Arlington Traffic Enforcement

[dasgeh]

TL;DR: what you did was illegal, but you shouldn’t have gotten a ticket.

I doubt you have a leg to stand on. You’re only hope would be to go to court and hope the officer doesn’t show.

BTW, turning left from the right lane, even if it’s a bike lane, is also illegal. I believe Steve O’s options are the only legal options. I go through here often (meetings… so many meetings), usually take the lane (#1 in Steve’s list) and have never had the situation that jrenault mentioned. There’s not that much traffic, and being just a block from Police HQ, drivers seem well-behaved. Yes, this intersection could be better, but it’s pretty far down on the priority list, if you ask me. I think the only fix for your situation would be bike boxes.

Oh, and if you cross against a light in a crosswalk, you are a pedestrian and the violation is jaywalking. Different fines, and some likelihood they get the citation wrong, in which case it would be thrown out. BUT, I would not jaywalk in the “option 2” crossing at that intersection. As noted, sightlines are bad and cars are flying.

That said, his response of “it was not fair to cite vehicles and not treat bicyclists the same” is complete BS. We have these traffic laws to keep people from injuring other people. Enforcement resources are limited, and should be allocated first and foremost towards behavior that hurts others. If that officer needed a suggestion of where enforcement resources could be redirected to keep people safe, you need only to focus him on Lynn and Lee, where ACPD has announced that they “lost their funding” for the enforcement. Ridiculous.

[Steve O]

@VA2DC 143607 wrote:

Lately, though, I’ve been skipping 15th St. altogether and instead stay on Rhodes northbound all the way to Wilson, after crossing the bridge over Rt. 50.

But then your hill isn’t as steep. :confused:

[VA2DC]

@Steve O 143614 wrote:

But then your hill isn’t as steep. :confused:

Oh, I hadn’t noticed that. :rolleyes:

[lordofthemark]

@dasgeh 143613 wrote:

BTW, turning left from the right lane, even if it’s a bike lane, is also illegal.

Hmm

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8793026,-77.0215415,3a,72.8y,286.02h,75.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sce3RN5h2xWMTwMwebb-YfQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The majority (I would say) of cyclists heading west on Eye, wanting to go south on 7th(SW) towards Maine, stay in the bike lane and turn left from there. In this case all the traffic in the general travel lane to their left also must turn left (since this is a t intersection) and drivers seem to expect cyclists to do that. And it avoids a sometimes difficult lane change. What say ye?

[Steve O]

@lordofthemark 143637 wrote:

Hmm

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8793026,-77.0215415,3a,72.8y,286.02h,75.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sce3RN5h2xWMTwMwebb-YfQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The majority (I would say) of cyclists heading west on Eye, wanting to go south on 7th(SW) towards Maine, stay in the bike lane and turn left from there. In this case all the traffic in the general travel lane to their left also must turn left (since this is a t intersection) and drivers seem to expect cyclists to do that. And it avoids a sometimes difficult lane change. What say ye?

I say that is not a left turn they are making, but a continuation on the same road even though the name changes. A person on a bike is also continuing along the same road and can legally stay in the lane. Right turning cars should yield to traffic in the bike lane before merging over to make their right turn.

[annoyedindc]

@lordofthemark 143637 wrote:

Hmm

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8793026,-77.0215415,3a,72.8y,286.02h,75.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sce3RN5h2xWMTwMwebb-YfQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The majority (I would say) of cyclists heading west on Eye, wanting to go south on 7th(SW) towards Maine, stay in the bike lane and turn left from there. In this case all the traffic in the general travel lane to their left also must turn left (since this is a t intersection) and drivers seem to expect cyclists to do that. And it avoids a sometimes difficult lane change. What say ye?

I think that’s a different scenario since Eye street ends there at 7th. You’re left with two travel lanes at the T intersection One that has to go left (vehicle lane) and one that can go left or right (bike lane). Cars need to enter the bike lane to make a right, as is designated by the broken lines for the bike lane. There’s no straight option, and no on-coming traffic.

Then again, I’m no traffic engineer, or an engineer at all.

[KLizotte]

@lordofthemark 143637 wrote:

Hmm

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8793026,-77.0215415,3a,72.8y,286.02h,75.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sce3RN5h2xWMTwMwebb-YfQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The majority (I would say) of cyclists heading west on Eye, wanting to go south on 7th(SW) towards Maine, stay in the bike lane and turn left from there. In this case all the traffic in the general travel lane to their left also must turn left (since this is a t intersection) and drivers seem to expect cyclists to do that. And it avoids a sometimes difficult lane change. What say ye?

Regardless of how the law may interpret this intersection, I get into the car lane here if I’m planning on heading south to Maine. Solves the problem of the right hook and provides a better indication to drivers behind me on where I intend to go.

[chris_s]

I like the standard two-stage left at this intersection. (option #3)

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Don’t go to court if your argument is anything like: I knew what I did was illegal but in my opinion what I did was safe anyway. A judge won’t have anyway to judge what was safe, other than taking your word for it, but they will have the cop’s citation and the traffic code in front of them. Judge doesn’t need to go fishing for more information than that. I don’t like that intersection either. I use the T-intersection at Ireland’s Four Courts to get west on Wilson or Clarendon or whatever you call it. Been here 25 years and still can’t keep that straight.

[huskerdont]

I thought it was just me who never could remember which was Wilson and which was Clarendon.

I wouldn’t contest this either if it were me. We all know the rules, and we all know the possible consequences for breaking them, even if it does sometimes make us safer to do so. The fact that the rules suck for cyclists doesn’t really matter to the legal system in general.

[Steve O]

@Brendan von Buckingham 143655 wrote:

I use the T-intersection at Ireland’s Four Courts to get west on Wilson or Clarendon or whatever you call it. Been here 25 years and still can’t keep that straight.

@huskerdont 143665 wrote:

I thought it was just me who never could remember which was Wilson and which was Clarendon.

Here’s your alliterative mnemonic: Wilson goes west.

[DrP]

@Steve O 143667 wrote:

Here’s your alliterative mnemonic: Wilson goes west.

More alliterative would be: Wilson winds west

[Steve O]

@DrP 143689 wrote:

More alliterative would be: Wilson winds west

Except it doesn’t really “wind;’ it’s pretty straight.

Perhaps Wilson whizzes westward
or
Wilson wonderfully whips westward

Let’s get sclaeys on this one.

[dasgeh]

@Steve O 143703 wrote:

Except it doesn’t really “wind;’ it’s pretty straight.

Except right in the area that started this discussion.

[baiskeli]

I really doubt you have a chance in court. A judge is very unlikely to buy a defense that boils down to “I had to run a red light for safety because of a poorly designed intersection.” Like the cop said “tell it to the judge,” the judge will probably say “tell it to the county traffic engineers.” But if the cop fails to show up that day, you might win by default.

I usually cross like a pedestrian there, like Steve O suggested.

[Author]

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