{"id":212944364,"date":"2011-10-01T15:12:44","date_gmt":"2011-10-01T15:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=212944364"},"modified":"2011-10-01T15:12:44","modified_gmt":"2011-10-01T15:12:44","slug":"d-c-police-need-to-be-better-versed-in-bicycle-laws-complaints-board-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=212944364","title":{"rendered":"D.C. police need to be better versed in bicycle laws, complaints board says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[B&#8217; Spokes: Since we have dealt with similar issues here, there are somethings worth noting on what&#8217;s happening in DC.]<br \/>\n******************************************************************************************************************************************<br \/>\nBy Ashley Halsey III, Washington Post<br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\nThe complaints board recommended that officers be allowed to delay submission of their accident reports until they have interviewed the cyclist, who sometimes ends up in a hospital after colliding with a car; that accident report forms be revised to provide more accurate options; that officers receive additional training and testing on bike laws; and that the police department strengthen its partnership with the District\u2019s Bicycle Advisory Council.<br \/>\nThe police department \u201cshould change its method of investigating bicycle-motor vehicle crashes in order to provide appropriate safeguards for bicyclists who are injured,\u201d the board said in its report.<br \/>\nThe board also recommended that officers ticket drivers who stop or park in bike lanes.<br \/>\nThe D.C. Council also has under consideration a measure that has won approval in other cities that gives bicyclists the right to take a driver to civil court to recover damages for harassment, assault and battery. The bill received particular attention after an Aug. 31 incident, recorded on video, in which the driver of a pickup truck allegedly harassed and then struck a cyclist. The police department used the video to track down the driver, but no charges were brought.<br \/>\nJohn B. Townsend II of AAA said the board\u2019s recommendations made sense. \u201cThere needs to be a greater sensitivity not only with law enforcement but also with motorists,\u201d Townsend said. \u201cThe people who ride bicycles are as much entitled to the road as is anyone else.\u201d<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/dc-police-need-to-be-better-versed-in-bicycle-laws-complaints-board-says\/2011\/09\/29\/gIQAJKIQ8K_story.html\">https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/dc-police-need-to-be-better-versed-in-bicycle-laws-complaints-board-says\/2011\/09\/29\/gIQAJKIQ8K_story.html<\/a>oldId.20111001151244431<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[B&#8217; Spokes: Since we have dealt with similar issues here, there are somethings worth noting on what&#8217;s happening in DC.] ****************************************************************************************************************************************** By Ashley Halsey III, Washington Post &#8230; The complaints board recommended that officers be allowed to delay submission of their accident reports until they have interviewed the cyclist, who sometimes ends up in a &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=212944364\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;D.C. police need to be better versed in bicycle laws, complaints board says&#8221;<\/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-212944364","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\/212944364","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=212944364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212944364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=212944364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=212944364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=212944364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}