Cyclist seriously injured by car running red….

[dasgeh]

@baiskeli 96622 wrote:

Cyclists should avoid crossing 50 at grade if possible. Use a bridge, such as the pedestrian bridge not far from where she was hit.

That bridge doesn’t work for all bikes (like cargo bikes) and all routes. How about “drivers shouldn’t run red lights”?

[Subby]

I try not to dwell on it, but the fact is that as bike/ped commuters we can be 24×7 PALs and still have this kind of stuff happen (yes, I realize this statement can be broadly applied to almost everything). Pretty frightening. I hope folks will post information if more becomes available. Thoughts and prayers.

[bobco85]

I actually passed by that area (took the TJ bridge over US-50) not too long after the accident, although I had no idea that a cyclist had been involved (it looked like a typical rush hour driver accident from the bridge). Police had Irving St blocked off to 2nd Rd S and were directing traffic around the accident at Irving/US-50, not allowing any left turns. Using the Arlington Blvd trail to go west, I nearly got hit (at slow speed) by impatient drivers that had cut through the neighborhood to get back onto US-50 at Jackson St (right next to the TJ bridge).

I cross US-50 at that intersection and use the TJ bridge if I can’t get the light. In my experience crossing US-50 at-grade (usually at Henderson, Park, or Pershing, sometimes at Irving or Fillmore), I always give an extra few seconds to check that traffic has actually stopped before entering the intersection especially during rush hour because about 1/3 of the time I tend to see a red light runner.

It really sucks, though, to get hit by someone running a red light. Although you can try, there isn’t anything that can protect you when someone does something so blatantly dangerous.

[arlrider]

Ugh, so sad to hear. I was getting the Arlington Alert messages last night and from the way it was phrased, I had this bad feeling that it was a bike or ped struck.

Those route 50 at-grade crossings are awful and terrifying to all modes of transportation. And to the post #2 from dasgeh, agreed, part of what makes them so awful is the blatant disregard for the law by so many. People shouldn’t have to fear for their lives when obeying the law. But at those intersections, today, they must do just that.

I will say this if we are trying to see a silver lining (trying to be more positive after my previous thread) – kudos to ARLnow for a headline that states the facts as they are, and kudos to ACPD for supplying those facts rather than just saying that the matter is “under investigation” or whatnot.

But also thumbs down to ARLnow for closing the story talking about traffic impacts. Talk about trivializing the value of a human life.

[thucydides]

@arlrider 96635 wrote:

I will say this if we are trying to see a silver lining (trying to be more positive after my previous thread) – kudos to ARLnow for a headline that states the facts as they are, and kudos to ACPD for supplying those facts rather than just saying that the matter is “under investigation” or whatnot.

Good point. Because as I’m sure you’re implying, given the nature of ArlNow if the headline or article said it was “under investigation” then there would now be about 40 posts on there blaming the cyclist.

[baiskeli]

@dasgeh 96630 wrote:

How about “drivers shouldn’t run red lights”?

Doesn’t that go without saying?

Yet drivers still do run reds sometimes. Saying cars shouldn’t run reds isn’t going to help the young lady who was hit. So it’s a good idea to avoid it by using, if you can, a bridge. If not that pedestrian bridge, then another one.

[baiskeli]

@thucydides 96639 wrote:

Good point. Because as I’m sure you’re implying, given the nature of ArlNow if the headline or article said it was “under investigation” then there would now be about 40 posts on there blaming the cyclist.

Yeah, and they’d talk about cyclists running red lights too. Pathetic losers.

[rcannon100]

@baiskeli 96642 wrote:

Doesn’t that go without saying?

Yet drivers still do run reds sometimes. Saying cars shouldn’t run reds isn’t going to help the young lady who was hit. So it’s a good idea to avoid it by using, if you can, a bridge. If not that pedestrian bridge, then another one.

Agreed. The unfortunate reality is you must assume (a) that cars are one ton of steel that will crush you and (b) that some relatively small percentage will violate traffic laws, and (3) there are no bumpers or airbags on bicycles. Put those together and prudence suggests that we should navigate on bicycles differently than we navigate on cars.

