by Capital News Service
There were 841 accidents between cars and bikes in Maryland in 2012, according to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, a 5 percent increase over the 799 bike-car accidents in 2008.
Harford County resident Pam Moore never worried about sharing the road with cars until she was struck by one while riding her bike in August. She lost consciousness and suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs, abrasions and a concussion from the accident, she said.
“There was nothing I could do different,” Moore said. “I was following the laws. I was where I was supposed to be.”
In 2012, five people in Maryland died from bike-car crashes and 689 people were injured.
Many motorists do not view bicycles as vehicles that have an equal right to use the road, said Neil Buchness, president of Chesapeake Spokes, a bicycle group in Harford County.
“We’re actually people. We aren’t just something to contend with in the road or go around,” he said. “Give us a little more respect out on the road.”
Buchness said the state needs to ensure motorists know the law.
“I think the biggest thing that will help us is education. Getting it out there. The more people that realize that we are cyclists and we do have a right to the road,” the better, Buchness said.
According to the law, drivers must leave three feet between their car and bicyclists when passing them on the road.
“I think a lot of motorists feel that bicyclists are trespassing on the public roadways and that leads to resentment,” said Michael Jackson, director of bicycle and pedestrian access for the Maryland Department of Transportation.
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https://chestertownspy.com/2013/11/29/vehicle-accidents-involving-bikes-increase-sharply-on-last-five-years-7/
Who can get justice for Patricia Cunningham?
by Jim Titus, Edgewater Patch
Cyclists from around the state of Maryland were appalled last week when an Anne Arundel County grand jury failed to indict Whitney DeCesaris for negligent homicide in the death of Patricia Cunningham, an Annapolis High School coach who was killed on Riva Road by Ms. DeCesaris’s bad driving. The grand jury did indict her for a few traffic offenses such as negligent driving.
Shortly after the crash, I suggested in a Patch blog that the available information strongly suggested that this was negligent homicide (a misdemeanor with a maximum 3-year prison sentence), and urged people to email the State’s Attorney. About 600 people did so, and it’s clear that her office seriously investigated the possible homicide. I can not say whether the case was well-presented to the grand jury or not. If not, then the prosecutors can try again to get an indictment. The 5th Amendment’s prohibition of double jeopardy does not apply to grand jury investigations. If she pleads guilty to one of the traffic offenses, however, the 5th amendment will bar additional prosecution.
A criminal conviction of Ms. DeCesaris, however, is not the only means of achieving at least a modicum of justice. Of course no one can bring Ms. Cunningham back, so any talk about justice is relative. The goals of criminal punishment include retribution, prevention of additional harm, and rehabilitation. Here are a few other options.
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Drivers License Suspension.
,,,
According to Transportation Article §16-206(5)(i), the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) "may suspend the license of a person who is convicted of a moving violation that contributed to an accident resulting in the death of another person" for up to 6 months.
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Fix the Roads
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Do Some Soul Searching
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https://edgewater.patch.com/groups/use-the-full-lane-/p/if-states-attorney-can-not-get-justice-for-patricia-cunningham-who-can
Bel Air Cyclist Hit by Car: ‘You Have to Have Stricter Laws’
[B’ Spokes: Nice map of highest frequency of bike-car crashes in Maryland.]
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Crashes between cyclists and drivers are on the rise in Maryland.
By Josh Birch, CAPITAL NEWS SERVICE
Accidents between cars and bicyclists in Maryland increased sharply over the last five years, according to a Capital News Service analysis of crash data.
There were 841 accidents between cars and bikes in Maryland in 2012, according to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, a 5 percent increase over the 799 bike-car accidents in 2008.
Pam Moore of Bel Air never worried about sharing the road with cars until she was struck by one while riding her bike in August. She lost consciousness and suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs, abrasions and a concussion from the accident, she said.
“There was nothing I could do different,” Moore said. “I was following the laws. I was where I was supposed to be.”
In 2012, five people in Maryland died from bike-car crashes and 689 people were injured.
Many motorists do not view bicycles as vehicles that have an equal right to use the road, said Neil Buchness, president of Chesapeake Spokes, a bicycle group in Harford County.
“We’re actually people. We aren’t just something to contend with in the road or go around,” he said. “Give us a little more respect out on the road.”
Buchness said the state needs to ensure motorists know the law.
