Another Cyclist Fatality

[SarahBee]

Cyclist killed in McLean crash

https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2021/12/1-killed-in-mclean-crash/

[lordofthemark]

@SarahBee 212124 wrote:

Cyclist killed in McLean crash

https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2021/12/1-killed-in-mclean-crash/

[NoVaNoobGA]

I love how the focus of the blurb is for motorists to avoid the scene, presumably to not be inconvenienced. I know, I know, its a traffic report, but…
GA

[lordofthemark]

https://fabb-bikes.org/fabb-statement-on-mclean-bicyclist-killed-in-crash/

[Kbikeva]

The speed limit there is 35mph… supposedly a safer speed for vulnerable users.

Friends who have advocated for bike infrastructure in McLean have told me often how much it is than it used to be. It must have been really bad.

Why is that now people cry out, “It’s the fault of the infrastructure?” rather than, “We need speed limit enforcement”? And while I agree that poorly designed infrastructure encourages drivers to make poor choices, ultimately it’s the person operating the more dangerous vehicle who should be most on his/her toes.

[VikingMariner]

With all of the money that the McLean area has and thousands of cyclists in a five-mile radius, there’s no excuse for not having better cycling infrastructure unless laziness is a good excuse.

[lordofthemark]

@Kbikeva 212191 wrote:

The speed limit there is 35mph… supposedly a safer speed for vulnerable users.

Friends who have advocated for bike infrastructure in McLean have told me often how much it is than it used to be. It must have been really bad.

Why is that now people cry out, “It’s the fault of the infrastructure?” rather than, “We need speed limit enforcement”? And while I agree that poorly designed infrastructure encourages drivers to make poor choices, ultimately it’s the person operating the more dangerous vehicle who should be most on his/her toes.

While infrastructure can’t do everything, in general it’s hard to get good results from enforcement when the infra encourages speeding (I say this without knowing the details of this location). And note, until this last session of the General Assembly, speed cameras were banned in Virginia – and even now, they are only allowed near schools and at road construction sites. I don’t think any jurisdictioniin Va has implemented them yet. There is of course human enforcement – but that is costly, and sometimes problematic.

[lordofthemark]

@VikingMariner 212346 wrote:

With all of the money that the McLean area has and thousands of cyclists in a five-mile radius, there’s no excuse for not having better cycling infrastructure unless laziness is a good excuse.

I mean there are also a lot of entitled motorists in a five mile radius, no?

[Steve O]

Here is the intersection in question:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]25539[/ATTACH]

The cyclist was traveling in the direction this photo is facing. There is a marked crosswalk, unsignalized.
Automobiles must turn right at this intersection; they may not go straight across. Someone on foot, of course, may proceed on the crosswalk (at their own risk, I imagine). For someone on a bike, though, I’m not sure how law enforcement would interpret. If treated as a vehicle, then an argument could be made that he was illegally crossing. Unless he was turning right and was struck.
Unless he was walking his bike in the marked crosswalk, VA’s contributory negligence law, discouragingly, will almost certainly find him to be at least 1% at fault.

Here’s another angle. Cyclist entered from the right. He was struck by a driver going in the direction this photo is facing.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]25540[/ATTACH]

[mstone]

@Kbikeva 212191 wrote:

Why is that now people cry out, “It’s the fault of the infrastructure?” rather than, “We need speed limit enforcement”?

Because properly designed infrastructure tends to solve the speed problem, while adding additional benefits. Also, because “speed enforcement” without automation is just the kind of thing that’s said to make discussion about real substantive changes go away, without actually doing anything. At most the cops will be there a few more times over a couple of weeks, then they’ll move on to the next spot where people are complaining about speeding cars.

[mstone]

@Steve O 212354 wrote:

Unless he was walking his bike in the marked crosswalk, VA’s contributory negligence law, discouragingly, will almost certainly find him to be at least 1% at fault.

There’s no legal requirement to walk a bike in a crosswalk. VA’s contributory negligence law could easily find fault if you were hit while walking your bike through a crosswalk preceded by a flag man and followed by a marching band, with fireworks going off overhead, so worrying about what contributory negligence will do is just a depressing exercise in futility.

[huskerdont]

This one kinda hits home a bit. I go through that intersection every now and then, but go right, turn right again on OD, and take the first right into the neighborhood. I don’t proceed if there are vehicles coming, of course. I would not want to have to cross there–too many lanes and too much speed, where one vehicle might stop but the following ones might not.

[Author]

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