Biking in Baltimore
from Stop the Maryland Unsafe Driver
CLARKSBURG, Md.(CBS) A Montgomery County police officer who struck and paralyzed a young boy with his cruiser received a $185 speeding ticket. It is unclear whether the officer was disciplined by the state or the police department.
(We need on and off duty public safety AND their families to start setting a driving example so this kind of tragedy does not happen again)
©2010 Stop the Maryland Unsafe Driver. All Rights Reserved.
A top Republican transportation staffer gave some clues yesterday about the GOP’s plan to drastically restructure national transportation policy and reverse many reforms of the past 20 years.
GOP insiders say transportation policy should go “back to its roots” in the 1950s.
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Continue reading “GOP Wants to Bring Transpo Policy Back to the 1950s”
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For example, the Dutch have turned away from building wide, flat streets that increase speeds in favor of roadways that prioritize the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. They call them “self-explaining streets.” Meanwhile, the United States kept on building wide, straight “forgiving highways.” The differences today are dramatic. In 1975, the Dutch traffic fatality rate was 20 percent higher than America’s. Today, the U.S. fatality rate is two and half times higher than in the Netherlands. [That’s 250%]
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Continue reading “America’s Traffic Death Epidemic”
By Dottie
I’m going to continue with my “ups and downs” theme from Tuesday because it fits so perfectly.
On my way home from work last night, taking busy city streets, I rode by a group of people giving out free lights to cyclists. Up!
Dressed for 35 degree biking (thanks for the belt, Trisha!)
Not a half mile later, a driver passed me and then immediately swerved hard to the right to go around another car waiting to turn left. The maneuver put his speeding car dangerously close to my front wheel, causing me to scream and slam on my brakes. Soon the driver was stopped behind 10 other cars waiting for a red light. As I rode by, I looked in and saw a 30-something guy tapping away on his iPhone. This was too much for me to bear, so I tapped on his iWindow. He looked up with surprise and rolled it down. I said, “That was very scary back there.” He reacted with complete cluelessness and I calmly informed him that he very nearly hit me when he sped around the car just a few seconds ago. He apologized profusely and said that he never saw me.
Holy hell!! If that’s even true, it does not make me feel better. I kindly suggested that he pay attention to the road and then I turned onto a side street, anxious to get away from the rush hour madness and allow my hands and voice to stop shaking. These drivers are totally out of control. DOWN!
La Oma
But wait! Don’t give up on humanity yet: this is an overall positive post.
After that debacle, I met my friends and fellow oma-owners, Janet and Dan, for hard apple cider and sweet potato fries at a neighborhood pub. Up!
Afterward, this amazing husband-wife team demonstrated doubling up on a bike, with Janet sitting side saddle on the back rack and Dan pedaling. They made it look so easy and elegant! Then I got a chance to ride on the back rack – my first time doubling up. It was so much fun! Learning this skill is now high on my to-do list. Janet has graciously offered to be my trial passenger this weekend. Stay tuned for more detail as this progresses. There will be video. UP! 
What have your ups and downs been lately?
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With new funding from the Maryland Department of Transportation, Guaranteed Ride Home, previously available to workers in the Washington, D.C. region has been expanded to the Baltimore region and St. Mary’s County. Workers in counties included in the program who commute by mass transit, van pool, car pool, bicycle or walking are eligible for a free ride home in the event of an emergency. Expansion of the program to Anne Arundel and Harford counties means thousands of workers relocating to Fort Meade and Aberdeen Proving Ground through the Base Realignment and Closure process will be eligible for the benefit.
Guaranteed Ride Home provides regular commuters with a free ride home in the event of a mid-day emergency. “One of the main reasons people do not take mass transit or join carpools is because they’re worried about getting home quickly when family members get sick or there is a personal emergency,” said Pat Fielder, Harford County Rideshare Coordinator. “We have heard this concern from BRAC workers, and are delighted that the State of Maryland has stepped up to help by extending the Guaranteed Ride Home Program to Harford County commuters who use mass transit cars and vanpools to get to work,” she added.
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Continue reading “MTA’s Guaranteed Ride Home Program Expands to Harford County, Giving Peace of Mind to Commuters”
By Natalie McGill – The Gazette
When Natasha Pettigrew, a Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate, was killed while riding her bicycle two months ago, her mother, Kenniss Henry, filled in, campaigning throughout Maryland.
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Her new focus is advocating in Annapolis and on Capitol Hill for bicycle safety laws and tougher penalties for drivers who strike and kill bicyclists.
Pettigrew, 30, was bicycling about 5:30 a.m. Sept. 19 near Campus Way and Route 202 when she was struck by a sport-utility vehicle driven by Christy Littleford, 41, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland State Police said. Littleford said she thought she had hit a deer and found Pettigrew’s bicycle beneath her vehicle when she arrived home, police said.
Pettigrew, who had been training for a half-triathlon, died Sept. 20 from injuries she received in the accident. No charges have been filed against Littleford; police said the investigation is ongoing. Littleford could not be reached for comment.
Henry said she is working on building contacts with state officials and she will lobby the Maryland General Assembly next year for stronger state vehicular manslaughter laws aimed at drivers who hit and kill bicyclists.
Under state bicycle safety law, drivers must yield the right of way to cyclists "when these vehicle operators are entering or crossing occupied bike lanes and shoulders," according to the Maryland State Highway Administration Web site. Drivers can face a $1,000 fine and three points on their driving record if the failure to yield results in a crash in which the cyclist is "seriously injured," the Web site says.
