TheWashCycle

Thursday Afternoon Commute - You'll be hated for 6 months, then they'll love you

Good afternoon

• The New Belgium Tour de Fat comes to DC on June 1
• Cyclists helping each other on the W&OD Trail
• MWCOG considering a Green Streets Policy which has as a goal making biking easier. 
• "Sharing is for commies, and so is cycling." CaBi should sell a T-shirt that says that. I'd buy one. 
• Urban Delivery seeks to revive messenger culture. Needs more Bacon (Kevin). 
• More on NYC, Citibike kiosks and controversy."Jane Browne, 42, who initially supported the program, said she had recently seen mice scurrying in the “corridors of trash and water” that formed between a nearby bike station and the curb." And to tie it in to DC: “Washington had at least one fistfight at a community meeting,” he said. “We haven’t had that.” (An official with Washington’s Transportation Department said she did not recall any contentious community meetings or significant opposition to the program.)" I think they're referring to this - which seems so bizarre now - and is so eloquently reduced to “Why is everybody so mad about this? Why is everybody so crazy?”
• The Boston Cyclist Safety Report. That's no typo, cyclist were cited for speeding more than twice as often as drivers. And on the helmet issues, between 44-53% of cyclists in EMS response crashes wore a helmet. "It is unknown how the relatively low rates of helmet use among cyclists involved in Boston EMS incidents relates to the overall rate of helmet use in Boston. Convenience sampling of Boston cyclists observed at selected sites throughout the city by Boston Bikes and other researchers has yielded average helmet use rates ranging from 48-72%, although observed rates were significantly lower in some neighborhoods." Earlier in the study they cite the 72% rate as coming from a peak-hour study. This means primarily bike commuters. I suspect commuters are more likely to wear helmets, but I could be wrong.

Boston bike crash study shows drivers mostly to blame. Solution: helmet law

Boston released a study of bike crashes in the city. 

The study showed that drivers were most often to blame for crashes.

Twenty-two percent of collisions between cars and cyclists occurred when a vehicle door opened unexpectedly on a ­cyclist. Eighteen percent ­occurred when a motorist did not see a cyclist, and 12 percent occurred when a cyclist rode ­into oncoming traffic.

Of the 891 crashes in which causes were listed, cyclists ran a red light or rode through a stop sign before colliding with a car just 12 percent of the time.

The soultion

In an effort to make the city safer for cyclists, police will ­begin to hand out $20 citations to cyclists who run red lights; and the mayor’s office may push for a law requiring helmet use by bike riders of all ages.

Among cyclists who were ­injured and who required medical assistance, about half were not wearing a helmet, almost twice the percentage of total riders who do not wear helmets.

the city planned to install side guards on some public works trucks and that it would encourage private truck companies to do the same. 

 

Friday Morning Commute - Code

Good morning

• The Bike Commuter Code? Ugh, I hate Dan Brown. 
• Reminder - there are people out there who will steal your ten-year old, sweat filled helmet.

Helmet study fails to consider denominator and confuses science with policy

A study is being presented in DC today at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting that claims that "bicycle helmets save lives, and their use should be required by law."

We conducted a cross sectional study of all bicyclists aged 0-16 years included in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) who died or suffered an incapacitating injury between January 1999 and December 2009. The FARS defines an incapacitating injury as one that prevents a person from walking or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of before the injury. Date law enactment was obtained from several sources including the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Governor's Highway Safety Administration. We compared rates of deaths/incapacitating injuries per age-specific state populations, between states with helmet laws and those without helmet laws. We used a clustered Poisson multivariate regression model to adjust for factors previously associated with rates of motor vehicle fatalities: elderly driver licensure laws, legal blood alcohol limit (< 0.08% vs. ≥ 0.08%), and household income.

Or

To determine if such laws reduce national injury and death rates, Dr. Meehan and his colleagues analyzed data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System on all U.S. bicyclists younger than 16 years of age who were severely injured or died between January 1999 and December 2009. They compared the injury and death rates in states with mandatory helmet laws to those without.

