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

Comments

[Paytonchung]

The Go-getter bag, like the most Xtracycle-type panniers, isn't intended to be removed from the bike except for cleaning. I'm sure that the Capitol Police regularly cut open car trunks, too, which are capable of holding exponentially more dangerous stuff. Besides, don't they have mine-sweeping robots who can peek inside things by this point?

[Steve]

The W&OD closes? How?

[Michael Roy]

Re W&OD: I have been commuting on the W&OD after dark for 19 years. I have never been stopped. It's utterly ridiculous that cyclists would be forced off the trail and onto streets after dark. So I support the new trial, but hope if it is deemed for some reason not to continue it that the result will not be increased enforcement of the existing rule that the park is closed. Also, while I applaud the new rule requiring pedestrians to have reflective clothing and a light (it is impossible to spot them otherwise until you are right on them if you ride with light on low setting so as not to blind oncoming traffic) I doubt the rule will make a difference.

[MM]

Given how much free time the Capitol Police have, they probably squealed with glee when they saw an "unattended bag" and cut it open simply for shits and gigs. I don't mind that the CP exist, but they seem to be the most overstaffed law enforcement agency on the planet. Do we really need 5 officers and two cruisers idling at every intersection within spitting distance of the Capitol?? Oh, and of course CP won't be facing cuts due to the sequester...Congress is smart enough (just barely) to not take that metaphorical shit right where they eat.

[7]

Has anyone ever had their helmet stolen from their locked bike? I've seen helmets locked to a bike frame through the ear strap and air vents. I can't believe a thief would be so safety conscious as to steal a helmet. It's not like they can be pawned off somewhere. Even old helmets for sale on Craiglist - do they ever get any response other then "ewwwww."?
And, FWIW, no, I don't support the mandatory helmet bill - but for reasons other than, "It's a hassle to have to carry one around."

[Jack]

Regarding the Chevy Chase Lake Plan: One challenge is how to get cyclists from the trail down to the street level on the east side of Connecticut Ave. On the west side there will be link, but the plan didn't have a good link on the east side. The developer was actually contemplating steps with a ramp on the side so you could roll the bike down, plus an elevator. Bike advocates pointed out that neither of these solutions was a good idea, and that a full ramp you can ride down is needed.

Re: Go Getter bag. Once a bike bag in my rear crate bounced out and landed on the walkway of an elementary school in Bethesda. An hour later it was still there, no bomb squad thank goodness.