WABA Alert: Important Council Hearing on Bicyclist Safety and Enforcement

From WABA:

I am writing to remind you that at noon next Friday, February 4, DC Councilmember Mendelson will be holding a hearing on bicycle and pedestrian safety.  WABA will be there testifying on behalf of bicyclists in the area, and expressing our concerns about the protection of cyclists by our laws--both as written and as enforced.  Making the streets safer for cyclists is my top priority, and I want to seize this opportunity to paint a picture for the Council of what it is like to cross the District by bicycle.

Every week, we get calls from cyclists who have been in crashes and are suffering from the after-effects of the experience.  While Councilmember Mendelson may not be able to fix the physical or emotional pain that can come with the crash, it is his responsibility as Chairperson of the Committee on the Judiciary to ensure that our laws are applied fairly to protect all.  And too often, the stories I hear are of cyclists denied compensation for their injuries due to enforcement errors, poor police reports, or improper attribution of blame.

Meanwhile, all of us who cycle regularly through the District know of the lack of protection of bicycle facilities, such as bike lanes.  We know that most law enforcement officers are not cyclists, and thus may not understand the on-the-ground challenges of applying the law.  And we are aware that some District laws were not written with bikes in mind.

This is the opportunity to explain these concerns to Councilmember Mendelson, and to educate him on the solutions that we need to be safer on the District's streets.

So we are asking all area cyclists to support us in communicating very clearly to the Council that both the law and the current enforcement practices need improvement.

If you are able to testify personally on February 4, personal testimony has the greatest opportunity for impact.  To sign up to testify, please follow the instructions in the hearing notice.  And if you are unable to attend the hearing to testify in person, please consider submitting written testimony.  

Key points worth noting in testimony:

• The need for enforcement officers to understand bicycle facilities (bike lanes, cycletrack, etc.) and cite those who illegally prevent safe usage by cyclists. 
• The need for enforcement officers to understand the proper application of generally applicable traffic laws to bicycles.
• The importance of a proper police report for crashes--including (a) getting the injured party's side of the story, even if transported to the hospital, and (b) not assigning fault with an eye toward "evening things out."
• The need for legislative change to the contributory negligence standard for vulnerable roadway users (both cyclists and pedestrians) so that recovery for major injury is not precluded by technical infractions or improper attribution of fault in police reports.

Thank you for your support.  I hope to see many of you at the hearing on February 4th.

Best,

Shane

Comments

[Tim H]

Thanks for posting this.

I didn't completely understand the following two bullet points:

"The need for enforcement officers to understand the proper application of generally applicable traffic laws to bicycles. [any specific examples?]

The importance of a proper police report for crashes--including (a) getting the injured party's side of the story, even if transported to the hospital, and (b) not assigning fault with an eye toward 'evening things out.' [I guess it's (b) that I don't understand...]"

If anyone more fluent in these matters could explain Shane's two points to me, I would appreciate it.

[contrarian]

Tim H --

To point 1: MPD often cites cyclists who had right of way in a collision with "excessive speed for conditions" under the theory that under the "conditions" -- a car violating your right-of-way -- if you hadn't been going so fast you could have avoided the collision. They wouldn't treat a driver that way.

To point 2: a couple of days ago there was a posting about a police officer who reportedly assigned blame to a cyclist in a collision, "because you don’t have an insurance company to fight." Here (http://www.thewashcycle.com/2011/01/monday-morning-commute-1.html)"

In general MPD seems to take the attitude that cyclists don't have to obey traffic laws, but if they get a collision it's their own fault.