Alexandria PD Ticketing Cyclists

[Crickey7]

There was a hit-and-run fatality about a decade ago here. An elderly gentleman was struck while crossing an alley in DC by someone on a bike. The police deemed it the cyclist’s fault, and given the cyclist did not stick around, that sounds like a reasonable conclusion.

Anecdotally, there have been a number of injuries, some fairly serious, caused by cyclists. I’m not sure any good data exists on the question.

[Oldtowner]

Earlier this week, the Alexandria Police were running a cyclist trap at Jefferson and Royal. The motorcycle officer was ticketing some cyclists and warning others. I could not tell what the criteria for getting an actual ticket was. The annoying part of this trap was that I watched motorist after motorist not come to a complete stop at the same intersection and no tickets or warnings for them. They were slowing, but they were not stopping. In addition, some people were clearly texting at the same time. This does seem to be a case of selective enforcement.

I got an email last night from the OTCA encouraging members to attend the meeting tonight because “the local bicycle lobby” was going to be there in “an attempt to intimidate the APD into curtailing the issuing of traffic tickets to bicyclists who refuse to stop at Stop Signs and otherwise endanger pedestrians, automobiles, and other bicyclists.”

What’s obvious is there needs to be a safe North-South bicycle option through Old Town and nothing like that seems to be on the horizon.

[peterw_diy]

@Terpfan 124923 wrote:

Without delving deeper into this discussion, I would point out a pedestrian was killed by a vehicle in the eastern part of Del Ray earlier this month: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/woman-identified-in-fatal-hit-and-run-in-alexandrias-del-ray-neighborhood/2015/09/04/05159bba-5323-11e5-933e-7d06c647a395_story.html .

In response the City held a meeting in which the chief of police acknowledged traffic safety to be a problem and tried to explain to the hundred or so gathered residents why his department lacks resources to ticket motorists going twice the posted limit on the street where that woman was killed.

Five days later the police set up this anti-bicycle stakeout.

Police have undertaken this sort of all-day enforcement against people on bikes before but not without warning. Note: they still give advance notice for DUI operations, like this one less than a month ago.

Whoever said the OTCA goal is getting bikes off Old Town streets, I fear, is right.

Another interesting fact: budget documents show that traffic enforcement officers are expected to take in more revenue than they cost to employ. So why would a city ever cut traffic enforcement positions, as Alexandria did two years ago? Is there any rational explanation other than this: that Alexandria thought it didn’t need as much, or wanted to provide less, traffic law enforcement? That it didn’t want to get a reputation, like Falls Church, of actually enforcing speed limits?

[komorebi]

@dasgeh 124947 wrote:

I only know about 2 nationally – the one on FMR and one in San Fransisco (that, AFAIK, was totally the cyclist’s fault).

I don’t want to give the anti-bike people more ammunition, but there were also two fatalities in NYC’s Central Park last year, and this article mentions a third fatality in 2009: http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/09/a-death-in-central-park-raises-real-questions-about-bicyclist-behavior/380605/.

I live near the King Street Metro and usually take the MVT to/from work, so I bike east-west and north-south through Old Town morning and evening. I’ve seen plenty of boneheaded cyclist behavior that endangers pedestrians and other cyclists, not just the offending cyclist. An education campaign to convince these riders to be more PAL-like doesn’t strike me as the worst idea in the world. (I don’t have any views on whether the WABA/BPAC efforts or the ACPD enforcement actions are the best way to achieve that goal.)

The thing is, no one group has a monopoly on boneheaded behavior. I was nearly t-boned by a driver who went through a stop sign without slowing (a BMW sporting Maryland plates, natch). I’ve lost count of the number of drivers I’ve seen texting while driving. I regularly see pedestrians cross against red lights, either without looking for cross traffic or even after seeing oncoming cross traffic. Earlier this week, I saw a runner actually weave his way through three lanes of moving cross traffic. If there are going to be education campaigns for cyclists, there ought to be education campaigns for drivers and pedestrians too, so that we can all be safe.

[lordofthemark]

To clarify

I was at king and union. We did not shame people. We thanked them for stopping, for biking safely, or said please stop. At an intersection where Idahoing really is not appropriate. And two of our four signs, including the one I carried, just said please stop and were neutral as to mode (which actually caused one motorist to think we were among this at motorists). We got positive responses from most cyclists, several peds, and some motorists.

As to resources, this was all volunteers, WABA was not there. When they are there, their only incremental cost is a few hours of staff time. Their signs, training, etc for the bike ambassador program is IIUC paid for by a grant from DDOT for the District campaign.

I am not sure BPAC has a good strategy for getting a quid pro quo for this effort, and that troubles me, a bit. I may not participate again myself, but I am not troubled if others do, and I think this is a minor use of WABA rrsources. I think the optics effect is positive, if small.

[lordofthemark]

As for the enforcement campaign, IIUC it was triggered by regular complaints (presumably from OT residents) Anyone, or at least any citizen of Alexandria can use call click connect to point out a location where infractions are common. It is my intent to make a note of red violations at Upper King Street and report that. As a beginning. Others may join in that effort. We should learn from what OTCA does, not whine about it.

I am concerned that ACPD has a long way to go. I am impressed with the understanding shown by T&ES on a range of issues at the Master Plan meeting. I expect a top notch plan. The challenge then will be pushing on implementation.

[lordofthemark]

As for the OTCA goal, it is to get bikes to Columbus Street, not Royal, from what I could gather. Which is pointless.

At the meeting the T&ES folks diverted the bike/pedestrian conflict issue into a reason to do more segregated infra. The harping on Union Street at a meeting about the entire City just made the OT haters look silly, IMHO.

[peterw_diy]

@lordofthemark 124961 wrote:

We should learn from what OTCA does, not whine about it.

