Yikes! – Another cyclist struck at Memorial Circle

[bobco85]

This is what I came across on my ride last night. I didn’t realize that one of the cyclists had actually been hit. I posted about it in the missed connection thread: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?688-Missed-connection&p=99237#post99237

NPS just finished gathering public comments on improvements to Memorial Circle and the other crossings near it at the end of September as part of their Memorial Circle Transportation Plan and Environmental Assessment http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectId=51448 . This accident further proves the need for them to change the status quo. This area should be a park, not a raceway.

Also, fully agreed that the ArlNow comment section is a cesspool. Lots of “cyclists are scofflaws,” victim-blaming, and misinterpretation of the laws in a driver-centric way.

[jrenaut]

It’s really sad that, even though the story indicates that the cab driver was 100% at fault, people can still blame the victims.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

At minimum they should add a stop line 20 or 30 feet back from the crossing and tell cars to stop at the new stop line. That way, when a car overtakes a car stopped for people in the crosswalk, they have at least some chance of seeing that and stopping in time. As it is, with cars stopped right at the crosswalk, there’s no margin for error when the second lane doesn’t see/know there’s people in the crosswalk.

[DismalScientist]

There is no stop line. Furthermore, there is only one lane at the crossing in question and it’s right after the merge down from two lanes.

[baiskeli]

@Brendan von Buckingham 99357 wrote:

At minimum they should add a stop line 20 or 30 feet back from the crossing and tell cars to stop at the new stop line. That way, when a car overtakes a car stopped for people in the crosswalk, they have at least some chance of seeing that and stopping in time. As it is, with cars stopped right at the crosswalk, there’s no margin for error when the second lane doesn’t see/know there’s people in the crosswalk.

When there are two lanes, I always stop in front of the car in the first lane and look carefully around before crossing to the second lane. It’s instinctual for drivers to switch lanes and speed past a slower one.

[bobco85]

@DismalScientist 99381 wrote:

Furthermore, there is only one lane at the crossing in question and it’s right after the merge down from two lanes.

I think you are referring to the wrong crossing. The crossing in question has 2 lanes and is just before the merge into Washington Blvd here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Washington,+DC/@38.8830719,-77.0577277,3a,75y,325.69h,84.69t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sfixoJEzsnORg41HoxbSx_w!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x89b7b6fe737d595d:0xf5f923c803ebfbb7

[baiskeli]

No matter, an economist somewhere has surely done a study that argues that this crossing only has one lane. Economists are like that.

[Terpfan]

I really hope the NPS redesign entirely changes this specific crossing. If it’s the one I think, vehicular traffic is coming in from Washington Blvd, GW traffic from the ramp is merging left to join Washington Blvd to go to Memorial Circle, and then some traffic merging right to get to 50. The crosswalk is just before the massive merger and if you’re coming from the GW on-ramp, you have to look over your shoulder at like 250 degree spot or so on a circle or like 7pm to see any approaching pedestrians from the left.

In this case, it’s just an idiot driving running into another driver and said second driver into cyclist. Hopefully he/she is alright.

With that said, I really think the crossing needs to be much earlier at that ramp where it’s more of a perpendicular sight line.

[DismalScientist]

@bobco85 99397 wrote:

I think you are referring to the wrong crossing. The crossing in question has 2 lanes and is just before the merge into Washington Blvd here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Washington,+DC/@38.8830719,-77.0577277,3a,75y,325.69h,84.69t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sfixoJEzsnORg41HoxbSx_w!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x89b7b6fe737d595d:0xf5f923c803ebfbb7

Oops. You are right. Still no stop line.

The bad sight line to the left is only a problem if the cyclist is traveling speed and the driver is crawling. If the driver is moving at speed in the left lane, a cyclist crossing from the left should be in front of the driver. Someone crossing from the right could be obscured by traffic in the right lane.

[dasgeh]

The article also mentioned it was a group of cyclists crossing, and it sounds like the injured was mid-group. So the lead car was probably stopped or slowing for a not -insignificant amount of time.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Those sight lines are improved if you put the stop line 20 feet back from the crosswalk instead of right on top of it. Any overtaking car realizes there’s a bike in front of them with the bike 20 feet away instead of 2 feet away.

A stop line farther back improves the efficiency of the crosswalk. Instead of a crossing cyclist having to guess if the car is stopping right at the cross walk, they’ll see the car stopping 20 feet away. Heck at that distance everyone could enjoy rolling stops and it would still be safer than the razor-thin, no margin for error, blocked sight lines created by the current conditions when one lane stops and the other doesn’t.

[Terpfan]

@DismalScientist 99400 wrote:

Oops. You are right. Still no stop line.

The bad sight line to the left is only a problem if the cyclist is traveling speed and the driver is crawling. If the driver is moving at speed in the left lane, a cyclist crossing from the left should be in front of the driver. Someone crossing from the right could be obscured by traffic in the right lane.

Yah, it’s usually more an issue reserved for rush hour, albeit that’s probably one of the busiest times for the crossing there. It’s really the only time I notice it, but then again, I obviously drive infrequently and usually only during rush hour through there.

[PotomacCyclist]

The formal process for the NPS project is likely to take a long time (years, not months). Meanwhile, all those grade crossings will continue to be dangerous for everyone. One quick fix would be to somehow slow traffic down significantly on most of Columbia Island. I don’t know how this would be done exactly, but it seems like it would be easier to do than to design and build new crossings, tunnels and/or bike bridges. A permanent solution could be added later, but in the meantime, something needs to be done now.

There are so many different grade crossings that slower car speeds would be perhaps the only quick way to increase safety. I know many people would be howling about this, but they should ask themselves why they aren’t getting angry about all the deaths and injuries in that area. Put something in place to slow traffic on the island. It could be a combination of lights, rumble strips, the appearance of narrower lanes or other ideas. The island should be thought of as an active multimodal zone, like a busy urban neighborhood in DC. Would NPS push to maintain a road at Farragut Square or the National Mall where drivers can routinely travel at 50 mph and above? (Some people have surpassed 100 mph on the GWMP. A few have gone far past that limit.) The island sits between two of the most popular visitor destinations in the DC area: Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. It’s long past time for NPS and other groups (car commuters, etc.) to treat the island as a motor speedway. Slow everyone down!

[mattotoole]

@Brendan von Buckingham 99357 wrote:

At minimum they should add a stop line 20 or 30 feet back from the crossing and tell cars to stop at the new stop line. That way, when a car overtakes a car stopped for people in the crosswalk, they have at least some chance of seeing that and stopping in time. As it is, with cars stopped right at the crosswalk, there’s no margin for error when the second lane doesn’t see/know there’s people in the crosswalk.

Does DC or VA law apply in Nationalparkistan?

Last session we tried to pass a law making it illegal to pass another vehicle stopped at a crosswalk. (Good grief, why ELSE would a vehicle be stopped at a crosswalk?)

We’ll probably try again this year, but I haven’t heard of an actual bill yet.

If you’d like to help, come to Richmond this Sunday.

[mattotoole]

@dasgeh 99407 wrote:

The article also mentioned it was a group of cyclists crossing, and it sounds like the injured was mid-group. So the lead car was probably stopped or slowing for a not -insignificant amount of time.

Was the cab driver playing with his phone? Did police bother to check?

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