Another accident at the GW crossing

[pfunkallstar]

I was the cyclist waiting to give the police report.

I witnessed the whole thing from just before the slope up to the crossing. Three cyclists were beginning to cross the intersection after a BMW had come to a complete stop in the right lane. A construction van came to a stop just a second or so later in the left lane. Soon after a Mustang “submarined” underneath the rear bumper of the construction van – it looked pretty much totaled. The three cyclists stuck around for all of a couple of seconds and then rode off, which is utterly ridiculous behavior.

If you witness an accident – stop. It is really that simple.

The police arrived a solid thirty minutes later, twenty five minutes after the Park Service cleanup crew arrived, which was a pretty lethargic response in my book.

I see two issues here: 1) bicyclists need to use common sense following an accident – be responsible and stick around; 2) this crossing (in addition to Lynn and Lee Hwy) were conceived of in a different era and are showing their age in accident statistics.

[OneEighth]

Coming on so quickly on the heels of the last accident on the Parkway, this is a good opportunity to really make the point with your Member of Congress (or to remind them if you wrote after the first incident).
Squeaky wheels and whatnot.
And, pfunkallstar, thanks for doing the right thing. It’s a shame about the other riders, but cold weather isn’t far off…

[baiskeli]

@pfunkallstar 7168 wrote:

I was the cyclist waiting to give the police report.

Hey, pfunk, nice talking to you!

I witnessed the whole thing from just before the slope up to the crossing. Three cyclists were beginning to cross the intersection after a BMW had come to a complete stop in the right lane.

So the cyclists began to cross before a vehicle had come to a stop at the crosswalk in the left lane? Wow, that’s dangerous. After all the accidents this summer, I’ll never do that.

[Dirt]

The scariest thing at that crossing is a car that stops to let me cross. I wish there was a good way to communicate that to drivers.

[pfunkallstar]

@baiskeli 7176 wrote:

Hey, pfunk, nice talking to you!

So the cyclists began to cross before a vehicle had come to a stop at the crosswalk in the left lane? Wow, that’s dangerous. After all the accidents this summer, I’ll never do that.

No the cyclists ahead of me waited until the BMW came to a complete stop to enter the intersection. The van was also stopped by the time they had crossed that section of the crossing. Unfortunate situation all around.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@baiskeli 7176 wrote:

So the cyclists began to cross before a vehicle had come to a stop at the crosswalk in the left lane? Wow, that’s dangerous. After all the accidents this summer, I’ll never do that.

Depends how fast the vehicle was going. You can tell by the vehicle’s speed if they’re yielding to you. If they’re yielding to you, better to get going and out of the way rather than prolong an ambiguous Laurel & Hardy situation (“After you.” “No after you.” “No no. I insist. After you.” “Oh really I’m not in a hurry. You go ahead.” “You’re too polite, but no, you first.”

[baiskeli]

@pfunkallstar 7183 wrote:

No the cyclists ahead of me waited until the BMW came to a complete stop to enter the intersection. The van was also stopped by the time they had crossed that section of the crossing. Unfortunate situation all around.

Okay. But basically, the guy in the right lane stopped first. That seems to be how it usually happens.

[baiskeli]

@Brendan von Buckingham 7184 wrote:

Depends how fast the vehicle was going. You can tell by the vehicle’s speed if they’re yielding to you. If they’re yielding to you, better to get going and out of the way rather than prolong an ambiguous Laurel & Hardy situation (“After you.” “No after you.” “No no. I insist. After you.” “Oh really I’m not in a hurry. You go ahead.” “You’re too polite, but no, you first.”

The problem is that there are two lanes. Usually, the right lane clearly yields by coming to a complete stop before anyone in the left lane does. Traffic in the right lane may not. The stopped cars in the right lane obstruct the ability of cars in the left lane to see you in the crosswalk, or for you to see them coming. And it’s awful hard to tell if they are slowing to yield unless you’re in the intersection peering around the other car.

If you do get both clearly stopped, then you have to be sure the one on the right isn’t about to give up in frustration and start again as you finally begin to cross.

There are several double-lane crossings in that area, and most aren’t a problem though. This one is a big problem, and it’s because of the high speed cars are going on that stretch.

And hey, I like Laurel & Hardy.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

You describe pretty much what I do. As I approach, if I see both lanes slowing and creating a safe yield to me, I’ll cross before they even have to come to a stop. Everyone’s happy. If the near lane stops so I cannot see through it to the far lane, I’ll bring my bike to a stop in front of the car in the near lane. Now it’s clear I’m crossing and at least I have one lane yielded. I’ll “peer around” to make sure there’s no one flying through in the slaughter lane.

My morning crossings of GW are easy: all the cars are regular commuters and know the drill. My evening crossings are all over the map with taxis screaming into town with people fresh from National airport, and non-commuter errand runners and tourists. Lots of extra caution then.

[baiskeli]

@Brendan von Buckingham 7199 wrote:

You describe pretty much what I do. As I approach, if I see both lanes slowing and creating a safe yield to me, I’ll cross before they even have to come to a stop. Everyone’s happy.

I’m not so sure about that. A car that rams the one behind the one that’s stopping, like it did in this accident, could push the stopping one into you, or a car could swerve to avoid a collision like the accident that killed the jogger in that spot earlier this year.

If the near lane stops so I cannot see through it to the far lane, I’ll bring my bike to a stop in front of the car in the near lane. Now it’s clear I’m crossing and at least I have one lane yielded. I’ll “peer around” to make sure there’s no one flying through in the slaughter lane.

Yeah, I usually do that too in the other crossings. Just not this one.

My morning crossings of GW are easy: all the cars are regular commuters and know the drill. My evening crossings are all over the map with taxis screaming into town with people fresh from National airport, and non-commuter errand runners and tourists. Lots of extra caution then.

My evening commute avoids this crossing altogether. Maybe I should do the same in the morning. Death is not an option for me right now, I’m too busy.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Death is everywhere.

[5555624]

@baiskeli 7202 wrote:

My evening commute avoids this crossing altogether. Maybe I should do the same in the morning. Death is not an option for me right now, I’m too busy.

My evening commute now avoids it altogether, too. If I am not going all the way up to the Custis Trail, which I do twice a week, I take the tunnel at the Humpback Bridge.

My morning commute is too early for traffic.

[dasgeh]

How can we get better signage on the GW Parkway? I can understand how that area is confusing and difficult for drivers who are new to it — bad sightlines, excessive speed and a sudden change from the rest of the Parkway. Of course, the drivers who are on it every day and still don’t know to slow and yield around the Bridge are just dicks.

A HAWK signal, tunnel, etc are all great ideas that require more planning and funding, but signage should be easy.

[eminva]

Have you ever noticed how poor the signage is on the “parkways” around here generally? I think I remember long ago learning that that was because they are not supposed to be like highways or interstates, they are more of a recreational byway for touring the park (which also explains the unrealistic and unenforced low speed limit). As if the GW Parkway was the equivalent of the drive around Yellowstone.

Just pointing out that as difficult as it is to deal with NPS, I think they have philosophical objections to helpful signage.

Liz

[baiskeli]

@eminva 7237 wrote:

Have you ever noticed how poor the signage is on the “parkways” around here generally? I think I remember long ago learning that that was because they are not supposed to be like highways or interstates, they are more of a recreational byway for touring the park (which also explains the unrealistic and unenforced low speed limit). As if the GW Parkway was the equivalent of the drive around Yellowstone.

You hit the nail on the head.

[Author]

Posts