{"id":196606725,"date":"2011-03-26T12:58:45","date_gmt":"2011-03-26T12:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=196606725"},"modified":"2011-03-26T12:58:45","modified_gmt":"2011-03-26T12:58:45","slug":"the-law-of-unintended-biking-consequences-cities-ignore-bike-safety-at-your-peril","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=196606725","title":{"rendered":"The law of unintended biking consequences \u2014 cities ignore bike safety at your peril"},"content":{"rendered":"

[B’ Spokes: We support speed tables<\/a> (like on Church Ln and Bedford Av in Baltimore County) Speed humps and bumps are hazardous to cyclists and penalize\/discourage cycling on streets where such “traffic calming” is applied. Planners need to be aware that not all traffic calming is bicycle friendly and someone from the cycling community should be consulted before an application of traffic calming devices. I’ll remind Maryland planners that it is State law that the needs of bicyclists be a part of the planning process and repost the following article as a reminder of the potential liability (I’m looking at you traffic calming in NE Baltimore.) ]<\/em><\/p>\n

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from Streetsblog.net by Angie Schmitt<\/p>\n

Just days after four-foot wide speed cushions were installed on a Palos Verdes Estates street, a 65-year old cyclist went down<\/a> hard.<\/p>\n

So hard, in fact, that he was still unconscious a week later. Yet local authorities say they can\u2019t \u201cconclude without a doubt\u201d that the cushions were at fault.<\/p>\n

Maybe not.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s highly likely that a jury would \u2014 and no doubt, eventually will \u2014 conclude otherwise.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the problem. When what seems like commonsense roadway solutions are applied without consulting the cycling community \u2014 or at least, traffic engineers who actually ride themselves \u2014 it\u2019s not just your safety that\u2019s at risk.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s your tax dollars, as well.<\/p>\n

Because the inevitable lawsuits that follow are either paid out of your tax dollars, or through a government insurance policy that\u2019s paid with your tax dollars. And one that can often increase, sometimes dramatically, following a successful lawsuit alleging negligence.<\/p>\n

In the Palos Verdes Estates case, Richard Schlickman, described as an experienced cyclist, skidded nearly 80 feet after losing control when he either hit one of the newly installed speed control devices on the 500 block of Via del Monte<\/a>, or swerved to avoid them.<\/p>\n

According the Daily Breeze<\/a>, an unidentified cyclist who witnessed the incident said the speed cushions were the cause of Schlickman\u2019s wreck.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI saw him fall and slide down on the asphalt. It definitely occurred at that first speed bump there,\u201d said the cyclist, who did not want to give his name. \u201cI really think those speed bumps are dangerous. You\u2019re going to see more accidents.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n


\nhttps:\/\/streetsblog.net\/2011\/03\/25\/the-law-of-unintended-biking-consequences-%e2%80%94cities-ignore-bike-safety-at-your-peril\/<\/a>oldId.20110326125845919<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[B’ Spokes: We support speed tables (like on Church Ln and Bedford Av in Baltimore County) Speed humps and bumps are hazardous to cyclists and penalize\/discourage cycling on streets where such “traffic calming” is applied. Planners need to be aware that not all traffic calming is bicycle friendly and someone from the cycling community should … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The law of unintended biking consequences \u2014 cities ignore bike safety at your peril”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196606725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biking-elsewhere"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196606725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=196606725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196606725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=196606725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=196606725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=196606725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}