian fatalities are up 22%. 🙁 ]
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from Stop the Maryland Unsafe Driver by Doug
“In 2008, there was a total of 95,349 police-reported motor vehicle crashes, or one every five minutes, occurring on Maryland’s roadways and resulting in 48,143 injuries and 592 lives lost. The bigger picture shows that from 1998 to 2008 more than 6,900 people died on Maryland roads, and roughly 640,000 were injured at a cost of more than $45 billion.”
Anyone interested in traffic safety in our state will find this study interesting. Certainly anyone prone to rationalizing their own unsafe driving behavior should read it. The report should be discussed in high schools, by civic groups, homes associations, and by ANY group or organization that sponsors a vanity or professional tag in this state.
Continue reading “Maryland Highway Safety Office: 2009 Annual Report”