Police allocation of resources should be based on real risk assessments, not comfort levels of populations with lots of time on their hands. This should not be an American Idol style contest to see who makes the most phone calls.

And enforcement should target real danger – police should not warn people on 30 pound bikes to obey controls while ignoring the very same infractions by people who drive 3000 pound vehicles during those very same enforcement activities, as has been reported.

[Terpfan]

@peterw_diy 124954 wrote:

In response the City held a meeting in which the chief of police acknowledged traffic safety to be a problem and tried to explain to the hundred or so gathered residents why his department lacks resources to ticket motorists going twice the posted limit on the street where that woman was killed.

Five days later the police set up this anti-bicycle stakeout.

Police have undertaken this sort of all-day enforcement against people on bikes before but not without warning. Note: they still give advance notice for DUI operations, like this one less than a month ago.

Whoever said the OTCA goal is getting bikes off Old Town streets, I fear, is right.

Another interesting fact: budget documents show that traffic enforcement officers are expected to take in more revenue than they cost to employ. So why would a city ever cut traffic enforcement positions, as Alexandria did two years ago? Is there any rational explanation other than this: that Alexandria thought it didn’t need as much, or wanted to provide less, traffic law enforcement? That it didn’t want to get a reputation, like Falls Church, of actually enforcing speed limits?

Sadly, I’m not surprised by the APD response.

It’s okay. I’ve started taking Washington St. Frankly, it’s faster anyway since I hit almost all greens in rush hour. Are motorists annoyed? Yep, but those are the same idiots commenting on the WaPo about cyclists never following the laws so they can take their own medicine. Will the OTCA get annoyed if more of us do it? Most definitely. But if the police don’t want to enforce the speed limits and motorists pulling crazy stunts then let them deal with the complaints that rack up.

[lordofthemark]

@peterw_diy 124966 wrote:

Police allocation of resources should be based on real risk assessments, not comfort levels of populations with lots of time on their hands. This should not be an American Idol style contest to see who makes the most phone calls.

And enforcement should target real danger – police should not warn people on 30 pound bikes to obey controls while ignoring the very same infractions by people who drive 3000 pound vehicles during those very same enforcement activities, as has been reported.

I would imagine a call/click line to enable citizen reporting of problems can be quite helpful to police. They cannot be everywhere, and the eyes of the citizens can alert them to problems they would not otherwise be aware of (I have used for call/click/connect for non-police issues, such as tree branches down on a sidewalk, and got a quick and effective response.) The problem here is that OTCA abused it, AFAICT (though I am not sure we could prove that) I doubt very much the City will cease to use it because we complain. I also think based on oldtowner’s post above, and the large turn out of OTCAers seething about Union Street last night, that that is the fight they are ready for, and the fight they want. I do not think it wise to fight them on the ground of their choosing.

If we call in locations with real problems (heaven knows there is no shortage of them) we just might make those places safer and better. It is also possible that APD will tire of the experience and ask Council to reexamine the use of the line for traffic issues.

You speak of an American Idol contest. IIUC (I don’t watch reality TV) American Idol was loosely based on our American political system. I have done benefit cost analysis for a living, and believe in its approach. But the reality is many decisions are made in our system by the whim of the majority. Not even the majority of all, but the majority of the active and organized. And it helps alot if the organized group has acccess to financial resources http://www.amazon.com/The-Semisovereign-People-Realists-Democracy/dp/0030133661

We can agonize. Or we can organize. OTCA fights dirty, and I suggest we use whatever legal means are most effective.

[lordofthemark]

Re the fatality on Commonwealth

this is the city response:

In the short term, Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs) have been installed at the intersection of Braddock Road and Commonwealth Avenue. LPIs provide a WALK signal for pedestrians prior to vehicles receiving a green light. This configuration allows pedestrians to get a head start into the crosswalk before turning vehicles have a green light. It allows pedestrians to establish their presence in the crosswalk and be more visible to a driver. City staff also plans to request approval from the Alexandria Traffic and Parking Board that No Right on Red signs be installed at the intersection. This request will be presented to the Board in October.

Alexandria will be hosting the regional Street Smart event in October to further continue education and outreach to improve safety in our City, and the Alexandria Police Department will be sending officers to a training on September 30th about pedestrian safety enforcement.

In the longer term, the City is developing a plan to enhance pedestrian safety throughout the City with a Vision Zero type of pedestrian safety action plan that is recommended as a strategy in the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan update. Many of the themes are have heard in response to this incident will help develop programs to improve safety with engineering solutions, increased education and outreach programs and collaboration between City departments to address these issues comprehensively. The next public meeting on the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan Update will be held on September 24th at 7:00 PM at the Dr. Oswald Durant Center, 1605 Cameron Street.

[mstone]

@lordofthemark 124979 wrote:

I would imagine a call/click line to enable citizen reporting of problems can be quite helpful to police

Fairfax PD used to have that, but stopped because they got too many reports and couldn’t deal with it.

[mstone]

@lordofthemark 124979 wrote:

I would imagine a call/click line to enable citizen reporting of problems can be quite helpful to police

Fairfax PD used to have that, but stopped because they got too many reports and couldn’t deal with it.

[dasgeh]

@mstone 124989 wrote:

Fairfax PD used to have that, but stopped because they got too many reports and couldn’t deal with it.

I think close calls databases can be of great use, but can also be abused. It’s the job of the police to figure out what the data actually means.

[Terpfan]

I ought thank the Alexandria PD as my commute times have sped up about 5-7 minutes by taking Washington St. I’m guessing there has been a slight corresponding decline in other people’s car commutes, but, I figure this is what the police wanted or at least that was my takeaway.

[Author]

Posts