Of course there are problems with this becauseit just counts raw numbers.

It doesn't consider if states with mandatory helmet laws have less cycling, and of course there is evidence that mandatory helmet laws do reduce cycling. So we have the numerator (injuries/deaths) but not the denominator (cyclists or miles biked). Here is another study that showed the same thing, but considered the change in cycling. 

 In recent years, many states and localities have enacted bicycle helmet laws. We examine direct and indirect effects of these laws on injuries. Using hospital-level panel data and triple difference models, we find helmet laws are associated with reductions in bicycle-related head injuries among children. However, laws also are associated with decreases in non-head cycling injuries, as well as increases in head injuries from other wheeled sports. Thus, the observed reduction in bicycle-related head injuries may be due to reductions in bicycle riding induced by the laws.

In addition it doesn't consider what injury rates were before the laws were enacted. Maybe helmet laws are only enacted in states where there are a lot of cyclists, and states with a lot of cyclists are safer for cycling.

Finally, the second conclusion - that their use should be required by law - is some shocking bit of science. It ignorse the fact that we can determine that helmet use saves lives AND that laws mandating them are wrong. Sunscreen saves lives, we don't mandate it's use. Nor do we mandate condom use or bullet proof vest use. Universal organ donation would save lives, but we don't require it by law because there are other things we value in addition to - and even more than - saving lives.

Scientists should stay clear of these kinds of statements that require considering values in their official work. Saying that helmets save live and helmet laws save lives is something the data can (or not) defend. But saying we should value that over freedom or other concerns is total opinion. Scientists are free to weigh in with their opinion, they just should separate that which they can prove from that which they can not. 

Friday Afternoon Commute - Sinkhole

Good afternoon

• "Next week, DOT is hosting the second of our two Bicycle Safety Summits. Our host city this time is Minneapolis, where the number of bikes on the roads has increased by 56 percent over the past six years"
• The DC Water and Sewer and Water Authority are repairing a section of the Capital Crescent Trail approximately 300 yards upstream from the end of Water Street / Washington Canoe Club.  The emergency repairs are in response to a series of sink holes affecting the Capital Crescent Trail from a yet to be determined cause.  Construction is on-going and takes place at night to minimize conflicts with commuters.  Currently a temporary metal plate is in place and bicyclists are urged to use caution when traveling this section of the Capital Crescent Trail which will remain open to commuters and other recreational activities.
• Inetersting article about helmets in Bicycle Magazine. They use the unfortunate Insurance Institute for Highway Safety data about the % of cyclist fatalities that weren't wearing helmets, but I agree with the larger points: that helmets probably help in some situations, they don't in others and in still others they might do harm; we don't really know much about how much they do any of those things; and we still can make helmets better.  

Wednesday Afternoon Commute - Auntie Emm

Good afternoon

• Restoration of Memorial Bridge could result in it being closed for 40-100 days. But not for a few years. I doubt any major improvements would be included for cyclists, but what would you change?
• New CaBi stations at S. Arlington Mill Dr & Campbell Ave and S. Kenmore & 24th St S. And then...US Navy Capital Bikeshare? Ironically, you can't ride a bike where it is parked. 
• May is Bike Month.
• Maryland and DC guide to the East Coast Greenway - and Baltimore's trails are marked.
• "Using a helmet to protect your head in a tornado is a NO BRAINER!"

