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I saw a jogger crossing the GW Parkway at the crossing of death from the Mt. V trail toward Memorial Bridge. One lane of cars had stopped for him and he was in front of it ready to cross the other lane. A car comes speeding through that lane and nearly hits him.

Thing is, I don’t know if he had pressed the button for the warning light or not. If not, it was a bad mistake for that reason. Cars in the far lane may not see you because you’re hidden by cares in the other lane, so they’ll gun it through the other one because it’s still moving or open. So always look before you cross that second lane and always press the button before you cross.

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@lordofthemark 160230 wrote:

Using the common methodology called “Eyeballing the data” and noting in particular Seattle and Cambridge, it appears to me that the issue is less the direct effects of infra, than the effect of infra on encouraging more cycling, which in turn (via “critical mass”/”safety in numbers” – or maybe more slower and more cautious riders?) leads to lower injury rates.

Would love to see this tested using more solid statistical methods (or maybe I should read the whole paper?) But meamwhile to be borne in mind as we discuss local choices.

Yes, the infra probably is encouraging the cycling (though it would have grown some regardless) but its harder to say there’s safety in numbers. There’s an opposite effect too – the more bikes on the road, the more potential crashes. So it’s hard to say. I didn’t read the report yet but I hope there’s more to it than this data.

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Proposed sign: “Bike to Work Day 5/19/17. Less car traffic. You’re welcome!”

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@lordofthemark 159068 wrote:

This reminds me so much of debates I’ve heard in shul. My rabbi emeritus “we are not immigrants any more, we should not be less assertive than anyone else” My child of holocaust survivors wife, “nah, I’m not sure, we need to watch what the gentiles think” (I suspect african americans, gays, etc, have similar discussions) (note also, I have immense sympathy for Muslim Americans whom I imagine pray hard “let it not be a muslim” when they hear of a violent incident, just as I pray particularly hard that it not be a Jew especially for a financial crime)

Its a difficult choice, between realistically acknowledging that small, different, sometimes disliked minorities are stereotyped and judged (unfairly) as groups, and that thus, as a pragmatic matter, the bad or illegal acts of one set back all. OTOH there is also the danger of internalizing the bigotry, and being too inassertive, and legitimizing the stereotyping.

Rest assured that everyone is stereotyped, not just minorities. Christian (or christian-background) white males get it too. They just don’t have as much to lose.

I think there is an intermediate solution. One is to push back against stereotyping in one’s advocacy (and all stereotyping, not just the kind one is a victim of) and to be assertive in pushing for legitimate benefits. While at the same time paying some attention to the optics of one’s own behavior, and reminding others of the pragmatic impact of their behavior.

I personally think the first is more important in the long run.

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@Bob James 159369 wrote:

Not that it necessary or expected, but last week some nice guy on an e-bike passed me and then let me draft off him for about 5 miles. Sure made my commute a lot faster. I agree with the comments it doesn’t matter if it’s and e-bike if your courteous and safe. With much power comes much responsibility. Incidentally, the guy above was pedaling right along with me the whole way.

Okay, we won’t shun e-bikes, but can we shun those who draft behind them?

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@dhs1963 158673 wrote:

Thank you. These replies are helpful. I was worried of being shunned. My other reason for wanting to ride is I need to get in better shape…I currently have a collection of 4 cardiac stents. I am in my mid 50’s, and because of genetics, I have to worry about stressing my heart.

If you really need to, get a t-shirt that says “I have 4 cardiac stents, deal with my e-bike, bitches.” Or something to that effect. Because with those it’s great that you are on a bike at all.

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@Emm 159471 wrote:

I’m guessing since this is nation-wide, they don’t understand the nuances of this area where “Alexandria” refers to both Alexandria city, and the portion of Alexandria within Fairfax county… Or they’re system can’t handle the difference and relies on what your address says . It is honestly pretty weird that we have this split in Alexandria between “City of” and “postal zone that’s part of Fairfax.”

It’s because in every other state, one can be in both a county and city at the same time – they can overlap. In Virginia, most cities are “independent” and have no county, meaning Alexandria is a city and Alexandria in Fairfax County is an unincorporated neighborhood and they aren’t linked in any way other than the name. Having grown up in Va. that make perfect sense to me and I was surprised to learn other states have overlapping cities and counties.

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I’ve always scoffed at power pumps because they can blow up tires if you don’t carefully watch the pressure (don’t ask me how I know) but some power pumps now have a way to set the pressure you want and automatically shut off.

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Nobody will notice. If someone does, they won’t care. If they do care, they won’t say so. If they do say so, they won’t call the cops. If they do call the cops, the cops will probably not know either. In other words, don’t spend any energy worrying about it.

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@Steve O 149671 wrote:

Subby posted this photo over in the pics thread. Seems ripe for a funny caption.

Your face is a funny caption.

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@Judd 149541 wrote:

look for the tall bearded white guy in bike gear.

That narrows it down to about 80% of all cyclists.

Seriously, I may be able to make it to one of these. Thanks for organizing.

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Looks like not a single cyclist was among the ticketed.

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@ginacico 149232 wrote:

Taken last Saturday morning in roughly the same spot.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12843[/ATTACH]

Why are you stealing Bobco’s photos?

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Part of the problem is people have all kinds of different ideas of what the law is. Sometimes they are from other states, or have outdated notions, or are just ignorant.

I had one guy tell me I shouldn’t be using the sidewalk, and also I needed to dismount when using a crosswalk. The fact that those two beliefs contradict each other didn’t occur to him, nor did anything but insults when I informed him that I knew the law on bicycling far better than he did.

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@trailrunner 146511 wrote:

This is a good message that needs to get out. One of my worst experiences as a cyclist was when I was riding on South Arlington Mill Drive near Shirlington. An Arlington police officer stopped his car, got out, and told me to get on the Four Mile Run bike path because bikes HAD TO use the path. When I hesitated and said “huh?”, he made it clear that he was going to pound the everliving stuff out of me if I didn’t comply immediately. I did indeed comply, and then called the police department to suggest that they better educate their officers. That was a while ago, so hopefully things have gotten better. I’ve had other incidents over mandatory bike-path misconceptions use that were less life-threatening, so yeah, this is a recurring issue.

Errors by cops are so common that DDOT’s bike manual has a list of actual errors made and what the cop got wrong. This proves two things: the cops need to study up, and DDOT is frickin’ awesome and bold sometimes.

Starting on page 15:

http://ddot.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ddot/publication/attachments/DC-Bike-Law-Pocket-Guide-Oct2012.pdf

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