Tuesday Morning Commute - Abaya

I saw Argo this week, it doesn't give anything away to tell you that there is a small bicycle element to the story. According to the Wired article the movie is based on, that is at least somewhat true. 

• DDOT and MPD have a new safety campaign called "Toward Zero Deaths." The goal is admirable, but the bike and ped section is a little thin on substance. And one of the items "The fine for drivers who fail to stop and give right of way to pedestrians in crosswalks is $250 and 3 points" is already out of date. Starting yesterday, that fine dropped to $75. I'm actually OK with dropping fines where enforcement goes up - for example, when more speed cameras are installed - because, if the criminal cost of speeding=risk of getting caught*the cost of getting caught, then the cost of speeding probably goes up nonetheless. But this I don't understand.  
• New ART bridge should open this Spring. 
• The Alexandria Department of Transportation and Environmental Services is having a meeting to discuss a redesign of the intersection of Seminary Road and North Quaker Lane. More here.
• A driver has been charged with failure to yield the right of way to a pedestrian within a crosswalk in Loudoun County after the driver hit a 10-year-old on a bike. 
• The comments on this GGW April Fool's post about mandatory motoring helmets are pretty great since several people don't seem to get it. But one person notes that driving with a helmet might actually be illegal. 
• "The organizers of the TD Five Boro Bike Tour filed a lawsuit Monday against New York City after being told to reimburse police for more than $900,000 in traffic-control costs that will be incurred along the 40-mile route."
• The war on historic cobblestone roads. "The Transportation Department has pledged to save as many of the old cobblestones as possible. Some have been retained, but turned 90 degrees to create makeshift bike lanes, pointing in the direction of traffic flow — a visually striking intervention that the city “just made up,” Ms. Gallo mused, to promote cycling."
• US DOT Bike Safety Summits will be in Minneapolis and Tampa. 
• Saudi women can now ride a bike in public, but they must be accompanied by a male relative and dressed in the full Islamic head-to-toe abaya. 

Comments

[charlie]

I was thinking of the various WW2 rat lines - which is where they got the idea in Argo. Bike to Spain.

All part of the ongoing "The Bikes of War" tag?

[ken]

if the criminal cost of speeding=risk of getting caught*the cost of getting caught, then the cost of speeding probably goes up nonethelesss.

big if

[oboe]

I'm actually OK with dropping fines where enforcement goes up - for example, when more speed cameras are installed - because, if the criminal cost of speeding=risk of getting caught*the cost of getting caught, then the cost of speeding probably goes up nonethelesss. But this I don't understand.

This one of the things that pissed me off about Wells' legislation to lower fines across the board. The idea discussed on GGW was, as you say, to massively increase enforcement via automated controls. And once that was in place, begin to reduce the fines.

Who woulda thunk: the "walkable liveable" candidate picks up the idea and runs with it. Only rather than implement the stick, then the carrot, does it the other way around.

So now we have a population of drivers who understand it's incredibly unlikely they'll get ticketed for ignoring crosswalks (and speed limits, etc...). But in the 1-in-a-million chance that they do, they can get off with a slap on the wrist.

Thanks a lot Wells.

[Moose]

The quote for the NY ride is a bit misleading, since the gist of the suit is that they're not being treated as a charity and hence are being asked to pay for-profit rates rather than not-for-profit rates. You don't get that from the quote there, which made it look like they were whining about paying for police time at all (which most people wouldn't find unreasonable) versus paying a discounted rate.

[SJE]

The enforcement rate v fine metric makes sense for victimless crimes, but when the crime targets a vulnerable population having a higher penalty makes more sense. Failure to stop for pedestrians is (A) a big problem here and (B) potentially a cause of death

[charlie]

"#CleanAndMean: DoD's Tactical and Operational Energy Innovations "

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=o6hUZgtpafn9TIWXKvvmJkOOLh2swakQ

[david]

@Moose
It is unreasonable to expect people to pay for police protection. The right to assemble and or to protest should not be subject to the ability of the parties to pay.

[dynaryder]

Almost got clipped twice today in crosswalks while walking. That fine reduction is pure BS.