@acc 36587 wrote:
This was interesting.
My first reaction is there are more people riding along the trails and on the streets.
New riders make more mistakes. I speak from experience…
And the streets aren’t very bike friendly in Fairfax County.
Therefore, more collisions.
But it looks like the master plan will go a long way to making it safer.
http://vienna.patch.com/articles/vehicle-bicycle-collisions-up-in-fairfax-county-add0e1d1#following_3690896
Regarding the article, I had one issue. It states:
According to Virginia law, bicycles are required to ride as closely to the right curb as possible when driving in the same roadway has vehicles.
But that doesn’t capture the nuance of the law, which actually says:
Any person operating a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, or moped on a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place under conditions then existing shall ride as close as safely practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway…(ยง 46.2-905)
“As far right as safely practicable” in my mind is a LOT different than “as far right as possible”.
Anyway, as someone who commutes into FFX county on surface streets, I’d be happy if there was just more signage. A lot of roads in the county are plenty wide, but drivers just don’t expect cyclists like they do in ArlCo or DC. My route takes me on two well-used secondary roads, Chain Bridge Rd. and Westmoreland. Although Westmoreland has bike lanes in spots, the road at times gets pretty narrow, but has sharrows and “share the road signs” and drivers are very gracious. Chain Bridge has lanes that are very wide, but there is no bike infrastructure whatsoever, and guess what, drivers are freakin’ jerks (speed limits are the same)…and these are sections of road that intersect, so it’s not like I’m riding from the bike-friendly side of the county to the Thunderdome side of the county…it’s the same place! But I’m convinced the signage and infrastructure has a profound effect on drivers’ perception and awareness of cyclists in the road.
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