40% of cyclists injured in NYC are hit by taxis

A medical study of injured pedestrians and cyclists in New York City, conducted by a team of trauma surgeons, emergency physicians and researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center found that 

• Victims with an above-normal body mass index were found to have less severe injuries than their counterparts
• Among patients 18 and older, 15 percent of pedestrians and 11 percent of cyclists were found to have consumed alcohol before the collision — a figure that stood out to transportation officials whose focus is often reckless driving. [WC: If we effectively convince people to stop driving drunk, then, of course they'll be more drunk walking and drunk biking incidents. The only way to fix that is to reduce drunkeness in general. Though, biking while drunk is both illegal and ill-advised]
• About 8 percent of both pedestrians and cyclists said they were injured while using an electronic device, including a cellphone or music player. For victims ages 7 to 17, the numbers climbed to more than 10 percent of pedestrians and nearly 30 percent of cyclists.
• Taxicabs pose a disproportionate threat to cyclists, who often compete for the same sliver of curbside roadway. In a finding unlikely to surprise the city’s cyclists, about 40 percent of injured riders were hit by taxis, compared with 25 percent of the pedestrians. 
• More than 80 percent of cyclists rode with traffic flow
• less than a third wore helmets.
• But for cyclists, the study found, injuries spiked from noon to 3 p.m. and outpaced pedestrian injuries from 6 p.m. to midnight — times when food deliveries are most often made.
• One harrowing take-away from the report is that no area, it seems, can be entirely safe. Six percent of pedestrians were injured while on a sidewalk. Of those injured on the street, 44 percent used a crosswalk, with the signal, compared with 23 percent who crossed midblock and 9 percent who crossed against the signal.

pedestrians or cyclists who died at the scene of the accident and never reached the hospital are not included. 

Monday Morning Commute - Bicycle Easter Egg

Good morning

• What causes traffic?
• Arlnigton County's new wayfinding signs are up and they look good. DC has some new ones too I noticed, and I'll be posting photos of them later. 
• Easter was historically a big day for biking. (And, it appears they used the Examiner trick of mismatching the picture with the headline, In this case "Natives Shot Like Dogs")
• Neighbors are worried about how kids will access the new Southern Regional Technology and Recreation Complex in Fort Washington. One key connection might be the Henson Creek Trail. The trail will go under the new Bock Road bridge, which is under construction and is being raised six-feet to accommodate hiking and biking on the trail underneath.
• Austin's new bike map colors roads and trails by a level of comfort.
• "The findings from this paper indicate that while bicycle helmet laws are widespread and thought to be effective, the net effect of these laws on health outcomes is actually not straightforward. It is clear that there are offsetting behaviors and unintended consequences of these laws, and these effects need to be considered by policymakers."
• One possible effect of driverless (and thus mistake-free and crash-free, so the theory goes) cars might be Driverless cars will increase the appeal of walking and biking. I think we're much farther from driverless cars than perhaps the cheerleaders think we are, but it's interesting to conisder how much more people would bike if they didn't think it was possible to get hit by a car.
• "When asked to describe their bicycle in one word, many cyclists of all kinds use the word “freedom.” Nowhere is this description more appropriate than for the women who make up the Afghan National Women’s Cycling Team."

Monday Morning Commute - Voronoi

Does anyone know who coined the term "CaBi"? I remember that I hadn't heard the term until the day it kicked off, but the earliest reference I could find to the term was mid June 2010. Anyone?

• Montgomery County is making repairs to the Capital Crescent Trail area ""Repairs and improvements to CCT shoulder and storm water management facilities will occur starting approximately March 25, 2013 and last approximately 3 months." 
• Introduction to Montgomery County's road code.
• Voronoi Diagram of Capital Bikeshare. This is cool (and I'm glad I know the name because it helped me find a Voronoi diagram of NFL team areas) but it would be cooler if if showed you the closest station as the peacock walks as opposed to how the crow flies. So - walk sheds to each station. 
• When helmets are "counterintuitive". "Although the move might seem counterintuitive in preventing brain injuries, the chairman of AIBA's medical commission, Charles Butler, cites numerous medical studies that suggest fighting without head guards will decrease concussions." Of course, if you really want to protect your brain, you probably shouldn't go into boxing, but still it's an interesting statement about protecting ones head even while not being particularly applicable. 
• LATE ADDITION: WAMU has coverage of the Bike DC cancellation. "Every time we would come back with a new proposal, we would get a new set of requirements that we needed to meet and a new order of meeting them," says Farthing. "We were just never able to get a clear yes or a clear no that would give us a next step we could go to, and eventually ran out of time to secure sponsorships and to sell tickets.".....National Park Service spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles was unaware the event had been cancelled until we told her.

