Another Accident on Custis Trail at Hotel on Fort Meyer Drive

[JeffC]

I came through about 7:45 this morning and did not witness the actual accident, only the aftermath. A woman was down with some facial cuts, she was holding a towel to her face. Connecting the dots, it appears that she was coasting downhill there when a car approached the stop sign to exit the hotel parking lot to get onto Lee Hwy where it crosses the path. Who knows exactly what happened after that, I suspect she lost control trying to avoid the car. She did not appear seriously hurt although there were paramedics and police on hand.

Somebody asked me for a pen to give her a phone number. I hope this rider heals. Please ride safely, this is the craziest time of the year in terms of crowded conditions.

Topic

[Greenbelt]

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.

[TwoWheelsDC]

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.

[JeffC]

@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.

[txgoonie]

@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.

[vvill]

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.

[baiskeli]

@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.

[baiskeli]

@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.”

[vern]

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

[PotomacCyclist]

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.

[baiskeli]

@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.

[thucydides]

@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.

[baiskeli]

@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]

[dkel]

@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…

[baiskeli]

@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]

[Kitty]

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…

[Author]

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