Friday Morning Commute

It's going to be a windy one they say

• Victory: Changes to the road near the new DHS HQ will barely impact the South Capitol Street Trail (one very short pinch point - if even that, I've been told). Planners were aware of the trail, but didn't spell that out in their Draft EIS.
• A bill in Maryland seeks to reaffirm Contributory Negligence, perhaps because it is not being evenly enforced statewide. This is in opposition to what most local bike advocates want.
• Lane Change covers Maryland's Vehicular Manslaughter Laws. The audio is heartbreaking.
• Dr. Gridlock misses the mark on a question about clearing snow from trails. He says that highway departments have focused on roads. Which while true, is irrelevant. "The problem with snow removal on trails is that for the most part, trails are located in parks, and parks are run by the National Park Service and/or local parks departments."
• A proposal to improve trails and connections around Lake Artemesia.
• DC is a 2011 Smarter City for transportation, in part thanks to Bike Sharing.
• New DC CM Sekou Biddle is a bike commuter. "Biddle said he [had two cars], including a Volkswagen, but rode his bicycle to work last week"

Also, I questioned Jacque Patterson's claim about being on the DC BAC. Turns out I was wrong. He was on the BAC a decade ago, before I started going to meetings.

Comments

[Jim Titus]

The bill to codify the common law doctrine of contributory negligence probably has a 1% chance of even reaching the house floor. I think that the motivation is that friends of the insurance industry think there is some chance (maybe 1% as well) that the MD Court of Appeals will over-rule the doctrine when presented with the appropriate case. The Court commissioned a study on the topic.

The dreadful bill is an opportunity to educate on the unfairness of the doctrine, perhaps pushing for an amendment to exempt the small road users. The whole excercise for us would be somewhat like those straw-poll presidential primaries 2 years before an election. No penality for skipping the skirmish, but sometimes an opportunity for underdog to be heard.