Month: March 2011

Thank you for meeting with Councilwoman Clarke and the members of the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee on Thursday. I appreciate your efforts to keep us informed about the developments in this tragic case. As I understand it, the investigation continues and only after it is complete will information be passed to the State’s Attorney and MVA for a determination as to whether charges and/or license action are warranted. For now the appropriate response to questions is, "The investigation process is continuing, and we have no comment at this time."

I trust you have shared this guidance with your staff. Much of the uproar among the cycling community stems from statements made to the media by Detectives Kevin Brown and Donny Moses, saying that no charges would be filed against the driver and implying that the fault for the collision lay with the cyclist. Obviously these statements were made well in advance of the investigation’s completion.

The detectives’ statements are not the only reason cyclists are apprehensive about the results of the investigation. In an analysis of MDOT-compiled statistics, Baltimore City stands out from the rest of the state with respect to the percentages of crashes in which fault is assigned to either the cyclist, the motorist, or unknown. For example, in MontgomeryCounty the percentages are 43% (cyclist fault), 55% (motorist fault), and 1% (unknown). The percentages for the state (not including Baltimore City) are 58%, 38%, and 3%. For Baltimore City the numbers are 43% cyclist fault, 9% motorist fault, and 48% unknown. Clearly, these numbers are out of the norm. In fact, over 80% of unknown-cause bicycle crashes are in Baltimore City. It could be that Baltimore City motorists are much better drivers than those in the state at large, but I don’t think so. Baltimore cyclists fear that the anomaly results from the BPD being either reluctant to assign blame to drivers, or not up to speed on bicycle law. This is something we hope the future roll-call training videos will improve.

I am heartened to hear that Nathan’s condition continues to improve. We all hope for a full and speedy recovery. The cycling community of Baltimore also hopes that this unfortunate incident will provide an opportunity to improve relations and communications with the BPD.

Greg Hinchliffe, Chairman
Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee

Nathan is stable. Today is a very quiet day.
They removed the ICP (brain pressure) monitor yesterday because he is no longer in danger from a swelling brain.

Nathan is still unconscious, but yesterday he opened his injured eye once and his other eye multiple times. I did not see him open his eye today. But the nurse saw his good eye open when she changed a wound dressing.

Lets say a right turning motorist is doing 35 mph that’s 51 feet a second so it would take 0.14 of a second to get 7′ of their car in front of the cyclists.

Now let’s say the right turning motorist is doing 20 mph that’s 29 feet a second so it would take 0.24 of a second to get 7′ of their car in front of the cyclists.

OK this is a bit over simplest so lets double the numbers to get a rough maximum time which would give us a range of 0.14 to 0.48 of a second

So the big question on everyones mind is why didn’t the cyclists stop in time or avoid? After all he had a half a second. 🙁

The wrong question to ask is how much negligence the cyclists had by not hitting the front of the vehicle.

What should be ask is how much negligence the motorist had because of how far up from the rear bumper the cyclists hit.
Continue reading “Some math”

From Baltimore Brew by Fern Shen

Stressing that no decision has yet been made about whether to file charges in the case of a Saturday crash that left a Baltimore bicyclist comatose, a Baltimore police spokesman nevertheless pointed to evidence that he said suggests the cyclist may have been to blame.

“He did run into her car. Whether or not she took his right of way is unclear,” said Det. Donny Moses, in a phone interview with The Brew late yesterday.

According to Moses, a departmental spokesman, police so far have no eyewitnesses to the Saturday collision between a motorist and 20-year-old Nathan Krasnopoler but they do have significant evidence from the damage to the car that crushed him.
…

Continue reading “Cyclist may be at fault, Baltimore police spokesman says: “He did run into her car.””

There is no doubt in my mind that the “Don’t be dead right” safety messages over the last several decades have given motorists implied rights that don’t exist in law
and have taken away rights of vulnerable road users that still exist in law. Of course I want to encourage cyclists to take steps to improve their safety but I am extremely passionate about NOT giving motor vehicles any extra rights.

In looking for material on the net I found a wonderful quote: “Yielding while looking but not signaling may be safe. Yielding while signaling but not looking is never safe. ” So the point that the driver was signaling under the requirement to yield has how much validity?

In Street Smarts by John S. Allen has these pictures. I have to seriously ask how could a cyclists slam into the right side of the vehicle in the right position? Only in the wrong position is such a event possible and even extremely probable. (On the cyclists side this position is NOT a requirement of law, while the motor vehicle’s position is.)

Lastly our laws more closely resembles California laws with some redundancy that requires drivers to at least behave like the requirement in Oregon when a bike lane is present. (Click play in the graphic below.)


Click here if you cannot see the graphic.

Please see our action alert Alert: Contact the DA for proper bicycle law enforcement to help get the word out on how motorists are to safely make right turns around cyclists.

