Let's get everyone on the same page on bike safety OK?
Re: WJZ Pedestrian & Bike Accidents Rise In Baltimore Co.report According to the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) there are three Es of highway safety Engineering, Enforcement and Education. And in regards to the last two, this report is a miserable failure. I would hope at least during National Bike Month some attention to educating the general public about bicycle safety would have some priority. But when the police cannot even properly summarize the bicycle laws and imply that a vehicle that was rear ended was at fault via made up rules... well I am outraged as they are doing a great public disservice.
Do we say that a motorist that rear ends another motorist is not at fault because the other driver was not wearing a seat-belt (which is required by law)? Why then is a cyclists not wearing a helmet (which is not required by law) relieves the rear-ender of fault? How can the lack of a helmet cause an accident? There are better ways to say riding with a helmet is recommended then implying cyclists are at fault if they are not wearing one.
As far as the cyclist riding in the middle of the lane and the Baltimore County Police implying that it is illegal to do so Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee issued a resolution to advise State Police on their policy of reporting bicycle fatalities which I quote in part:
2. If it is necessary to ride in the main roadway, the Maryland law that generally requires riding as far to the right as practicable does not apply if the lane is too narrow to accommodate both a cyclist and a motor vehicle passing the cyclists safely. Under such circumstances, the cyclist has the right to ride in the center of the travel lane and it is often a good practice to do so. ...
3. Public statements by law enforcement personnel about bicycle-motor Vehicle crashes while an investigation is still ongoing should be even-handed. If a public statement mentions a possible fault by the cyclist, it ought to mention possible fault by the motorist. Statements about laws that may have been violated should also mention the possibility that a statutory exception is applicable.
Even MDOT's bicycling safety video recommends riding in the middle of the lane when the lane is too narrow to share (which most lanes are.) You can find this on One Less Car's web site http://www.onelesscar.org/page.php?id=182 Which has a link to The Law Officer's Guide to Bicycle Safety as well as Maryland's Department of Transportation Competence & Confidence: A Bicycling Guide for Adults video (in 5 parts) and I will strongly recommend watching the Roadway Riding section.
Propagating false and misleading information with an anti-cycling bias during National Bike Month is unconscionable in my book. I am not trying to imply cyclists are angels but neither are motorists (ever heard of the problem of distracted driving?,) we are all human both good and bad. So far I have observed In locations where police are trained in bike laws the "at fault" statistic comes out to be nearly matched between cyclists and motorists. And there is an ever increasing evidence where the "at fault" statistic is skewed toward cyclists it is because of an anti-cycling bias and the police are making up rules as shown in this report. All we ask is to be treated fairly when it comes to enforcing the laws and when making public statements about cyclists.
In the past when I have written under my former capacity as the Advocacy Chair of the Baltimore Bicycling Club the Baltimore County Police have responded favorably, I hope that trend continues. I have coped the International Police Mountain Bike Association so you can find out more about their training and perhaps contact your officers that have completed this training and get their assessment of this unfortunate crash. Even Baltimore City is considering:
09-0175R Police and Bicyclists Calls for training of police officers to respond to bike accidents in informed manner, to systematically file reports on bike-involved accidents and to foster improved relations between BPD and the bicycling community.
Is such a thing really too much to ask of Baltimore County and Baltimore County Police?
In the spirit of National Bike Month and the soon to be Bike to Work Day some effort to clarify cyclists rights and duties would be appreciated including cyclists right to ride in the middle of the lane. If we could just get everyone to take a chill pill and realize a few seconds is no big deal and focus on being considerate of one another rather then trying to constantly assert my hurry matters more then your hurry, things would vastly improve for everyone.
Thanks,
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