According to Maryland law, a person who commits vehicular manslaughter is driving in a "grossly negligent manner." Anyone convicted of vehicular manslaughter, which is a felony, can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and fined as much as $5,000.
A Senate bill proposed during this year’s Maryland General Assembly session would have added to the existing vehicular manslaughter law language stating that a driver is considered to be criminally negligent when he or she "should be aware, but fails to perceive, that the person’s conduct creates a substantial risk that such a result will occur" and that the failure creates a "substantial deviation from the standard of care that would be exercised by a reasonable person."
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Larry E. Haines (R-Carroll) of Westminster, was in the Judiciary Proceedings Committee as of March 31, but the legislative session ended April 12. Haines, who did not seek reelection, did not return calls by press time.
Henry said she wants drivers who strike and seriously injure or kill cyclists to receive more than just a slap on the wrist and a fine.
Prosecutors must meet a high burden of proof for vehicular manslaughter, said spokesman Ramon Korionoff, speaking on behalf of Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey. Korionoff added that Ivey joined forces with AAA during this year’s Maryland General Assembly session to testify before the Judicial Proceedings Committee for tougher laws.
"For example, drunk driving alone does not necessarily constitute sufficient grounds for a vehicular manslaughter charge," Korionoff said. "You’d have to have excessive speed, impairment of the driver, weather conditions. There are various factors that play into this."
Henry said she plans to lobby state and federal lawmakers to ensure that money is earmarked for infrastructure projects, such as widening bicycle lanes.
Wider lanes would help cyclists and drivers, she said. According to a state law that took effect last month, drivers must maintain a minimum 3-foot buffer between their vehicles and bicycles and yield the right of way to cyclists.
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Continue reading “Daughter’s death gives Cheverly mother new direction”
by washcycle
A cyclist was hit by a taxi at 17th and New Hampshire and taken away in an ambulance. When he tried to report it to the police later that evening, he realized he didn’t have to. The police had saved him the inconvenience of being interviewed and just accepted the driver’s claim that he ran a red light. He’s seeking witnesses (which MPD also didn’t interview).
Has MPD never heard that there are two sides to every story? Is anyone surprised that the taxi driver blamed the cyclist for the crash?
Not to mention that it doesn’t make sense. The driver made a left turn from NH onto 17th. The cyclist was attempting to go straight on NH. As there is no left turn arrow there, either they were both running a red light or neither was. But it is impossible for only one of them to do so.
Continue reading “Cyclist hit by taxi, seeks winesses”
The National Park Service has begun the Planning, Environment and Public Comment period on the proposed extension of the WMRT approximately 15 miles from its present western terminus at Pearre Station to a point near Paw Paw, WV. This extension will be under the management of the C&O Canal National Historical Park.
Project information is available at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectID=14837 Public comments are encouraged. The comment period begins Nov 16 and ends Dec 23, 2010.
Note the Topic Questions Instructions on https://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=177&projectID=14837&documentID=37259
by
Sue J
I want to be excited by the news that Baltimore leaders are trying to make this a more attractive city to those who might be considering moving here, and I really want to get excited at the prospect of riding my bike around town to do errands and not get run off the road by angry motorists. The rest of the world includes bicycles in their transportation planning, because they have to. Do we have to wait until we are as congested as Vietnam or China, for example, before we decide that maybe bikes deserve to be on the road, too?
But some of the comments at the story in the Baltimore Sun, really have me wondering what is wrong with people. Bicycles should be banned? Cyclists should be Tased, maced, and clotheslined?
Baltimore City Council passes Cyclists’ Bill of Rights
The most sensible comment I’ve heard in a long time is from the person who notes that motorists who complain that bicyclists don’t obey the law are simply not aware of the majority of bicyclists who are doing just that. It’s only the errant cyclist — the one cuts you off/ runs a red light/ zooms past pedestrians on the sidewalk, etc., etc. — that’s the one who becomes your idea of a bicyclist. Most bicyclists are very safe because they are well aware of the huge disparity of weight between them and you, barreling down on them in your SUV. (Full disclosure here: I have an SUV as well as a bike.)
If you agree with me that there’s too much traffic on the roads, think about how much it would help if some of those cars were replaced by bikes. I think it would make a tremendous impact. Here’s what the City Council Resolution calls for:
I think we can live with that. What do you think?
image: Jean-Marie Hullot
Continue reading “Bicycling in Baltimore: Will it get better?”
By Ashley Halsey III – Washington Post Staff Writer
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The United States is far behind other developed countries when it comes to pursuing strategies that reduce traffic fatalities. Since 1995, France has cut deaths by 52 percent, Great Britain by 38 percent and Australia by 25 percent. In the United States, they’ve dropped by 19 percent.
"The lack of progress in reducing the highway casualty toll might suggest that Americans have resigned themselves to this burden of deaths and injuries as the inevitable consequence of the mobility provided by the road system," the report says. "In other countries, public officials . . . have declared that this human and economic cost is neither inevitable or acceptable."
The number of traffic fatalities in the United States last year – 33,808 – was the lowest since 1949, but other countries saw far more significant drops. If the United States had made the same progress in reducing deaths as Britain did between 1997 and 2008, 29,000 more Americans would still be alive.
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Continue reading “Study: U.S. could avert thousands of traffic deaths with tougher enforcement”