“I think the biggest thing that will help us is education. Getting it out there. The more people that realize that we are cyclists and we do have a right to the road,” the better, Buchness said.
According to the law, drivers must leave three feet between their car and bicyclists when passing them on the road.
“I think a lot of motorists feel that bicyclists are trespassing on the public roadways and that leads to resentment,” said Michael Jackson, director of bicycle and pedestrian access for the Maryland Department of Transportation.
…
“You’re going to have people that don’t like cyclists, people who don’t like runners, people who don’t like that because they don’t want to share the road,” Moore said. “I think you have to have stricter laws.”
…
America’s next big rip-off: Cars are the next subprime crisis!
[B’ Spokes: This concerns me because if we design the right to travel solely around the automobile then government is subtily coercing the financially vulnerable into making a big mistake.]
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With financial firms now pushing strongly into auto loans, here’s how Congress is helping car dealers rip you off
https://www.salon.com/2013/11/27/americas_next_big_rip_off_car_loans/
Cops do the darndest things, when it comes to dealing with cyclists and pedestrians
Treehugger list these recent stories:
* You can’t walk your kids to school in Cumberland County.
* Charlotte grandma cited for letting kids ride bikes on the street
* In New York, they ticket you for riding in the bike lane
* In London, man carrying kids in cargo bike gets stopped by cops
https://www.treehugger.com/bikes/cops-do-darndest-things-when-it-comes-deailng-bicyclists-and-pedestrians.html
Towson Bike Beltway to double in size
Maryland Bikeways Program grant will fund additional 4.5 miles of routes
4 things U.S. college towns could teach planners about biking
by Michael Andersen, Bike Portland
Here’s a secret you won’t hear often: The United States has many cities where biking is far more popular than in Portland.
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Davis, Calif. – 19.1% of workers commute by bike
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Universities breed 20-minute neighborhoods.
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Universities create car-free spaces.
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Universities use public spaces to enable density.
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Universities charge for auto parking.
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https://bikeportland.org/2013/11/20/4-things-college-towns-could-teach-portland-about-biking-97418
NYC DOT Shares Its Five Principles for Designing Safer Streets
by Ben Fried, Streets Blog
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- Make the street easy to use by accommodating desire lines and minimizing the complexity of driving, walking, and biking, thus reducing crash risk by providing a direct, simple way to move through the street network.
- Create safety in numbers, which makes vulnerable street users such as pedestrians and cyclists more visible. The same design principle, applied to arterial streets when traffic is light, reduces the opportunity for excessive speeds.
- Make the invisible visible by putting users where they can see each other.
- Choose quality over quantity so that roadway and intersection geometries serve the first three design principles.
- Look beyond the (immediate) problem by expanding the focus area if solutions at a particular location can’t be addressed in isolation.
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Activists Take Brooklyn Speed Limit Into Own Hands, Install 20mph Signs in Park Slope
By KATE HINDS, WNYC
Calling it "a gift to the city," a group of activists changed the speed limit in Park Slope this weekend by hanging rogue 20 mph speed limit signs along Prospect Park West.
Safe streets activists with the group Right of Way installed the signs on Saturday night around 10pm. Organizer Keegan Stephan says the group was motivated by recent pedestrian deaths — and statistics showing a lower speed limit save lives.
"A pedestrian hit by a car going 20 mph has a 95% chance of survival," he said, who added that a WNYC map showed the city could lower the speed limit to 20 miles per hour across two-thirds of city under current state law. "We don’t understand why they’re not, (so) we took it upon ourselves."
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https://www.wnyc.org/story/d-i-y-20mph-speed-limit-signs-line-brooklyn-streets/?utm_source=sharedUrl&utm_media=metatag&utm_campaign=sharedUrl
Could Baltimore Benefit from a Frequent Transit Grid?
By Marc Szarkowski, Envision Baltimore
As a follow-up to the recent post on frequency mapping, I thought it’d be worthwhile to discuss the concept of a frequent transit grid. The MTA is currently soliciting ideas for the Bus Network Improvement Project, and the most common suggestions seem to be (1) improving schedule adherence by reducing bus stops, boarding times, traffic delays, and bus bunching, (2) improving service frequency, and (3) reducing overcrowding.
Not only could a frequent transit grid address many of these issues, but I think it’d serve as a sorely-needed update to the current “radial” transit network.
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https://envisionbaltimore.blogspot.com/2013/11/frequent-transit-grid-baltimore.html