Wednesday Morning Commute - 2 Million served

Good morning

• Capital Bikeshare is quickly approaching 2 million trips. If you're the 2 Millionth rider you could win hundreds of dollars worth of valuable prizes. What a great way to celebrate Bike to Work week. 
• There was another crash between a cyclist and a driver at "Rosslyn Circle." A grey Jeep SUV reportedly pulled out of the Key Bridge Marriott across the Custis Trail and collided with a cyclist sending the cyclist to the hospital. A police officer on the scene was heard saying “bicyclists run the stop signs all the time.” This is one area that would get funding for improvements if the DC area wins the TIGER grant it applied for this year. DC's area Congressional representatives (including Connolly, Norton, Moran, Van Hollen and Edwards) sent a letter supporting the grant application.
• Over 100 cyclists are expected at College Park's Bike to Work day rally.
• Support the Cardin-Cochran Amendment: "The Cardin-Cochran agreement ensures local control over a small portion of funds for biking and walking. The provision devolves decision-making on a small portion of funds from the states to local governments, whose leaders know the transportation needs of their communities best."

Comments

[Megan]

I signed up for the College Park pit stop since that's where I work. It's going to be awesome to roll up on my giant orange minivan of a bike that morning.

[MM]

I hope the cyclist is okay!

Which Marriott entrance...there are what, two along the Custis and the one on Fort Meyer? Maybe I'm misremembering, but there isn't a stop sign on the Custis at the main Lee Hwy entrance or the Fort Meyer entrance. There's just the bike light at the parking garage entrance at Nash/Lee Hwy. Even if this was a case of the cyclist going through the entrance too quickly, I think the onus is on the driver (maybe not technically from a legal perspective) to exit a parking lot with due caution...I mean, the Custis is really more of a sidewalk right there with plenty of peds going through, so no vehicle should be exiting without pulling up to the crossing and making sure no peds/cyclists are coming.

The scenario as I imagine it is the jeep pulled up to exit...the cyclist approaches and assumes the right of way and rides in front of the jeep. The driver is only looking one way for oncoming traffic and doesn't realize the cyclist has crossed in front of it, and pulls out, hitting the cyclist. In this case though, the driver still is at fault. However, reinforces the need for cyclists to try and make eye contact with drivers to make sure the driver is aware of the cyclist's presence. If you can't do that, then it usually is safer to either slow way down or just yield the right of way just to be safe.

[oboe]

This is why it's dangerous to bike on the sidewalk; and dangerous for municipalities to banish bikes to the sidewalk (forcing them into dangerous situations) and calling it a "bike path".

[Purple Eagle]

I nearly had a similar collision, under similar circumstances, along a section of the Schuylkill River Trail in Philly. Most of this trail is a separated route along the river, similar to the MVT. But there is a section through an old part of town (Manyunk) where the trail follows a sidewalk (and further up, a towpath similar to the C&O in Georgetown). I dutifully followed the signs directing cyclists to use this substandard route. Should have take the road instead.

[Sth_Arl_PB]

I'll admit that I've started taking the sidewalk along eastbound Lee Highway into Rosslyn from Courthouse rather than the Custis Trail. There's usually not a single pedestrian on it between Veitch and Nash at 9am.

I grew weary of all the drivers turning right (westbound) on Lee from the several residential streets that cross the trail, and only looking for cars coming up the hill, not bikes coming down the hill. I was also tired of the headset-jarring curb cuts at those intersections doing a number on my bike.

I'm always extra careful around the Marriot's Lee Highway entrance/exits. A lot of the cars coming and going there are tourists who pull out without realizing they are crossing a heavily trafficked bike path.

[antibozo]

IIRC, there's a phony stop sign posted above the lower entrance to the Key Bridge Marriott along the Custis Trail. It looks like an illegally posted sign to me.

[Brendan]

With all sincerity, the police are prejudiced idiots when it comes to cyclists. It's taken me years to accept this and will take years to convince me otherwise. Done and done.

[oboe]

This reminds me of the story from last year when a cyclist was plowed into by a driver turning right across the crosswalk. Even though the cyclist was in the crosswalk, and crossing with the walk signal, the responding officer ticketed him for failing to obey a ("sign"?, "notice"?) where someone had painted "STOP" on the ground in faded gray letters.

[Wilbur]

Word. This the police blaming cyclists, in order to cover there own ineptitude. Bottom line, local government has FAILED when it comes to the Custis Trail in Rosslyn for decades. Decades. Accident after accident happens. And the fault isnt the cyclists. It isnt truly the drivers. Its the local governments (Arl, NPS, VA) utter failure to resolve a well recognized and highly dangerous traffic situation, which gets worse day by day as traffic volumes increase. And its the failure of police who could at minimum ameliorate the situation be facilitating traffic, as most urban police forces do in bad traffic intersections.

The statement by police blaming the cyclists is the worst form of cynicism.