The BAC reports
The Committee on the Judiciary will hold a public oversight hearing on the Enforcement of Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety, Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 11:00a in Room 412 of the John A.Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Council member Phil Mendelson is the Chairperson of this Committee with Marion Barry, Muriel Bowser, Mary Cheh, and Jack Evans as Committee members.
The purpose of the hearing is to discuss issues associated with the enforcement of laws and other rules that are intended to protect bicyclists and pedestrians. The hearing will focus on how the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and other enforcement agencies have applied certain traffic laws or safety regulations.
According to the Committee, there have been specific complaints and anecdotal evidence showing that the enforcement of laws has been inconsistently applied against bicyclists and pedestrians.
There is more information, including how to testify, at the link.
In related news, the "Assault of Bicyclists Prevention Act" referral was changed from the Committee on the Environment, Public Works, and Transportation, chaired by CM Cheh, to the Committee on the Judiciary (with comments from the Committee on the Environment, Public Works, and Transportation). Thus, a public hearing on this bill will need to be scheduled by the Committee on the Judiciary, chaired by CM Mendelson.
Would be nice to have someone testify about illegal u-turns through the Penn. Ave. bike lanes, possibly using that picture of a certain committee member doing just that as an exhibit.
Posted by: Greenbelt | September 27, 2011 at 08:56 PM
@Greenbelt
Except as discussed here previously there doesn't seem to be a restriction for making a U-turn between intersections.
Posted by: JeffB | September 27, 2011 at 10:44 PM
I was unable to testify last time, but I'm prepared to do so this time, and the role of proper enforcement in supporting our semi-protected bikeway infrastructure is one of the topics I'd include - in other words, exactly how protected is a bike lane that allows mid-block U-turns across it?
Buried in the meeting announcement is the nugget that the MPD's Office of Police Complaints is expected to release a report on bicycle and pedestrian enforcement issues sometime in September - that's this week by my calendar.
I don't know of any other reports that came out of the previous hearing, even though several were promised. I may simply have missed them. Does anyone else know of any?
Posted by: DaveS | September 28, 2011 at 03:21 AM
When I was hit by a U-turning taxi on Penn (mid-block), the driver received two tickets: one for entering the bike lane, and one for illegal U.
Of course that's no guarantee that the tickets were accurate, but at least one officer out there believes there is such a restriction. It would still be helpful to have some sort of physical barrier, like a low curb, discouraging such behavior by drivers.
Posted by: ohmypolarbear | September 28, 2011 at 08:34 AM
@ohmypolarbear,
That's a good point - cars are not supposed to enter bike lanes except for the purpose of turning and then only at the end of the block where the lane striping is dashed.
Another thing I dislike are motorists who suddenly swerve into the bike lane in order to avoid traffic stopped to make a left turn.
One of those double decker tourist buses almost took me out with such a maneuver a few weeks ago.
Posted by: JeffB | September 28, 2011 at 08:48 AM