TheWashCycle

Cyclist on H Street is killed after his tire got caught in the streetcar gap, hit by bus

Saturday night, a cyclist was killed on H Street NE after his bike wheel got caught in the gap between the streetcar rail and the pavement. After it got stuck, he fell into the path of a charter bus.

Malik Habib, 19, of Northeast, fell while cycling in the streetcar lane in the 300 block of H Street NE, police said. A charter bus, which also was eastbound on H Street, struck Habib at about 9:35 p.m.

I wonder how far behind him the bus was and if the bus was also in the streetcar lane.

Some will recall that in 2014, DDOT proposed banning bikes in the streetcar lane (or guideway, as they called it). Their stated reason was not the danger of the tracks, however, but concern about impeding the streetcar and the danger of being a slow vehicle in front of a streetcar. Advocates opposed the ban and DDOT eventually relented. (Safety concerns related to the tracks were often brought up though). 

I'm just going to throw this out there - and then duck - maybe, if we really want to commit to Vision Zero, we should accept a ban on biking on the guideway. I'm writing a post on Vision Zero that's not ready yet, but the thesis is that if we REALLY want zero road deaths, then we're going to need to make much bigger sacrifices than we have so far. Maybe this is one of those. After all...

Lopez identified the top five spots in each of Boston’s neighborhoods for cyclist injuries, including the portion of South Huntington Avenue directly across from the Back of the Hill stop of the trolley’s E line. Seven cyclists were injured at this location over a period of four years. Through analysis of the narrative police reports of these crashes, Lopez and her colleagues found that all but one could be attributed to a cyclist getting his or her wheel lodged in the trolley tracks. 

In the meantime, we probably need to promote this video more and look at technical improvements that can make this safer. This is not the first track related crash on H Street after all. [If I were a real media-type, or a lawyer for Habib's family, I might FOIA all of DDOT's internal emails on "flange fillers"]. This is also not the first streetcar related bike fatality but it's the first since the old streetcars were removed.

Regardless of what is done going forward, it's clear that the G and I street improvements and DDOT safety video weren't enough to save Habib. 

Motor Vehicle Fatalities among cyclists up 2.7% in 2016, reach 25 year high

For the second year in a row, bicycle fatalities were up in 2016, as reported by NHTSA.  

Bicyclist deaths (840 fatalities – the highest number since 1991) increased by 1.3 percent.

I'm not sure how they're getting a 1.3% increase when it went from 818 to 840, unless the 2015 numbers were revised upward. That happens. For example the 2014 numbers have increased by 3. A 1-2% increase is not good, but it's not surprising since all road deaths were up 5.6%. And it can't be blamed entirely on more driving because VMT was only up 2.2% so it appears our roads are just getting less safe. Pedestrian deaths were up a whopping 9%. That's crisis level. 

Also, I'll point out that in this year's reporting, people on bikes were not called "pedalcyclists" but rather "bicyclists." 

The total number of fatalities was 840 which makes for another bad year count-wise. It's important to note that this is not a measure of all cyclist deaths, just those that include a motor vehicle and which are reported by the police to FARS. This under counts total fatalities by about 30% according to my estimate, meaning the real total is probably closer to 1192. 

Unlike in previous years (don't mention the administration...don't mention the administration...) the "Injury estimates are not yet available for 2016", thus no injury estimates were in the publication. 

While fatalities have been increasing somewhat steadily for the last few years, so has the number of people biking. Unfortunately, for the last couple of years the rate of fatalities have been climbing faster than the rate of bike commuters - indicating that despite all our efforts, biking has been getting a little less safe. And it cant even be blamed on distracted driving since those fatalities are down (as are drosy-driving fatalities)

Driver in fatal DC hit and run crash found and charged

In late June, cyclist Burgess Johnson was struck by a Camaro while going to the store. The driver of the Camaro reportedly got out of the car after the crash, assessed the situation and then drove away. Three weeks later Johnson died. 

At the latest Bicycle Advisory Council meeting, MPD reported that the driver has been found and charged with hit-and-run. Johnson was found to be at fault - after running a stop sign - but the driver failed to render aid. Neither the name of the driver nor the exact charges were reported. 

Pair of DC cyclists struck and killed in Dewey Beach after driver "Blacks out"

Richard Chittick and James Walton, a married couple from DC,  were killed Oct. 21 after being struck by an SUV in Dewey. The driver was hospitalized, but has since been released. 