Nathan continues to improve, though slowly and in very small ways. He opened his eye more today, several times while his mother was stroking him and talking to him! This was very hopeful for us because it was not in response to a stronger physical stimuli such as the nurse doing something to him that he found uncomfortable. We pray that his recovery continues. Slow is OK, Nathan, just keep it going.

— Mitchell
Continue reading “Nathan Krasnopoler ‎3/4/11 Update”

[Note: copy and paste form letter below, so please act and please share.]

Introduction

While I am heartened by the recent article in the Sun about statements of fault were premature and the investigation is still ongoing. As well as yesterdays meeting with police by the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, Bike Maryland and Mary Pat Clarke. But still there have been reports from people who have contacted the police and the response was the cyclists was at fault because… well, we’ll just call it something outrageous. And this has me concerned, very concerned actually.

I would like to remind you that in “Safe Bicycling in Maryland” published by MDOT there is a little section on “What to do when the police get the laws wrong.” There is nothing comparable in the Drivers’ handbook. This is the heart of the matter, standard procedures do not acknowledge that their might be less then adequate understanding of laws in regards to bicycle and motorist interaction. It is not my intention to insult anyone but just a general statement that our society has made such understanding optional with an implied it’s not necessary, after all if a kid can ride a bike how hard could understand bike laws be? Actually when it it comes to traffic violations and understanding “the dance” on how bikes and cars can safely mix it can get rather complex as there are rights and duties on both bicyclists and motorists and it is not as simple as bicyclist must stay out of the way of cars.

While on one hand I am perfectly content to wait till the investigation is complete and see what charges are applied but at that time it then becomes too late to influence the decision made. Do you remember the statement MVA made when discussing our 3′ law and how cyclists must move out of the way of cars? This was not made because of any lack of intelligence by MVA personnel, in fact quite the opposite. It was made because the manual used for understanding traffic laws is written primarily for motor vehicles and has a grossly oversimplified § 21-1202. Traffic laws apply to bicycles and motor scooters. (bicyclists have exactly the same rights and duties of motorists, with no mention of the exceptions.) This is the same manual used by police and the DA. Are you getting concerned yet? Good.

So inspired by the story of the dog Bear-Bear that was shot by an off-duty police office in an Anne Arundel County dog park and not charged. But public outcry got that changed. I hope that a promising young man now in a comma because a motorist simply could not be bothered to check to see if she cleared the cyclist or not is at least the same level of a tragedy as losing a dog. Or have we become so unsensitized to tragedies by automobile that this harm to human life is necessary for fast and “efficient” travel… to save two second in getting into a home driveway?

I should note that I do not have enough facts to say what was the cause of the accident or who was at fault (so the above is just my belief in most probable cause) but there is enough to be highly suspicious that the driver was not operating in full accordance of the law AND those laws are not in the manual used by police because they have little impact on motorist on motorist collisions.

Click read more on how to take action
Continue reading “Alert: Contact the DA for proper bicycle law enforcement”

by Justin Fenton

City police are stressing that the investigation into an accident that critically injured a Johns Hopkins University student who was riding a bicycle near campus is still pending. Nathan Krasnopoler, 20, was hospitalized after being struck Saturday by a vehicle being driven by an 83-year-old woman.

Police have received numerous inquiries from citizens and city officials about a report in which a police spokesman said charges were not likely to be filed, which the department’s chief spokesman now says was premature. The Accident Investigation Unit is reviewing the accident and will deliberate with city prosecutors before deciding whether charges or citations should be filed.

"That does not mean charges will or will not be filed, but these things unfortunately take time," said spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. "Frankly, they need some help from witnesses." [Contact us and to be clear it would be a good idea for both the police and the family of the cyclist to know who you are, we can put you in touch with the family. And call Baltimore Police Public Relations Office at 410-396-2012]

Baltimore’s cycling community is planning a "Support Ride" next Wednesday at the spot where Krasnopoler was hit. [https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20110301191714786 ]

The student was riding his bike in a marked bike lane on West University Parkway at the intersection with West 39th Street when he was hit by a vehicle trying to turn right, police have said. When officers arrived, Krasnopoler was trapped under the vehicle, according to a police report.
The Baltimore Brew web site reported that Krasnopoler’s father, Mitchell Krasnopoler, has been offering updates on his son’s condition on Nathan’s Facebook page.

“Nathan has made some progress. Although Nathan is still unconscious, he is now responding to his nurse fussing with him: he is moving his legs and head, and even opening one eye,” Krasnopoler wrote.

“The doctors removed his sedation. Nathan is initiating his breathing on his own. Although his movements are not purposeful, he is r…responding to some stimuli. We hope that Nathan will soon respond to requests (“squeeze my hand,” etc.),” he reported.
Continue reading “Investigation pending in accident that critically injured bicyclist”