TheWashCycle

Details on Tonya Reaves Murder come out

The orginal story is here:

There's more here:

By her mother’s account, 53-year-old Tonya Reaves rode her bike everywhere, no matter the time of day. Donna Hill said her daughter used to pedal home when she got off late from her former job at Pizza Hut, and she would frequently bike to her boyfriend’s house or even just for fun.

Although witness accounts in court papers have shifted and are contradictory, two people said that the young woman studying to be a surgical nurse or nursing-home worker ran over Reaves slowly after striking her, inflicting gruesome and fatal injuries.

And about the investigation.

The investigation proved complicated, as witnesses’ stories to police shifted in the days that followed, court papers show.

When police arrived at Eighth and S streets NW, they found Reaves’s bicycle in a crosswalk and two apparent witnesses, one of whom claimed to have been on foot while observing a sport-utility vehicle hit Reaves, according to a police affidavit. Both people would later admit to being in the vehicle that hit Reaves and claim that Thomas was driving, although one first pointed to another person as the driver, according to the affidavit.

Investigators tracked down four people who claimed to be in the car during the crash, and all four alleged that Thomas was the driver, according to the affidavit. One person told investigators that the group had just left the New Town bar on U Street and that Thomas had been drinking, according to the affidavit.

But that account was backed up by only one person, who claimed that Thomas was drinking vodka and lemonade and smoking marijuana, according to the affidavit. The two others in the car said that Thomas was neither drinking nor smoking, according to the affidavit.

When police searched the car, a Ford Focus, that they believe was involved in the crash, they found a nearly empty bottle of vodka, according to the affidavit. Police said Thomas did not have a driver’s license.

It's hard to follow, but as I read it the idea is that Thomas hit Reaves by accident. But then intentionally drove forward over her, and that's why it's murder. I'm so lacking in confidence on that that I should possibly end that statement with a question mark . 

DC Allows bikes on all of H Street, keeps rush hour streetcar bike ban

DC released an updated set of streetcar regulations that removes the provision that prohibited riding a bicycle within a streetcar guideway. But they did not remove the provision that bans passengers from bringing bicycles onboard during rush hour. Presumably, passengers can still bring pool rafts, surfboards and refrigerators onboard. This is also totally cool.  

Here's more on the change.

In response to public comments received, the proposed rulemaking was revised to strike the provision that prohibited riding a bicycle within a streetcar guideway.  Additional comments were received to revise the definition of a streetcar guideway, but DDOT determined that the definition is sufficiently clear.

Final rulemaking action to adopt these amendments shall be taken in not less than fifteen (15) days after the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.  Pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 2-505 (2012 Repl.), final rulemaking action may be made less than thirty (30) days from publication of proposed rulemaking upon a showing of good cause.  The full comment period is not necessary because DDOT has already held meetings with stakeholders and addressed the issues raised in the previous round of comments.  DDOT does not anticipate any new comments to the rulemaking as the only changes made since it was last published on August 16, 2013 is the removal of the prohibition of bicycles on the streetcar guideway.

Funny thing is, the regulations do not restrict bringing a moped or even a motorcycle on the streetcar. 

Bike Hack Events

If you like bikes and technology, check out Bike Hack Night
(http://www.meetup.com/Transportation-Techies/events/200015252/)

November 6, 2014,

and CaBi Hack Night
(http://www.meetup.com/Transportation-Techies/events/200661602/)

December 4, 2014.

Driver in Tonya Reaves hit-and-run charged with murder

Story is here:

Fresh of my review of every fatal bike crash since 1987, this is the first time a driver has been charged with "murder" since 1991, and that driver admitted to intentionally running down cyclists from behind. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Markets in Everything - The Bike Fitter

From the Washington Post

He’s old-school, using a protractor, levels and plumb bobs to diagnose problems and devise solutions, tweaking until he transforms ill-fitting two-wheelers into comfortable speed machines. His concession to the digital age is an iPad, which he uses to video each rider to analyze body position on the bike before and after adjustments.

11th Street Bridge Park Video

Le Tour d’Alexandria Library

On Saturday, October 25, 2014, Alexandria Library is hosting its second annual bicycle tour of all Alexandria Library locations. Bring your bike and join library staff for a leisurely 2-hour loop starting and ending at Duncan Branch Library, 2501 Commonwealth Ave. Registration is required. Visit bit.ly/alexlibrarybiketourfor more information and to register online.

(see, it's not all craziness in Alexandria)

Bikes on Some MARC Trains Seems Imminent

You may recall that the Maryland Transportation Authority has been seriously thinking about allowing standard bikes on some MARC trains, but asked advocates not to talk about the details.  Now MDOT is talking about the details.  In a statement cleared for release to the public, Michael Jackson described an October 9 show-and-tell with advocates at Frederick, Maryland, at the October 10 meeting of the Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee:

Attendees included representatives from Bike Maryland, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, the Virginia Bicycle Federation and staff from MDOT as well as staff from MARC and their consultants. The meeting was held at their Frederick rail yard. Attendees were invited to bring bicycles to carry on-board a modified rail car with half of the seats removed. A bicycle rack and luggage rack had been installed. Invitees assessed the modifications and gave feedback to MARC staff.

