from Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space by Richard Layman
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At the minimum, all "urban" counties in the State of Maryland (and any state for that matter) should have:
– a bicycle and pedestrian master plan (including coverage in the transportation element of the County Master Plan)
– at least one bicycle and pedestrian planner
– a bicycle and pedestrian oversight committee
– implementation program for the recommendations in the bicycle and pedestrian master plan.
That’s it, and it’s based on the findings of the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Community program, which has determined those are key factors that differentiate the quality of the bicycling-mobility environment between better performing and lesser performing communities.
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Continue reading “Bike planning minimum requirements”
When being in full compliance of the law is not good enough
From Bike Portland and I will highlight this bit:
"Given the circumstances, it seems like issuing a citation would probably not stand up in court. Any person could go in and say, ‘It’s dark, rainy, there’s this little red light in the road’. I think any judge would toss that citation out’.
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It probably wasn’t powerful enough or large enough to overcome the circumstances surrounding this situation
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I could totally see how you’d miss a small red light."
— Det. Sgt. Jim Shumway, Beaverton Police Department
[B’ Spokes: What bothers me is two fold. Why do we have legal requirements that don’t stand up in court? And just because there are some low end lights and reflectors, why isn’t there a standard that can be applied that can say that the cyclists meet or exceeded visibility standards in this situation?]
Continue reading “When being in full compliance of the law is not good enough”
Sustainable transportation is not about expanding choice, but about optimality, and how to design it into the transportation net
Another great article from Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space by Richard Layman. Highlight:
"New York City’s Active Design Guidelines may represent the beginning of a strategic shift in the battle to get Americans to exercise. Instead of trying to change individual choices by using a moral appeal about what is good for us (you should walk [bike] to work because it is better for you), it’s about changing the environment to reshape the available choices (you’ll want to walk [bike] because it is easier, cheaper, faster, or more enjoyable)."
Continue reading “Sustainable transportation is not about expanding choice, but about optimality, and how to design it into the transportation net”
Bike UMD – Bike Freindly & Bike clinics
Bike Maryland Bike Symposium
by Beverly M.
John Brandt and I went to the Bike Maryland Bike Symposium yesterday in Annapolis. We were excited to hear that the University of Maryland, Baltimore County also applied for the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly University Award. Andy Clarke, president of the LAB was the keynote speaker. He reiterated that the key message today is biking for transportation.
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https://bikeumd.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/bike-maryland-bike-symposium/
Spring Bike Clinics
by Beverly M.
Spring is here! Time to get your bike in shape! Head over to the Campus Bike Shop in Cole Field House for free maintenance clinics.
Spring 2011 Bike Shop Clinics
Fridays, 4pm – FREE
[various topics]
https://bikeumd.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/spring-bike-clinics/
Design by firetruck
A topic comes up once and a while in trying to design complete streets where there is a strong desire to keep roads narrow and traffic speeds down, then someone raises an objection “But that will slow down firetruck response time.” So to accommodate the rare event of a firetruck we get larger turning radius and wider streets which results in speeding an unsafe streets most of the time. So to save the less frequent fire related death we promote the more frequent traffic injury and death.
But does it have to be this way?
In this video there is a competition between an American firetruck and a UK fire truck. Of course the UK truck wins the maneuverability course hands down.
The KME (U.S. truck) is 2 meters longer and almost a meter wider than the Volvo (U.K. truck). Fine for wide, American streets, but difficult navigating around a tight course like this.
So do our local roads really need to become freeway like to accommodate firetrucks or should firetruck change to adapt to their environment?
Continue reading “Design by firetruck”
Action: Emergency Bill Contributory Negligence for defense of wrongful death or injury by at fault drivers
Or let me state the bill more simplistically. At fault drivers "need" a easy defense to get out of paying any damages at all.
Yes you are reading that right, people at fault in a traffic "accident" can get away with murder. And the sponsors of this bill want to see more people get away with murder.
Examples of why we don’t like contributory negligence:
A Richmond, Virginia jury awards no damages to a 23 year-old pedestrian who was hit by an F-150 truck while walking on the sidewalk. The jury found the Plaintiff contributory negligent because she was singing while she was walking.
https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20110222101857474
Montgomery County Circuit Court awards no damages to a cyclist who hit a left turning truck that violated the cyclist’s right-of-way. The cyclist was contributory negligent because they hit the back part of the truck.
https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20090726190123851
What we do support is comparative negligence which is basically if a damaged party is 1% negligent they lose 1% of the damages. This is vastly more fair and just then losing all damages under contributory negligence and is followed by 90% of the United States in one form or the other.
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House Bill 1129 states (in part):
(B) CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE SHALL REMAIN AN AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE THAT MAY BE RAISED BY A PARTY AGAINST WHOM A CLAIM IS MADE FOR DAMAGES FOR WRONGFUL DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR PROPERTY DAMAGE.