Monday Morning Commute - No Bags

Good morning

• One cyclist left their Go-getter bike bag on their bike while they visited the Library of Congress and House office buildings. Capitol Police treated it as a bomb threat and mutilated it. "I couldn’t help myself and I said holy crap that’s a $150 bag. They offered me no sympathy and told me I shouldn’t leave a bag on the bike near the Capitol buildings or anywhere around DC." So if you're coming to the bike summit this week, keep that in mind. 
• More development coming along the ART.
• If the Purple Line, and thus the extended CCT, is built, there will be less development along it in the Chevy Chase Lake area. In the image below, you can see the trail and it's bridge over Conn Ave on the north side of the Purple Line. And, in other Purple Line/CCT news, silver spring trails explains why the project doesn't need a Health Impact Assessment. 
• At a recent Alexandria Traffic Board Hearing, T&ES staff requested approval to remove one car parking space on King Street to allow for the installation of a bike corral with space for 8 bikes. "T&ES staff has coordinated with the Old Town Civic Association and key businesses located at the intersection of King Street and Union Street. None of the businesses that were contacted posed an objection to the removal of the parking space, and many noted that they believed the additional bicycle parking would bring more business to their establishments."
• Council Staff on the need for automatic points in car collisions with cyclists: "Currently, there is no fine or penalty for a driver who collides with a bicyclist. If a driver collides with a cyclist as a result of violating traffic laws, e.g. failure to yield, the driver is only cited for the underlying infraction. Certain traffic offenses against pedestrians are currently singled out for enhanced penalties where the same offenses against bicycles are treated identically to an offense between two cars. While it is often desirable to treat cars and bikes equally under the law, the vulnerability of cyclists to collisions with cars warrants increased penalties. This bill is necessary in order to create more severe penalties for drivers who hit cyclists and to eliminate ambiguity surrounding who should be cited for which violations in the event of a collision. Under current District law, hitting a cyclist does not amount to an offense beyond any other moving violation that led to the collision. With respect to cyclists, the practice of citing drivers for the infraction that caused the accident is insufficient for several reasons. MPD has a questionable history when it comes to properly citing drivers involved in accidents with cyclists. In some instances MPD ticketed the cyclist who was hit by a car, even though hitting a cyclist would seem to be a prima facie violation of the 3-foot passing requirement. Additionally, even when MPD does properly cite a driver who hits a cyclist, the penalty may be minimal. District law already has a citable offense for colliding with a pedestrian. This amendment would simply put cyclists on par with other vulnerable road users."
• I think I missed this article when it came out. There's nothing new in it if you follow the blog, but it's a pretty good summary of the status and recent history of bicycle transportation in DC. 
• The helmet challange - ask your helmet-law advocate to take it. Brilliant.
• Richard Layman disagrees with the analysis of "why cyclists enrage drivers" from BBC futures. While I agree with him that drivers aren't morally superior, I do think that part of the explanation is that cyclists break rules that drivers hold above the law - like cutting in line (even though that isn't really what's happening) and not running red lights from a stop. It's the "rules" that cyclists break that make them angry, even when not an actual law or rule (like riding in the street or on the sidewalk). But other violations, like riding without a headlight, almost never seem to get mentioned, even though it's much more dangerous.  
• Starting this week, a long stretch of the W&OD trail ( from Shirlington in Arlington County, all the way to the western town limit of Herndon in Fairfax County) will be open for extended hours - from 5am to 9pm - as part of a pilot program. 
• National Transportation Safety Board, not so interested in bike/ped safety. 

Chevy Chase Lake Site Plan