MARC intends to outfit the car with enough racks to carry 25 bicycles and to identify the outside of the bike cars with prominent graphics. Service is expected to be limited initially to weekend service on the Penn line and begin by the end of the year.

Jim Titus represents Prince George's County on the Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and is on the board of WABA. The comments here do not represent the official views of either organization.

Jim Graham proposes banning sidewalk cycling along streets with bike lanes

You can read all about it at GGW.  Here's my thoughts about it.

The DC code allowing cyclist on the sidewalk goes back to DC's original traffic regulations from 1972 and 1974 and has it's roots in the Uniform Vehicle Code, which in 1968 added a stipulation that cars were not allowed on the sidewalk.  I'm not sure what DC's traffic laws were like before then, but even back then it included the ban within the CBD. The primary reason for the CBD ban, as I understand it, was to deal with the problem of bike messengers on the sidewalks. The ban on sidewalk cycling (if back issues of Dr. Gridlock are any indication) was not enforced and was never successful, even when messengers were required to have license plates on their bikes. The problem was such that in the late 1980's Ward 6 Councilmember Nadine Winters proposed regulations for the bike messengers, including requiring them to be licensed, pass a safety course and wear visible ID numbers. But with the decline of bike messengers in DC, the perceived need for such regulations has largely disappeared. But the CBD sidewalk ban remains.

The only way to make a ban work is to have more enforcement, but If more enforcement is planned, then this law isn't needed. That's because the kind of behavior that supporters of this ban wish to make illegal is already illegal. Current law says that cyclists may use the sidewalk "so long as the rider does not create a hazard." Ergo, hazardous sidewalk cycling is already illegal. What this law does is make non-hazardous sidewalk cycling illegal.

 

The only reason for this would be the pretense that enforcement would be easier. But the logic behind making non-hazardous sidewalk cycling illegal because it would be easier to enforce is questionable to say the least. It reminds of the old vaudeville joke where one man is looking for his wallet and another offers to help. After some time, the second asks "Where did you lose it?" and the first says "Over there in the woods." "Well then why are we looking for it over here" the second asks angrily. "Because the lighting is better." Why are we going to ticket non-hazardous cycling? Because the lighting is better.

 

Furthermore, there is already a process to ban sidewalk cycling on streets where it makes sense.  The Mayor can ban sidewalk cycling on any street with a simple order. And he can do so with input from DDOT and MPD. Instead of creating a blanket rule that may or may not work in every situation. Under current law, the default is no ban, with the Mayor able to overrule that. The new law changes it to a ban, with the Mayor able to overrule that. 

 

Sidewalk cycling is not ideal, but for some cyclists and at some times it is a totally adequate option, and possibly even the best one. Rather than changing behavior by forcing less confident cyclists off the sidewalk (even as young as 13 years old), we should be enticing cyclists off the sidewalk with better facilities.  This law replaces an individual cyclist's judgement about the safety, their comfort and the current conditions on the road with that of the Council's who has no insight into any of those things. It forces cyclists to either break the law, do something that makes them uncomfortable or not bike. Which of these is an appealing outcome?

 

Bans do not get cyclists off the sidewalks, but bike lanes, and to a much larger extent, cycletracks do. That's where efforts should be focused.

 

Graham's bill is unlikely to achieve the goals he seeks. The 4 year old example of a bad outcome that he cites isn't even applicable. That happened in an alley, not a sidewalk. And it didn't happen next to a bike lane. And it isn't even clear that the cyclist was at fault in the crash (though they did flee the scene afterward). There's no data to back up the need for this - just the fact that Graham has received a lot of complaints. How many bike crashes are there on DC sidewalks? Where are they occurring? Next to bike lanes? Don't know. Don't care. But a study carried about by DDOT from 1997-99 showed a total of 29 bicycle-pedestrian crashes over a two year period. A follow up study from 2000-2002 also showed 29 bike-ped crashes involving 30 pedestrians (and one bike-bus-pedestrian crash). Many of these were not on the sidewalk.  

 

Not only will this do little to reduce sidewalk cycling, I doubt such a bill will "help to encourage the construction of even more bicycle lanes for the safety of all" but if that's something he's interested in (and it would be a new interest for him) then there are better ways to get that outcome. 

 

The most dangerous part of his press release, and the part that makes me glad he's leaving office is this part "I think it’s time that rather than riding on sidewalks, bicyclists and others be required to use bike lanes" Oh no, no. no. Mandatory bike lane laws are a very bad idea. Even worse than the law Graham has proposed. 

 

Just to add fuel to the fire, in a very timely post Streetsblog has a report on how sidewalk bans in NYC have been disproportionately enforced on black and latino cyclists.  

 

6th Annual Tweed Ride is November 2

From the promotional email

Dandies! Quaintrelles. After much deliberation, our adventures in tweed are set to continue! Last year's ride was one of our best. The bash that followed was our wildest! I'm arranging some of the elements that have made this thing sort of a legend. 2014 will be no different. Autumn leaves are already falling and it's time to get excited about another beautiful experience.

If you haven't been secretly planning your tweed ensemble in anticipation of this year's ride, there's plenty of time to hunt down the things you'll need.

1. Retro clothing. It's everywhere now because classic style is back!
2. Bike. Pretty much everyone in this city rides one. Right? We are everywhere.
3. Your dancing feet. Remember those?