Wednesday Morning Commute - Southgate

Good morning

• Cyclist in Lapina fatality won't be charged. "The bicyclist was coming down a blind curve, so he didn't have a lot of time to react, Sternbeck said, and both the bicyclist and the victim could have delayed reaction times because of their ages." Both of which would be perfect reasons for slowing down. I'm sorry, but I would not let a car-bike fatality slide because it was an elderly driver and a blind curve, so I'm not going to agree with this either.
  
• Justice
• S. Joyce Street from Columbia Pike to Pentagon City gets " ten-foot wide shared use sidewalks on both sides" plus pedestrian-scale lighting. Which may or may not help cyclists. 
• ...which leads to the discovery that Southgate Road between Henderson Hall and Columbia Pike is going to be closed to make room for the expansion of Arlington National Cemetery. When I bike out Columbia Pike I go uphill on Southgate Road since gravity makes me go slow and there is less traffic on that road. In the same article they note that Columbia Pike is to be realligned to take it farther from the cemetery. Maybe this could include a climbing lane?
• Local poll done in conjunction with the Fairfax County Bike Plan shows reasons people don't bike more have a lot to do with a lack of facilities.
• The north section of the Bethesda Trolley Trail, which is in many places just sidewalk, needs work.
• Sharrows are nice, but they don't encourage more cycling like bike lanes and paths do. 
• Bike-sharing and smartphones are helping to drive VMT/capita down.
• A TRUE STORY OF WWII ITALY, THE NAZIS, AND THE CYCLIST WHO INSPIRED A NATION

• Local poll done in conjunction with the Fairfax County Bike Plan shows reasons people don't bike more have a lot to do with a lack of facilities.
• The north section of the Bethesda Trolley Trail, which is in many places just sidewalk, needs work.
• Sharrows are nice, but they don't encourage more cycling like bike lanes and paths do.
• A TRUE STORY OF WWII ITALY, THE NAZIS, AND THE CYCLIST WHO INSPIRED A NATION

Comments

[Peter Nuar]

Awesome story on Bartali. I didn't realize Catholics did so much for the Jews. Thanks for sharing.

[freewheel]

"I'm sorry, but I would not let a car-bike fatality slide because it was an elderly driver and a blind curve, so I'm not going to agree with this either."

What if the cyclist veered left into the path of the oncoming car? Isn't that the facts of this case?

[Chris Slatt]

Yeah, wouldn't the more apt comparison be you're passing a cyclist and upon hearing your engine noise, the cyclists looks to their left and (as is often the case with new cyclists), this causes them to drift swiftly to the left such that what had been your 2' required passing distance is now a collision course?

Are we really expecting cars that pass us on roads to slow down so much that if we suddenly make a left turn with no warning they have enough time to react and avoid us?

[charlie]

I have to think part of the problem with sharrows is they tend to magically wash off after about six months.

[washcycle]

No. For starters, the car wasn't oncoming, it was coming from behind.

But here would be the analogy. A cyclist is taking the lane. A driver comes up from behind at high speed around a blind curve and, when they see the cyclist, honks at them while moving over to pass. The cyclist also moves over and the two crash.

In that case, I think I know who I'd blame.

[washcycle]

Well, 3' is the proper passing distance. I don't think cyclists who look over their shoulder drift that far. I should point out in my analogy above that the cyclist only moves over a couple of feet, not a whole lane.

[Greenbelt]

The data on reductions in vehicle miles traveled per capita could be a very big deal. Straight line projections can be very misleading -- things do change occasionally.

[freewheel]

Washcycle, I think the closer analogy is that the cyclist is on the right side of the lane and the car (honking or not) comes from behind attempting to pass on the left. The cyclist, for whatever reason, veers left into the car as it attempts to pass.

[Chris Slatt]

You DC-centric folk enjoy your 3' distance, we're stuck with 2' over here in Virginia.

[washcycle]

Well, I don't think we know where the ped was and we don't know where the crash occurred, both of which are pretty relevant. But there is no reason to believe that she "veered" to the left. We only know that she moved to the left at the speed of an 80-year old women. I know there are some 80-year olds who could outrun me in a 100 meter footrace, but most 80-year olds don't do a lot of veering.

[freewheel]

Fair enough. The woman slowly moved to the left as the cyclist attempted to pass too closely.

[Michael H.]

The "South Joyce Street Improvements" will help slower cyclists traveling north on Joyce. The road is uphill from Army-Navy Drive to Columbia Pike so it can be difficult to maintain speed on a bike. The 395 and Washington Blvd. lanes overhead make that a very dark section of the road, making it more difficult for drivers to see cyclists.

There is relatively little pedestrian traffic at many times of the day so cyclists should have a clear path on the new 10-ft sidewalks. The new lighting will add to safety even on the sidewalks because it helps to remove dark, hidden areas. I don't think crime has been a problem there, but I can see how it oculd be.

The removal of the standpipes is another big positive. The pipes jut out into the existing sidewalks. If a cyclist with a low-powered light/no light or even a pedestrian passes along on the sidewalk, they can collide with or get cut by those pipes.

All of this combines to make this project a major improvement for cyclists and pedestrians who travel along Joyce St.

As for the rerouting of Columbia Pike, I'm interested to see if they will add a better sidewalk or shared-use path along the new section of the Pike. The road will probably run through the current DOD parking lot on the south of the current Columbia Pike. There would be plenty of room to add a better paved path on both sides of the new road. The hill is very steep.

[Crickey7]

It's a case of an inexperienced cyclist who may have pushed the safety envelope a bit on a blind curve, as inexperienced people are wont to do, and a walker who made a tragic error. She did not appear to know what the audible signals meant in terms of trail rules. Each contributed to the accident.

[Shawn]

"I'm sorry, but I would not let a car-bike fatality slide because it was an elderly driver and a blind curve, so I'm not going to agree with this either."

What do you propose?

[washcycle]

Shawn, I don't know, because I don't know enough of the fine details, but this explanation is not enough to let him off without prosecution.

perhaps reckless driving as in this eerily similar case:

http://www.vabike.org/driver-who-hit-michael-sprick-sentenced/

[5555624]

The modifications to Columbia Pike are to include a new sidewalk/path. The re-route will go through part of the DoD parking lot and through the location of the NEX gas station. Except for the very west end of the Navy Annex, Arlington National Cemetery will expand to take Southgate Road and most of the Navy Annex space.

[Joe]

The story list as being similar to the cyclist hitting and killing the ped are infact NOT similar.

In the local story the ped stepped to the left after the cyclist gave warning, into the line of the cyclist. In the other story the driver swerved to the right hitting the cyclist. Very diffrent situations.

(about the 6th paragraph down)

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/300015

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