Missed connection

[cvcalhoun]

@Crickey7 160698 wrote:

I’ve now spent way too much time on this, and while it’s not specifically forbidden, it’s also not specifically allowed. So the default interpretation would hold, that as a “vehicle” a cyclist has to follow laws of general application to vehicles. So, in conclusion, you probably can be ticketed in Maryland for filtering.

Just ran across this, from a personal injury lawyer:

The fact is, lane splitting is a common practice among motorcyclists. The strange thing about it is that it is neither really legal nor illegal—in fact, the only state that expressly allows it is California. Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia never even mention lane splitting, which leaves a lot of room for police officers or judges to interpret the law as they see fit.

While the statement directly refers only to motorcycles, I’m sure the law is equally murky for bicycles.

[bobco85]

I decided to wait until viewing the footage to post this, but I experienced 2 separate incidents of drivers not yielding to pedestrians/cyclists in crosswalks on the W&OD Trail this morning. I rarely raise my voice when riding my bicycle, but this morning I had to yell to protect myself and others.

Quick summary:

Incident #1 (Walter Reed Dr/W&OD): driver enters intersection after red light, starts to reverse into crosswalk now occupied by 3 cyclists; I notice driver has dog sitting on his lap with head out window, completely blocking sideview mirror

Incident #2 (George Mason Dr/W&OD): driver impatiently creeps up to crosswalk, then does a quick roll forward as the cyclist in front of me approached, causing him to perform an evasive maneuver; I shouted at driver to stop, noticing he has a stupid grin on his face

Here’s the video (I came very close to dropping some not-family-friendly terminology):
[video=youtube_share;GKcapP4-xzY]https://youtu.be/GKcapP4-xzY[/video]

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@cvcalhoun 160641 wrote:

When I respectfully suggested he might want to check on the riding on the sidewalk thing, he gave me a long lecture on how he has a police officer of course knew the law. And threatened to give me a ticket.

And the thing is, if he gives me a ticket (no matter how unjustified), I have to take off from work to contest it. Whereas he can either show up (and get paid for it), or not show up (and thus not even find out he was wrong). So I really had no recourse.

Lots of cops don’t know the regs as they apply to cyclists and take a posture that they know the regs more than you. But sometimes you know them more than they do. Few years ago I got pulled over in Arlington for failure to stay to the right. I knew the cop was way off and wasn’t in the mood for a lecture and bunch of empty yes ma’ams. I asked for the ticket. I got the ticket.

When I went to court I demolished the officer in front of the judge and the courtroom. I’d like to think that the officer learned and hasn’t repeated the error and other cyclists are better off. But this was more than a couple of years ago and perhaps my heroics have doubled a couple of times in the retelling. Still a true story. Not yet a fable.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@Crickey7 160698 wrote:

I’ve now spent way too much time on this, and while it’s not specifically forbidden, it’s also not specifically allowed. So the default interpretation would hold, that as a “vehicle” a cyclist has to follow laws of general application to vehicles. So, in conclusion, you probably can be ticketed in Maryland for filtering.

Couldn’t a smart cop just use an amorphous “reckless driving/operation” citation without getting stuck in the ambiguous weeds of specific cycling regulations?

[cvcalhoun]

@Brendan von Buckingham 161138 wrote:

Couldn’t a smart cop just use an amorphous “reckless driving/operation” citation without getting stuck in the ambiguous weeds of specific cycling regulations?

I suspect that’s the only way they could do it. Nothing in the law forbids a car from passing another car in the same lane — it’s just physically impossible. So saying that a bike is subject to the same rules as a motor vehicle really doesn’t get you anywhere. The cop would have to argue that it constituted “unsafe passing.” Given the quotation from the MVA site referenced above, I think it would be hard to argue that filtering is always unsafe passing, but the cop could give you a ticket for that and make you take a day off from work to contest it.

[dcv]

Gearcrusher on his e-bike, going the wrong way on Rt.123 in Oakton.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

[trailrunner]

@Brendan von Buckingham 161137 wrote:

Lots of cops don’t know the regs as they apply to cyclists and take a posture that they know the regs more than you. But sometimes you know them more than they do. Few years ago I got pulled over in Arlington for failure to stay to the right. I knew the cop was way off and wasn’t in the mood for a lecture and bunch of empty yes ma’ams. I asked for the ticket. I got the ticket.

One of my worst experiences on a bike came from a psycho Arlington cop who thought he knew the bike laws. He wasn’t kind enough to offer me a lecture or a ticket, but he did offer to pound the crap out of me. I wasn’t in the mood for that, so I did what he told me to do, even though he was wrong.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Had one of those “F*$k it, can’t seem to please anyone, so I give up” interactions this morning…

On the path in front of the Fish Market heading west, I come up to a walker and a jogger. The jogger was closing quickly on the walker, so I slowed and waited for her to pass the walker. Then I pass the walker. But as I come up to the jogger, she doesn’t move right, but continues to run directly in the middle of the path. I ding my bell and wait a few steps…no change. So I ding again and slowly squeeze by on her left. This all took a few seconds, so I just missed the light at the 395 offramp. So as I’m waiting, the jogger catches up to me and we have this interaction:

Jogger: Hey, you gotta announce when you’re passing!
Me: I dinged my bell *dings bell for effect*
J: Yeah, but you need to ANNOUNCE…I was about to move to the right when you passed me…
M: …I passed you on the left….
J: but you GOTTA ANNOUNCE your pass!
M: I dinged my bell
J: But I don’t know what you’re doing if you don’t announce
M: Dinging my bell means I’m passing on the left

*light changes, jogger runs off**

J: Have a nice day
M: Good luck on the trails

[creadinger]

@TwoWheelsDC 161303 wrote:

J: Yeah, but you need to ANNOUNCE…I was about to move to the right when you passed me…

Maybe she thought dinner was being served and was waiting for you to give her a napkin and utensils? If you don’t ANNOUNCE exactly everything you’re doing and intending to do, then how will anyone know what’s going on?