We cannot merely “drive defensively.” I have driven defensively in my car – and been hit by another car that ran a red light. I did not die. There was minor damage to my car. That is almost never true when I am on a bicycle. I was hit by a car in a cross walk down by memorial circle where I did everything right and was cycling defensively. I ended up on someone’s windshield and then under their car (drivers insurance bought me a nice new bike).

Simple risk analysis which considers both the probability of an accident happening – and the risk of harm when the accident happens – means cyclists must navigate much more conservatively than “driving defensively.” I go out of my way to avoid cars. I go out of my way to safer routes. We cannot simply wish that cars will behave – they will not. But we can change the way we cycle and mitigate risks.

[TwoWheelsDC]

The thing about 50 through there is that it’s so freeway-ified that you almost forget there are stoplights…that, and drivers are so used to having a green wave, that they barely pay attention to the lights. Remove a lane, drop the speed limit down to 35 and you might then have a roadway that is more appropriate (but still probably too big) for that area.

[Dickie]

Such dreadful news, especially as it could have been any of us. I cross there pretty frequently especially after Third Thursday HH’s… It’s a frightening intersection. I have tried the cross bridge and find it really poor, especially on the north side where there is a wicked 90º bend and bad transitions from bridge to trail surface…. that said it still beats getting t-boned. When crossing 50 I always wait some time for enough cars to stop and act as a barricade for me but this isn’t always possible. On those occasions I hold my breath and pray someone doesn’t do exactly what happened to this poor victim. I will think more than twice now at that intersection.

[arlrider]

@TwoWheelsDC 96649 wrote:

Remove a lane, drop the speed limit down to 35 and you might then have a roadway that is more appropriate (but still probably too big) for that area.

Add a toll plaza on the fairfax county line and then you’d be speaking my language.

[dasgeh]

@baiskeli 96642 wrote:

Doesn’t that go without saying?

Yet drivers still do run reds sometimes. Saying cars shouldn’t run reds isn’t going to help the young lady who was hit. So it’s a good idea to avoid it by using, if you can, a bridge. If not that pedestrian bridge, then another one.

I thought “don’t blame the victim” went without saying, but apparently I was wrong.

Not crossing at grade is not that simple. From this intersection, finding a grade-separated option involves a mile detour for those who can’t take the pedestrian bridge: bridge at Glebe or tunnel at 27. Neither is a good option — riding on Glebe or the substandard sidewalk along Glebe or crossing entrance/exit ramps on the 27 trail. As others have pointed out – there are other ways to mitigate the risk of crossing at a traffic light — for example waiting until the first line of cars coming at you has stopped.

[scoot]

I passed through this intersection around 6:15pm, shortly after the collision. I was riding a CaBi heading northbound on Irving crossing 50. When I went through, fire trucks and/or ambulance were blocking the two leftmost westbound lanes of Arlington Blvd, and one lane was squeezing past on the right during the green phase for route 50. All the emergency action was perhaps 50 feet west of the intersection. I saw and heard police just then arriving from the west as I crossed the intersection on the Irving green phase. I did not realize that a cyclist had been involved until seeing this news report. Based on bobco85’s description, I’m guessing he passed through a little while after I did.

Sunshine was a major factor at that hour yesterday, and it would have significantly compromised a westbound driver’s view, especially of the traffic signal itself. I remember thinking to myself that I should minimize my exposure to westbound vehicles, and avoid relying on any driver facing that direction to see me. That’s no excuse though. If you can’t see well enough to obey a traffic signal, you’re driving too fast!

[Subby]

@TwoWheelsDC 96649 wrote:

The thing about 50 through there is that it’s so freeway-ified that you almost forget there are stoplights…that, and drivers are so used to having a green wave, that they barely pay attention to the lights. Remove a lane, drop the speed limit down to 35 and you might then have a roadway that is more appropriate (but still probably too big) for that area.

TwoWheels for Mayor.

[mstone]

@TwoWheelsDC 96649 wrote:

The thing about 50 through there is that it’s so freeway-ified that you almost forget there are stoplights…that, and drivers are so used to having a green wave

You don’t drive 50 much? I’d say it’s more of a stoplight-to-stoplight drag race than an experience where you can forget there are lights. That road isn’t nice for any modes.

[Author]

Posts