Police say the driver of a Chevy Suburban blacked out after suffering a medical emergency.

The victims were on their bicycles outside the Starboard Bar and Restaurant when they were struck. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

No charges have been filed but police are still investigating and seeking to interview witnesses.

They had just celebrated their first wedding anniversary.

Chittick and Walton were avid cyclists who married about a year ago and spent time at a beach house in Rehoboth Beach.

They enjoyed riding their bicycles in Rehoboth Beach and neighboring Dewey Beach when the weather was nice.

“It’s what they always did in the afternoons,” said Thomas Vaccaro, a friend of theirs who lives in Delaware and the District. “They went out for bike rides.”

Temperatures in Dewey Beach climbed well into the 70s on Saturday, and about 5 p.m., there was still daylight left as the couple stood outside the Starboard bar and restaurant, straddling their bikes beside Coastal Highway, police said.

The vehicle that swerved off the road was a 2017 Chevrolet Suburban.

The driver, a man from New York, blacked out at the wheel, police said. Before the SUV severed a utility pole and came to a stop in the restaurant parking lot, it plowed over Chittick and Walton.

If things went down as the media is describing, then this is that rare case of an actual "accident" where no one is to blame. A similar incident happened in Virginia back in 2010 when Abdelouahid Chadli was struck on the sidewalk by a driver blacked out and crashed into him and a friend. In that case the driver died, the friend survived and the driver tested positive for PCP and marijuana. 

Also

Starboard Employees immediately came out and told people to stop taking pictures and videos, and then quickly shut down the restaurant for the rest of the evening.

For Redefer, this was the first major traffic incident since he was elected mayor a little more than a month ago. This crash seemed to be unavoidable, he said, but he also said he would like to start working with the Delaware Department of Transportation on traffic-calming measures.

“There are a lot of what-ifs,” he said.

Jim Lardear, AAA Mid-Atlantic public and government affairs director, said AAA doesn’t have specific data related to the number of deaths caused by drivers suffering a medical event, but he said he thinks it’s a very small percentage that end in the death of pedestrians. He said modern vehicle technology – vibrating seats, alarm systems – can be used to warn drivers when they begin to swerve, but he said he’s not aware of a system that takes control of a vehicle.

“Neither impairment nor distraction is believed to be a factor in the crash,”

The driver's name has not been released for some unknown reason.

“If I had run over and killed two people I think I would be reaching out to the families and I would want to be accountable in some way and I would do everything humanly possible to find out what happened and make sure it would never happen again,” Adair told the Blade.

“And I just need to know,” she said, about what really happened and why. “It’s killing us. I’m a Christian. My family, we’re Christians and we are all about forgiveness. And I’m perfectly willing to forgive him,” she said. “But I just don’t know if I’m going to be able to sleep at night knowing that this person has just left the hospital and that’s that, you know?”

This story has been picked up by national and international news media. There's more here.

The investigation isn't over, but again taking them at their word, we probably can't prevent these kinds of crashes. But, as someone else pointed out, if we limited the size of vehicles on the road, we could make them less lethal. 

Daughter of victim in fatal ped-bike crash pens Times article

Back in March, Jane Bennett Clark stepped off the sidewalk in downtown Washington near Franklin Square and was struck by a cyclist who was running a red light. She hit the ground with enough force to break a rib and her collarbone and took a fatal blow to the head. The cyclist was subsequently cited for disobeying a traffic signal. Last month her daughter wrote an article about it and about cycling in general. 

The rise of cycling in urban areas must be matched with efforts - by law enforcement officers and riders themselves - to make sure cyclists follow the law. 

She notes that bike-ped crashes in New York City are up 40% between 2012 and 2015 (which is basically in line with the rise in bike commuting over the same time) and then calling out some specifically bad behavior. 

WABA's position (before they knew who had been cited) is quite reasonable. 

the same principle applies to bicycling as it does to driving: if you can’t see and react to a human being on the road in front of you, you are going too fast. Yield to people who are more vulnerable. This is not just the law, it’s how to be a responsible member of the community. It is your responsibility not to hurt anyone with your vehicle, whether you’re riding a bike or driving a car.

Personally I don't care if people follow the law so much as I do that they be safe and courteous and the cyclist in this case was definitely not meeting that standard. I would like to see more enforcement of traffic laws in general, and while I usually am bothered by WHAT the police choose to enforce on cyclists - because I feel like they're going after things that generate a lot of tickets (running stop signs when no one is around) and not things that most improve safety (riding without lights at night, fast riding on the sidewalk, wrong-way cycling, running red lights without stopping) - I would be fine to see more enforcement and even happier to see more and better targeted enforcement. 