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https://mlis.state.md.us/2011rs/bills/hb/hb1129f.pdf
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There is little doubt in my mind that this bill is the result of issues raised in this story: https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=2011011613561368
There is a group behind this that is difficult to find out just who they are but with some detective work here https://www.baltimoreinjurylawyerblog.com/2009/03/whats_a_frivolous_lawsuit.html we find a former political lobbyist (representing big corporate interest?), a doctor sued for medical malpractice, the owner of a failed local insurance company, an attorney in Annapolis, an owner of a national chain of camp resorts and a owner of a risk management for business. And they call themselves, get this, Maryland Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. The link in this paragraph has more info on the absurdity of that title and I quote from that article "Personally, I would be suspicious of any group that seems to conceal its leaders and true agenda."
There is also a battle of sorts between the courts and the legislature going on here. Judge Bell wants a study that I will summarize as "What are the best legal practices in awarding damages? And can the court adopt such best practices as a rule?" (Implied without the legislature taking action.) And then there is this statement attributed to Judge Bell (if I am reading it right) "Maryland’s contributory negligence rule is a common law rule. Arguably, the legislature’s failure to act is not approbation of contributory negligence." So to summarize the sponsors of this bill are afraid that contributory negligence will not be found to be the "best practice" by the study and want to prevent the court from taking any action based on that study. Personally I find that rather damning of the sponsors of the bill.
I am appalled at the number of Delegates that have signed on in support of this and how few have supported House Bill 363 – “Manslaughter by Vehicle or Vessel – Criminal Negligence. If indeed our legislature is impressed by Citizens Against something and grassroots motivation then we need to send a clear message "We are Maryland citizens and not big corporate interests. We are truly grassroots and our only "profit" is seeing the all Maryland citizens being protected by fair and just laws laws.
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*** Take action ***
And write your Representative to oppose House Bill 1129 – Maryland Contributory Negligence Act , especially if they are one of the sponsors:
Delegates Kramer, Bates, Beitzel, Bromwell, Carter, Costa, Dwyer, George, Jameson, Kach, K. Kelly, Kipke, McConkey, W. Miller, Norman, O’Donnell, Vitale, Weir, and Wood
To find your Representative: https://mdelect.net/electedofficials/
Is it really too much to ask that Maryland follow what the rest of America finds fair and reasonable for at fault drivers to pay for the damages that they cause?
All this bill does is protect at fault drivers from paying damages to people they kill or injure.
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Additional argument:
It has been said that contributory negligence is intended to discourage negligent behavior that causes accidents by denying recovery to those who fail to use proper care for their own safety.
Which is really an unfair summary of how contributory negligence works. But I ask what then is the deterrent to unlawful behavior that is over 51% the causes of the accident in the first place? Seriously, what’s more important to discourage, driving your pickup on the sidewalk or singing while walking? And again, what’s more important to discourage, trucks failing to yield the right-of-way or cyclists that decide they rather hit the back of the truck over getting run over by the front of the truck?
Continue reading “Action: Emergency Bill Contributory Negligence for defense of wrongful death or injury by at fault drivers”
Howard County Police Department Best Practice on Aggressive Driving
Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space reports on one of the presenters at the Bike Maryland Symposium Howard County Chief of Police William McMahon. I will highlight something I would like to see other jurisdictions adopt:
While there is a high standard of evidence required for the police to be able to write a ticket or charge someone with a crime if a police officer did not witness the incident, the Howard County Police Department encourages people to report acts of aggressive driving involving cars, pedestrians, or bicyclists.
They will send a letter to the owner of the vehicle stating that (1) a report was made; (2) concerning the vehicle and a particular illegal act; (3) the consequences from acting in this fashion; and (4) an "apology" if this report was made in error.
They send out over 300 letters each month.
Continue reading “Howard County Police Department Best Practice on Aggressive Driving”
Scorning safety advice
I seriously think there is something wrong with the general tendency to take short cuts to save milliseconds over taking an extra step for others people safety. If there was a pedestrian approaching a car from the right, a lot of times the motorist will not take the extra step to look, that is where the “fail” is at not this sign.
Continue reading “Scorning safety advice”
Dalai Lama nephew killed along A1A
By JULIE MURPHY and PATRICIO G. BALONA, Staff writer – News Journal
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Norbu, 45, was killed during the first day of the journey on foot along Florida’s coast. He was struck about 7:30 p.m. Monday by an SUV driven by Keith O’Dell, 31, in the 5600 block of A1A, just south of Hammock Hardware and Newcastle Shipyards.
Norbu was killed instantly, according to Flagler County Fire Rescue and the Florida Highway Patrol.
O’Dell of Palm Coast was not charged and could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He and his two children in the SUV, Bradon, 3, and Bohdi, 5, were not injured.
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Norbu was hit while walking south "in the area of the white line" along the outside of the southbound lane, according to the FHP report.
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Continue reading “Dalai Lama nephew killed along A1A”
Careless interference with traffic
This is in Virgina but still …
Two pedestrians hit by cars in Woodbridge, charged with traffic violations
https://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-on-foot/2011/02/prince-william-county-no-mercy-for-pedestrians-hit-by-cars-8725.html