Another Accident on Custis Trail at Hotel on Fort Meyer Drive

This topic has 16 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 4 months ago by Vicegrip.

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June 13, 2012 at 1:28 pm #942928

Greenbelt
Participant

I rode the Custis trail for the first time in rush hour last week. That Lynn street intersection is a disaster. Cars are allowed two lanes to turn right and they were literally bullying pedestrians (who had the walk signal!) out of the way. Arlington police could make a fortune issuing tickets for failure to yield the right of way. Just because the light is green, that doesn’t give drivers the right to turn right automatically and cut off pedestrians who are going straight on green.

As far as the hotel entrance, I saw a car nose out into the trail without even looking on the sidewalk/trail, only looked for car traffic. This seems like this could be improved with better signage and maybe a thick white stripe on the hotel property to give out of town drivers a better warning that they’re crossing a heavily used trail, not just the usual empty sidewalk they’re used to seeing in the suburbs.

June 13, 2012 at 1:31 pm #942930

TwoWheelsDC
Participant

Hope she’s okay…I hate that intersection. While it is important for cyclists to pay very close attention there, I’ve found that many drivers don’t look to the right at all because Lee Hwy is one way. So many cyclists see the car stopped and go ahead and go (the trail users should have the right of way and the “stop” sign there is dubious), but the drivers don’t have a clue that someone is riding in front of their car. If I’m coming down that hill and there’s a car pulling up to exit, I usually stop and wait until I can make eye contact with the driver, then I proceed cautiously. Probably annoys the people behind me, but whatevs, I don’t want to get hit.

June 13, 2012 at 1:34 pm #942931

JeffC
Participant

@TwoWheelsDC 22147 wrote:

Hope she’s okay…I hate that intersection. While it is important for cyclists to pay very close attention there, I’ve found that many drivers don’t look to the right at all because Lee Hwy is one way. So many cyclists see the car stopped and go ahead and go (the trail users should have the right of way and the “stop” sign there is dubious), but the drivers don’t have a clue that someone is riding in front of their car. If I’m coming down that hill and there’s a car pulling up to exit, I usually stop and wait until I can make eye contact with the driver, then I proceed cautiously. Probably annoys the people behind me, but whatevs, I don’t want to get hit.

This is especailly true at the Quinn Street crossing where bikes are racing downhill thanks to gravity and cars are looking left at other cars approaching on the 1 way street. I’ve seen my life flash in front of my eyes a few times there.

June 13, 2012 at 1:47 pm #942936

txgoonie
Participant

@TwoWheelsDC 22147 wrote:

If I’m coming down that hill and there’s a car pulling up to exit, I usually stop and wait until I can make eye contact with the driver, then I proceed cautiously. Probably annoys the people behind me, but whatevs, I don’t want to get hit.

Right on. I’m probably awful to ride behind going down the Rosslyn hill, but I figure I might actually save some hot dog from getting run over

I went to the Marriott a few weeks ago for the first time…in a car. And honestly, I can understand driver behavior there. The stop is not well marked, and, at the light a bit further up, your view up and down the trail is blind until you’re pretty much sitting in it. That intersection is No Turn on Red, but trail traffic doesn’t always yield as they are supposed to when the light turns green.

June 13, 2012 at 1:54 pm #942938

vvill
Participant

essigmw and I saw the the same scene when we went by. There was a cabi bike there too – not sure if it was just someone else stopped or someone else also involved in the accident.

December 6, 2015 at 1:25 am #1042362

baiskeli
Participant

@TwoWheelsDC 22147 wrote:

Hope she’s okay…I hate that intersection. While it is important for cyclists to pay very close attention there, I’ve found that many drivers don’t look to the right at all because Lee Hwy is one way..

And even if they do, the sight line is blocked by the big stairwell thing.

December 6, 2015 at 1:28 am #1042363

baiskeli
Participant

@crisdbell 129211 wrote:

we should always remember that time is not more valuable than our life

Yep. Another way I put that into practice is never crossing Lynn except on a green walk signal, not even the red countdown. In places like that I like to say (to myself), “I’m in no hurry to die.”

December 6, 2015 at 3:12 am #1042365

vern
Participant

Y’all realize you’re responding in regard to an incident that occurred 3 1/2 years ago, right?

December 6, 2015 at 9:47 am #1042369

PotomacCyclist
Participant

I’m wondering if this old thread was revived by a spammer. While the post from the new acct isn’t spam (yet), it bears some of the markers of a spammer: reviving old threads for no reason, trying to post something that seems to relate to a thread but without any bike content whatsoever, new acct from an overseas country with no indication of any interest in bike issues or of visiting the DC area.

December 6, 2015 at 10:53 pm #1042385

baiskeli
Participant

@vern 129224 wrote:

Y’all realize you’re responding in regard to an incident that occurred 3 1/2 years ago, right?

I’m married. I’ve lost all sense of just letting bygones be bygones. Something happened 3 1/2 years ago? That’s fair game.

December 7, 2015 at 2:24 pm #1042352

thucydides
Participant

@baiskeli 129246 wrote:

I’m married. I’ve lost all sense of just letting bygones be bygones. Something happened 3 1/2 years ago? That’s fair game.

Dagnammit. Now I’ve got that Garth Brooks song “Buried the Hatchet” stuck in my head.

December 8, 2015 at 11:30 pm #1042493

baiskeli
Participant

@thucydides 129268 wrote:

Dagnammit. Now I’ve got that Garth Brooks song “Buried the Hatchet” stuck in my head.

[IMG]http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/e/e9/Nelson_Ha-Ha.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20121205194057[/IMG]

December 8, 2015 at 11:54 pm #1042494

dkel
Participant

@baiskeli 129246 wrote:

I’m married. I’ve lost all sense of just letting bygones be bygones. Something happened 3 1/2 years ago? That’s fair game.

I’m slightly concerned to see that my wife clicked likes for your post…

December 9, 2015 at 7:20 pm #1042586

baiskeli
Participant

@dkel 129365 wrote:

I’m slightly concerned to see that my wife clicked likes for your post…

[IMG]http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/e/e9/Nelson_Ha-Ha.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20121205194057[/IMG]

December 20, 2015 at 12:37 pm #1043173

Kitty
Participant

I’m glad to hear that this was something that did happen some time ago, because it did spook me, especially after reading the intersection-of-doom post. Even if it’s been that long, it is still a dangerous patch I contend with on a regular basis. I just hadn’t witnessed an actual accident there yet…
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