I'm sorry for Ms. Madison's loss. This kind of case is frustrating because we can't even say "take that cyclist's license away" like we can when a driver does the same thing and gets a similar weak sentence. Sure, they'll be a civil case which I suspect he'll lose, even though the recent change to the contributory negligence laws won't apply, but that still feels like the cyclist's is getting off easy.

Bike commuting data - in charts! 2017 edition

Here are some updated charts based on last week's ACS data. First we can see that bike commuting in the area is generally growing, and at a rate faster than the national average.

And I'll add that not only did DC set a new record high for bike commuting, but so did Arlington which now has a bike commute mode share similar to what DC was at in 2008. 

Since DC's share when up and most places went down, DC is now the 2nd fastest growing since 2000 among the top 5 bike commuting cities. Since 1990, we're the 4th fastest growing among major cities behind Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh and tied with Chicago.

Despite a slowdown in commuting and climbing bike fatalities, the trends still show the former increasing and the latter decreasing.

 

Still, it was enough to raise the ratio of bike fatalities to bike commuters

A note: We've often used bike commuter data (itself significantly limited in both definition and methodology) as a proxy for bike use, but it may be that biking (BVMT) - in part due to bike sharing - is changing at a rate different than bike commuting. I just don't know. 

DC Cyclist hit by driver who left scene, dies from injuries

A cyclist who was hit by a driver who then fled the scene died from his injuries on Sunday.

They said Burgess Johnson, 53, of Southeast Washington, died Sunday of injuries suffered in the crash. The crash occurred June 30 in the 2600 block of 29th Street SE, the police said.

They said Johnson went through a stop sign as he tried to turn left onto Erie Street SE. He was struck by a vehicle that was going west on Erie Street, the police said.

It occurred about 6:15 p.m. 

There are stop signs on 29th but not on Erie, so the driver was probably going full speed (legal or otherwise, I don't know). My Vision Zero assessment is that 29th should at least have "Cross-traffic does not stop" signs - or maybe Erie needs stop signs too. Police are 

 a vehicle described as a white or silver four-door sedan hit the bike and then drove off.

The sedan had paper tags on it that started with "MV" police say.

Police are still investigating

The case is currently under investigation by the Major Crash Investigations Unit. Anyone with information regarding this case should call 202-727-9099.

New traffic signal at deadly Matthew Henson Trail crossing of Viers Mill aims to improve safety

Last week a new traffic signal was activated at the Matthew Henson Trail crossing of Veirs Mill Road/MD 586.

The new light flashes a constant yellow, which means drivers should always maneuver through the area with caution.

(Whereas before they were free to travel through with reckless abandon?)

When a pedestrian or cyclist activates “walk” buttons on either side of Veirs Mill Road, the yellow light will flash faster, and then go solid. After that, it will change to a solid red in order to halt motorists traveling in both directions of Veirs Mill Road.

My snark aside, this is a positive development. Trail users needed to be able to stop traffic at this spot. In 2015 and 2016 two cyclists were killed at this spot when drivers failed to stop for them; 

Here's a link to an earlier article on the traffic light. And if you're wondering why it's not a HAWK light - Maryland didn't authorize them.

The state senators who voted against the HAWK bill were Bobby Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), Delores Kelley (D-Baltimore County), James Brochin (D-Baltimore County), Robert Cassilly (R-Harford County), Wayne Norman (R-Cecil, Harford counties) and Victor Ramirez (D-Prince George’s County).

Update on 2015 Andrew Greff Gooden fatality

Just one more tidbit to pass along from the 2015 FARS data. In the FARS report for the Andrew Gooden fatal bike crash in Fairfax, the only contributing factor listed is cyclist "inattention." Gooden was hit from behind.

Update on 2015 Maryland Fatal crashes

Pulling more from the FARS data for 2015 and there isn't too much to add from the 4 Maryland fatalities in Montgomery and Prince George's counties. But, it does seem that police came up with a car in the fatal hit and run crash that killed Donna Holiday Clark. They have a VIN for the car, but no information on the driver. Nothing was reported in the media about this after the crash, as near as I can tell.

The reports also reveal that neither Clark nor Samuel Vigil were wearing helmets (though Clark had "other" safety gear on).