Bicyclist beaten on DC trail.

[Two Wheels]

@myoglobinologist 54868 wrote:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/bicyclist-severely-beaten-on-dc-trail/2013/06/11/b61e2f3a-d300-11e2-8cbe-1bcbee06f8f8_story.html?wprss=rss_local

I’m shocked.

I’m not. The paths are not safe.

“The woman said police appeared quickly, but apparently no arrests were made.”

Not quickly enough. There’s no way the police can help you in the few seconds it takes to go from happy commuter to bloody victim.

[DaveK]

The MBT has been quiet for a while, it’s very disappointing to hear it’s started up again. Summer is always the bad season for random teenagers doing stupid things (it’s been mentioned on the local listservs that it was a large group of teenagers that beat the man for apparently no reason). MPD needs a plan to provide a presence here.

[birddog]

Good rule of thumb – if you wouldn’t drive or walk through a neighborhood, don’t pedal through it.

Seriously – NE DC is one of the most dangerous places in the mid-atlantic. Don’t be surprised if you get mugged.

[DaveK]

http://dcist.com/2013/06/cyclist_beaten_along_metropolitan_b.php

[DaveK]

@birddog 54900 wrote:

Good rule of thumb – if you wouldn’t drive or walk through a neighborhood, don’t pedal through it.

Seriously – NE DC is one of the most dangerous places in the mid-atlantic. Don’t be surprised if you get mugged.

That’s ridiculous. I live in NE DC, please tell me how I live in the most dangerous place in the area. Tell me how I shouldn’t walk my dog outside or walk down to meet my friends at the park for fear of my life. Please explain to my friends raising kids in Brookland how they’re not safe in their own homes. There are pockets of rough areas everywhere, and on the MBT they go along with locations of schools. You wouldn’t know that though because you’re ready to write off an entire quadrant of a major city.

[Two Wheels]

@birddog 54900 wrote:

Good rule of thumb – if you wouldn’t drive or walk through a neighborhood, don’t pedal through it.

Seriously – NE DC is one of the most dangerous places in the mid-atlantic. Don’t be surprised if you get mugged.

Point a: Not limited to “bad” neighborhoods. See, e.g., Custis Trail.

Point b: Yes, you are just “asking for it” going there dressed like that. (sarcasm)

[baiskeli]

@DaveK 54903 wrote:

That’s ridiculous. I live in NE DC, please tell me how I live in the most dangerous place in the area. Tell me how I shouldn’t walk my dog outside or walk down to meet my friends at the park for fear of my life. Please explain to my friends raising kids in Brookland how they’re not safe in their own homes. There are pockets of rough areas everywhere, and on the MBT they go along with locations of schools. You wouldn’t know that though because you’re ready to write off an entire quadrant of a major city.

Well, the difference is that you know where those pockets of rough areas are, and probably avoid them yourself. Those who don’t know them will need to avoid a larger area, perhaps an entire quadrant, in order not to stumble into them. And when you’re on a bike trail, it’s hard to avoid the pockets of rough areas if the trail leads you through them, even if you did know where they are.

Let’s all remember that bike trails can attract predators anywhere. There was a woman stabbed just a week or two ago on the Four Mile Run trail in a very low-crime area, and cyclists attacked at gunpoint on the Custis. I’d be more concerned about the MBT, but still, we should always be on the lookout wherever we are.

[dasgeh]

Glad it wasn’t worse, but how horrible.

Full disclosure: I don’t live or work near there, and have never used this trail. I just had an idea:

Could we borrow the “slug line” model, where people wait at a designated spot for ride buddies, then ride the trail together? It’ll probably add 5 minutes to the commute of the fastest out there, but it would keep people safe… Hopefully.

[lordofthemark]

@baiskeli 54906 wrote:

Well, the difference is that you know where those pockets of rough areas are, and probably avoid them yourself. Those who don’t know them will need to avoid a larger area, perhaps an entire quadrant, in order not to stumble into them. And when you’re on a bike trail, it’s hard to avoid the pockets of rough areas if the trail leads you through them, even if you did know where they are.

Let’s all remember that bike trails can attract predators anywhere. There was a woman stabbed just a week or two ago on the Four Mile Run trail in a very low-crime area, and cyclists attacked at gunpoint on the Custis. I’d be more concerned about the MBT, but still, we should always be on the lookout wherever we are.

I hear you, and personally am leary of the MBT. But I think the reaction was to charecterizing the entire quadrant. Northeast happens to include H Street Northeast – I’ve never biked there, but I’ve walked there on many occasions. As a cyclist your bigger danger there is probably the street car tracks. The city has changed fast in the last few years.

[NicDiesel]

@lordofthemark 54910 wrote:

The city has changed fast in the last few years.

And a lot of the displaced are none too happy.

By the way, speaking of NE, does anyone else remember the days of the Trinidad ID checks of a few years ago?

[Steve]

To me, this doesn’t highlight too much about the MBT or the NE neighborhoods, but rather it highlights more about how alone you can find yourself on trails. There isn’t much police presence on the trails, at at certain hours and on certain trails, there isn’t that much user activity either. I love trails for their safety in terms of the lack of car interaction (besides drunk drivers), but at certain hours I try to avoid them just based upon not feeling comfortable being alone on them.

[dasgeh]

@Steve 54914 wrote:

To me, this doesn’t highlight too much about the MBT or the NE neighborhoods, but rather it highlights more about how alone you can find yourself on trails. There isn’t much police presence on the trails, at at certain hours and on certain trails, there isn’t that much user activity either. I love trails for their safety in terms of the lack of car interaction (besides drunk drivers), but at certain hours I try to avoid them just based upon not feeling comfortable being alone on them.

Agreed. But this happened at 5:30pm. I don’t think I’ve ever been alone on the Custis at 5:30pm

[birddog]

@baiskeli 54906 wrote:

Well, the difference is that you know where those pockets of rough areas are, and probably avoid them yourself. Those who don’t know them will need to avoid a larger area, perhaps an entire quadrant, in order not to stumble into them. And when you’re on a bike trail, it’s hard to avoid the pockets of rough areas if the trail leads you through them, even if you did know where they are.

Let’s all remember that bike trails can attract predators anywhere. There was a woman stabbed just a week or two ago on the Four Mile Run trail in a very low-crime area, and cyclists attacked at gunpoint on the Custis. I’d be more concerned about the MBT, but still, we should always be on the lookout wherever we are.

The rule of thumb applies dude – your little gentrification dream on one block is walkable and drivable and therefore safe to ride your bike. Other parts of NE where you wouldn’t walk or drive – don’t bike.

I lived in near NE on Capitol Hill and now work in NoMA – and I’m always cautious. Don’t pretend you don’t know about the flood of violence coming from that part of the city – and don’t make me quote crime numbers haha…

[Steve]

@dasgeh 54916 wrote:

Agreed. But this happened at 5:30pm. I don’t think I’ve ever been alone on the Custis at 5:30pm

Agreed. I don’t know much about the MBT, as I’ve never been on it. Iwould say though that at 530, I still think you could find yourself alone on 4MR trail. At least for a small windown (30 seconds to a minute). I’m not saying avoid the trails at all, I think they are extremely valuable, and I ride mostly trail on my commute, I was just trying to say that this can happen anywhere based upon trail usage.

[lordofthemark]

@4st7lbs 54912 wrote:

And a lot of the displaced are none too happy.

Dilemma – I think the costs and benefits of gentrification for exisiting residents are more complex than the above suggests, but I don’t want to take this off topic.

[Author]

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