Month: May 2013

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Cyclist hit in Pikesville

Police say charges pending

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun

A Pikesville man was seriously injured Friday when he was struck by a sport utility vehicle while bicycling near his home, Baltimore County police said.

Melvin Pachino, 52, of the 2700 block of Waco Court, was riding west on Smith Avenue near Carla Road shortly after 11 a.m. when an eastbound Honda Pilot made a left turn and struck Pachino, according to Julia Hardgrove, a county police spokeswoman. The vehicle was driven by Shunji Watanabe of the 7600 block of Carla Road, she said.
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https://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-05-03/news/bs-md-co-bicyclist-struck-20130503_1_pikesville-man-baltimore-county-police-shock-trauma

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Households in transit-oriented locations save more energy and emissions than even ‘green’ households in sprawl

By Kaid Benfield

A new, peer-reviewed analysis performed by the staff of Jonathan Rose Companies, with assistance from the federal EPA, shows the power of a superior location in substantially reducing a household’s environmental footprint.  In fact, it shows this is so whether the housing type is a single-family home, townhome, or multi-family building.  In particular, a comparison based on national averages indicates that the energy consumption (and, thus, global warming emissions) of a typical household in a transit-oriented location is likely to be less than that of a household in a conventional suburban location (i.e., “sprawl”), even if the household in a conventional suburban location employs energy-efficient building technology and drives fuel-efficient vehicles.

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https://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/households_in_transit-oriented.html

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Joan Jett, Dropkick Murphys to headline Carroll Park concert on Sept. 14

By Jack Lambert, Digital Producer-Baltimore Business Journal

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Dropkick Murphys and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are coming to Baltimore this fall as part of an all-day concert in Southwest Baltimore.

The artists are part of “The Shindig” — being promoted by 24-7 Entertainment — on Sept. 14 at Carroll Park. General admission tickets to the day-long concert cost $48.50, while VIP tickets are priced at $125. Tickets go on sale to the general public May 17 at 10 a.m.

Gates will open to the park at noon for the concert, with musical acts scheduled to take the stage around 1 p.m.
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https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/blog/charm-city-flavor/2013/05/shindig-carroll-park-sept-14-joan-jett.html

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Pedestrian "sting" finds frequent driver lawlessness

by Ben Ross, Greater Greater Washington
So many drivers don’t yield to pedestrians that catching them is "like shooting fish in a barrel," a surprised Montgomery County police officer remarked Wednesday. The police ticketed 72 violators in 2½ hours—one every two minutes—at a single crosswalk on Veirs Mill Road.
The operation, a first for the county, was advertised as a sting. But it was not very covert. The police announced in advance that their plainclothes officers would ticket between 11 am and 3 pm while wearing brightly-colored outfits.
Capt. Thomas Didone, head of the police traffic enforcement division, explained the reasoning behind the "sting" to the Patch. "Officers would typically attempt to enforce that kind of law by driving around a high-traffic area and looking for drivers not following the rules," he said. "That’s not very efficient."
Inefficiency is the least of the problems with this style of law enforcement. Police who drive all day don’t understand the reality of walking on the county’s roadways. When you get out of the squad car and join the thousands who cross Veirs Mill every day (it’s among the county’s busiest bus corridors), you suddenly learn that "it’s kind of scary."
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https://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/18824/pedestrian-sting-finds-frequent-driver-lawlessness/

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A driver ran a red light, hit me, and fled

by Ryan Sigworth, Greater Greater Washington
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Without enforcement, lawlessness runs rampant
There was no police officer to witness the incident. Police can’t be be everywhere and catch everything. However, I’ve also seen MPD simply ignore dangerous infractions by drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians occurring directly in front of them.
Last weekend, while riding in the 15th Street cycletrack, a driver illegally turned left against the protected left turn signal at 15th and U Street NW, right behind my wife and me. By coincidence, a MPD patrol unit was directly behind this illegally turning driver but did nothing.
On the same trip, my wife and I witnessed two illegal U-turns on Pennsylvania Avenue right in front of police cars and officers stationed along the street for the marathon. At the time, there were lots of pedestrians and cyclists around but they refused to enforce against illegal driving right in front of them.
This is even more frustrating because this episode occurred during the regional Street Smart campaign, an annual campaign to raise safety awareness and increase enforcement. Mayor Vincent Gray stood with MPD Chief Cathy Lanier to announce DC’s part of the program a week ago, alongside advocacy groups such as WABA. The Pennsylvania Avenue cycle track was supposed to be an area targeted for enforcement during this campaign.
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The city doesn’t need any more public safety campaigns, advertisements, lip service, and promises. We need results.
https://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/18740/a-driver-ran-a-red-light-hit-me-and-fled/

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MARC: Allow regular bicycles on trains, not just folding bikes [petition]

To be delivered to: The Maryland State House, The Maryland State Senate, Governor Martin O’Malley, The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama
Petition Background
MARC trains only allow folding bicycles, which are typically heavier and more expensive than regular bikes, and bikes are one of the best ways of making public transportation practical, by helping people make up for gaps and problems in that transportation system. Especially in this tough economy, allowing regular bicycles would enable more people to adapt to available public transportation, rather than waiting for transportation to adapt to them. In other words, this would allow Maryland to get the most bang for its transportation bucks.
https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/marc-allow-regular-bicycles.fb28?source=s.fb&r_by=810315