Old Town stop sign enforcement

[peterw_diy]

Word is that motorcycle police were ticketing cyclists for failing to come to complete stops yesterday and might be doing so again today.

[mstone]

Thank god! It’s like a war zone out there, with all the bodies of people killed by bikes just piling up.

[Rootchopper]

They typically refer to this as a bicycle education program cuz it’s a bicycle friendly city.

[jrenaut]

Maybe I should head over there. My bicycle is totally uneducated. It’s like it’s never even heard of college.

[CaseyKane50]

Alexandria’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee alexandriabpac@gmail.com encourages riding predictably and lawfully. Here is an update on efforts to encourage safer cycling in Old Town, as discussed at the July 21st BPAC meeting.

1. Enforcement: The Alexandria Police Department (APD) continues efforts to change cyclist behavior, particularly in Old Town, by serving warnings and summons to cyclists who fail to stop for Stop signs.

a. The APD is working to reach out to as many cyclists as possible by working in multiple locations in Old Town, particularly along the Union Street corridor and connecting streets such as Franklin and Wolfe Streets.

b. Tickets can be expensive: $150 fine, plus $60 in court costs.

2. Education: BPAC’s Secretary, Randy Cole, has agreed to organize a BPAC “Bike Ambassador” campaign, to supplement APD’s efforts to educate cyclists on their role in safety for all. Randy welcomes any assistance that can be provided in developing plans and educational material. Contact Randy at randy.cole.n1@gmail.com.

3. Engineering: Alexandria’s Complete Streets Coordinator, Hillary Poole, is looking into signage options that might help. The long term solution is an better alternate route as recommended in the City’s 2012 Waterfront Small Area plan. While an alternate route is an important part of the long term solution, education and enforcement have important continuing roles, and are the primary tools for the near-term.

[dasgeh]

@CaseyKane50 90993 wrote:

Alexandria’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee alexandriabpac@gmail.com encourages riding predictably and lawfully. Here is an update on efforts to encourage safer cycling in Old Town, as discussed at the July 21st BPAC meeting.

But what is APD doing to change driver behavior? You know drivers, the transportation users that actually kill people

[americancyclo]

fixed that for you. although I bet my edits will never happen.

@CaseyKane50 90993 wrote:

Alexandria’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee alexandriabpac@gmail.com encourages riding predictably and lawfully. Here is an update on efforts to encourage safer cycling in Old Town, as discussed at the July 21st BPAC meeting.

1. Enforcement: The Alexandria Police Department (APD) continues efforts to change driver behavior, particularly in Old Town, by serving warnings and summons to drivers who fail to stop for Stop signs.

a. The APD is working to reach out to as many drivers as possible by working in multiple locations in Old Town, particularly along the Union Street corridor and connecting streets such as Franklin and Wolfe Streets.

b. Tickets can be expensive: $150 fine, plus $60 in court costs.

2. Education: BPAC’s Secretary, Randy Cole, has agreed to organize a BPAC “Car Ambassador” campaign, to supplement APD’s efforts to educate drivers on their role in safety for all. Randy welcomes any assistance that can be provided in developing plans and educational material. Contact Randy at randy.cole.n1@gmail.com.

3. Engineering: Alexandria’s Complete Streets Coordinator, Hillary Poole, is looking into signage options that might help. The long term solution is an better alternate route as recommended in the City’s 2012 Waterfront Small Area plan. While an alternate route is an important part of the long term solution, education and enforcement have important continuing roles, and are the primary tools for the near-term.

[jrenaut]

You know drivers, the transportation users who complained about all the cyclist bullies getting all in the way in the first place.

I really loathe targeted enforcement. If there’s a bad intersection, send some police there to ticket EVERYONE who breaks the law. Cyclists, drivers, pedestrians, everyone. The intersection will back up for miles and maybe then people might get the idea that they should stop being such [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted].

[CaseyKane50]

@americancyclo 91020 wrote:

fixed that for you. although I bet my edits will never happen.

Actually, I have seen the police enforcing the stop signs on both drivers and cyclists. In one instance, the driver backed up when he saw the police officer, as if that would undo his transgression. Yesterday, I heard a driver swear to the police officer that he never runs the stop signs.

[CaseyKane50]

@dasgeh 91016 wrote:

You know drivers, the transportation users that actually kill people

While it is true that bicyclists don’t usually kill people, hitting a pedestrian can still cause harm, possibly even a severe head trauma. I think some pedestrians have become quite afraid of the behavior of some cyclists who can’t even yield the right of way to them when they are in a crosswalk. I watch pedestrians hesitate to enter a crosswalk, not because a car is coming, but because a cyclist is approaching and is showing no signs of stopping.

[mstone]

@CaseyKane50 91042 wrote:

While it is true that bicyclists don’t usually kill people, hitting a pedestrian can still cause harm, possibly even a severe head trauma. I think some pedestrians have become quite afraid of the behavior of some cyclists who can’t even yield the right of way to them when they are in a crosswalk. I watch pedestrians hesitate to enter a crosswalk, not because a car is coming, but because a cyclist is approaching and is showing no signs of stopping.

I don’t think anyone has a problem with enforcement against that kind of behavior. I think the resentment arises because the “targeted enforcement of bicycles at stop signs” generally occurs at empty intersections. A cyclist slowing and looking around and proceeding is simply a different (and less dangerous) case than a motorist rolling a multi-ton car through the same stop. Put a different way: I’d welcome targeted enforcement of cyclists not yielding to pedestrians–that’s a real danger, just not one that the police bother targeting.

[americancyclo]

@CaseyKane50 91042 wrote:

I watch pedestrians hesitate to enter a crosswalk, not because a car is coming, but because a cyclist is approaching and is showing no signs of stopping.

I see the exact opposite every time I ride through the intersection of Penn Ave and 18th NW. It’s a honeybadger crossing.

[83b]

@americancyclo 91046 wrote:

I see the exact opposite every time I ride through the intersection of Penn Ave and 18th NW. It’s a honeybadger crossing.

Ditto, all along Penn Ave NW. The pedestrians look for cars when they dart for the middle of the intersection, but they act like bikes either don’t exist or have no right to proceed through a green light. This being a significant portion of my commute, and having had numerous bad experiences with pedestrians here (and also tremendous issues with them where the 15th street cycletrack starts at Treasury), leaves me completely unsympathetic to all the cries that we’re bullying the poor shoe-leather crowd.

[Author]

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