Proposed New Forum Topic: Crashes, Accidents and Incidents

[dasgeh]

@AlexandriaBiker 127169 wrote:

When I initially proposed this new topic I called it Accidents and Incidents only because it rolls off the tongue rather easily. I added “Crashes” in my final review knowing that is the proper term used by our bicycle community.

The point is that crash is to be used instead of, not in addition to.

[CaseyKane50]

I decided to check out what data was available from the Virginia state government on crashes. You can create interactive reports on crash data including filtering by crashes involving bicyclists.

Here is a summary of reported crashes that involved bicyclists. There have been no reported crashes in Falls Church this year.

[table=”width: 500, class: grid, align: center”]
[tr]
[td]Jurisdiction[/td]
[td]Crashes[/td]
[td]Fatalities[/td]
[td]Injuries[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Alexandria[/td]
[td]21[/td]
[td]0[/td]
[td]20[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Arlington[/td]
[td]36[/td]
[td]0[/td]
[td]33[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Fairfax[/td]
[td]71[/td]
[td]0[/td]
[td]71[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Fairfax City[/td]
[td] 4[/td]
[td]0[/td]
[td] 4[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Totals[/td]
[td]132[/td]
[td]0[/td]
[td]128[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

(As noted in each report – The 2015 data contained in this report is preliminary and subject to change. Some crash information may not have been reported or finalized by Law Enforcement.)

[scoot]

@CaseyKane50 127224 wrote:

There have been no reported crashes in Falls Church this year.

Clearly more orange cones and stop-sign enforcement are needed on the trails elsewhere.

[ginacico]

@ginacico 127077 wrote:

​I have long believed that what local bike advocacy groups are lacking is hard data. If we’re to make any headway with the legal/policy side of our arguments, we should have real numbers that illustrate what we all suspect and can’t prove — that the penalties for conflicts between vehicles and cyclists are usually paltry and lame, and do nothing to change driver awareness and behavior.

After Tom Palermo’s death last year, I proposed to WABA that they should have a case tracker database that follows up on every crash/incident reported to them. Statistics on the final outcomes — court convictions and sentences, civil suits, whether or not someone’s driver’s license was revoked or restricted — ​​​could be tallied over time, and the rollup would likely paint an indisputable picture.

Although I think the WABA leadership was 100% with me philosophically, I was told my proposal would require legal research and staff time — ballpark $20k/year — that they just couldn’t afford at the time. Grants and other funding possibilities are minimal. What they’re left with is their Crash Tracker database that mostly collects anecdotal evidence.

(Quoting myself…. that must fail somekinda forum etiquette :confused:)

Here to report good news on this topic!

I got to speak with Greg Billing (new Executive Director for WABA) tonight about this very subject. He hears and agrees that, in the effort to pursue better legislation protecting cyclists, more data is needed. You can’t ask for better laws without proving that the existing ones don’t work.

As part of their strategy for 2016, WABA has put the legal angles of advocacy as a high priority. They are busy funding and creating a new position for a legal researcher. It’s not a lawyer, but someone who can research what ultimately resulted from all those anecdotes submitted to Crash Tracker.

He said that sadly, because of contributory negligence laws (which are hopefully about to change in DC, then they can work on MD and VA), many incidents don’t even become cases because lawyers know they won’t get anywhere in court.

So they want to build a database of which cases actually went to court (and which did not), the outcomes of cases that were heard, and which incidents were settled in civil suits. Revocation of drivers licenses is another thing we talked about, both rolling our eyes.

The event I attended this evening was at REI Rockville, with speakers from Adventure Cycling Association and WABA, and reps there from several other organizations. Greg will talk more about their worthy goals and strategy for 2016 at the WABA Holiday Party on Thursday, December 17th from 6:00-10:00pm at Johnny Pistolas, 2333 18th St NW,Washington, DC, 20009 (Adams Morgan). Peter and I are going, and hope to see a lot of you there.

BTW I was surprised by the number of WABA members he stated, it seemed really low (5000-something? maybe I heard that wrong) for such a well established organization. If you have opinions on stuff like this, please join!

[KLizotte]

Thanks for the update ginacico, I think the one thing missing from the equation is pressure on US DOT to establish real cycling and ped departments within DOT so there is more data tracking (and regulatin thereof) as well as more uniformity with respect to laws and infrastructure as they pertain to both modes. Hopefully more funding would follow as well.

[Author]

Posts