[notinthe18]

THREE!! on the way to work today:
-onramp to 27 north from the Pentagon, just north of the construction, going full Mario Andretti while I was in the crosswalk crossing the onramp
-red light runner at 20th & Constitution NW
-right hooked by (what I think was) an Uber in Foggy Bottom

And, aware of my potential bias for the “if everyone you meet is a jerk, you’re the jerk” method of thinking, I can happily say that I had great, safe interactions with drivers at the other trail crossings, including both sides of Memorial Bridge. So I guess it’s just a high standard deviation day…

[cvcalhoun]

Maybe I shouldn’t bring up the covering your headlight thing again, but last night was pretty irksome in that regard. I was biking up the CCT. I had two headlights going:

* My handlebar mounted Cygolite Trion 1300, at the 600 lumen setting.
* My Lumos helmet, which has LEDs in the front generating a total of 44 lumens. (It’s meant as a “be seen” thing, not a “see” thing, and has barely enough light for me to find the valve if I need to pump up a tire.)

I saw another cyclist coming, so I swerved the Cygolite headlight down and to the right, to the point that it was not shining on the path at all. And I still got the “cover your light!” thing from the other cyclist. I am genuinely mystified as to which light he expected me to cover: the one with 44 lumens, or the one that was so far from pointing in his direction that I was actually sacrificing the ability to see straight ahead of me.

[KWL]

Some appear to think the detour at the IOD is still in use. A true 3 inch missed connection. I regret my reaction was not very Dirt-like.

[Emm]

Not sure what it is with cars over this past week, but I’m getting pretty sick of them trying to hit me.

Car #1
Sunday: I’m biking down my neighborhood street from the pool, going pretty slow since I’m wearing flip flops on a bike with clipless pedals. I approach an intersection where I have no stop sign so I go right on through.
Driver: Stops at his stop sign, then turns left, nearly slamming into me as I go through the intersection.
Me: Yelp pretty loud, but keep going, somewhat stunned that he didn’t see me.
Driver: Stops at the base of my driveway to apologize and says he never saw me.
Later that evening I drove through the intersection using the same route as the driver. You can see a good 50-100 yards in either direction when you’re stopped at that stop sign–it’s totally clear and straight. There was NO EXCUSE for that driver not seeing me.

Car #2
Tuesday morning: I get to a 3 way stop outside my office. Dutifully stop and wait my turn. Signal my intentions, and go left when its my turn
Driver across the intersection from me: turns right DIRECTLY behind the driver in front of him, never even stopping at his stop sign. Comes within inches of hitting me, forcing me to the left of his car. After seeing me and yelling “sorry”, he STILL doesn’t stop to let me over. I end up stopping on the double yellow line so I can get to the right of the lane. I end up taking the lane during the next block in front of this guy since I decide there is no way in hell I trust him not to hit me.

Car #3
Tuesday evening: Biking up Morningside lane, shortly before the light at Fort Hunt. I’ve taken the lane at this point. For those not familiar with this road, it is narrow, no shoulder, no bike lane, and a major connector from the GW Parkway. It turns into Sherwood Hall after Fort Hunt, which at least has a bike lane. Generally cars go slow and are pretty polite on this road though.
Driver: Sees the cars ahead of me begin moving at the light, quickly tries to pass me in the left lane (remember–I’ve taken the lane here so passing is a really bad idea…), realizes the cars are stopped again and she has traffic coming the opposite way. She nearly hits me trying to get back into the right lane directly on top of me. Gives me a “what else could I have done?” gesture.
Me: Shaking my head and loudly say (her window was open): “If you cant safely pass me, DONT PASS! You almost hit me!!!”
The driver and I both got through during the next light cycle. Seriously lady, no reason for this BS.

Car #4
Thursday Evening: Exiting the MVT at Tulane, I pull up and stop about 5-10 ft from the GW parkway
Driver that’s ~100-200 yards away, going north: FURIOUSLY BLASTING their horn at me.
Me: Gives her a “huh?’ gesture since I’m honestly confused at this point why she is laying on her horn since my feet are on the ground. Cyclist behind me shouts “YES WE SEE YOU!”
Driver: Keeps loudly honking, screams at us as she drives by.
I’ve ridden this intersection almost daily now for a year. I always stop at least a few feet from the actual parkway (you have to come a little close so you can see since there’s ALOT of trees and a curve), and I was going slow when I approached it. I’ve NEVER been honked at until now. I’m guessing she just didn’t realize a trail was there and got scared, but holy hell that was an overreaction to two bicyclists that were fully stopped with their feet on the ground.

Here’s hoping cars try to kill me a little less often next week!

[ursus]

@KWL 161693 wrote:

Some appear to think the detour at the IOD is still in use. A true 3 inch missed connection. I regret my reaction was not very Dirt-like.

It seems odd since they covered the asphalt in that section, but I have seen several people using it. That detour road has been there for years and IIRC was used before the current route was built.

[Crickey7]

@Emm 161754 wrote:

Car #4
Thursday Evening: . . . . : Keeps loudly honking, screams at us as she drives by.

So, she didn’t actually try to kill you and was upset you deprived her of the chance.

[Author]

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