The percentage of people riding bikes for transportation has been rising for the better part of two decades and there is every reason to believe that trend will continue. While engineers and traffic planners work to update the infrastructure and physical elements to encourage cycling, there is more that legislators can do to help too.

Some laws unnecessarily restrict safe cycling or where cyclists can ride or park. There are other laws that haven't caught up with technology and make the roads more dangerous for all. And there are still other laws that fail to protect vulnerable users or punish negligent drivers.

These laws should be rewritten. In many cases the change in laws will protect pedestrians and/or drivers as well. Below is a summery of recommended changes for the DC region that ran as part of a series on the Washcycle.

1. Replace contributory negligence with comparative negligence. Maryland, Virginia and DC are three of only five "states" that use contributory negligence to establish damage awards in civil cases. Under this standard, if an injured road user was even 1% at fault for a crash with another road user they would be unable to recover damages unless they could prove that the other road user had the "last clear chance" to avoid the accident. Last clear chance involves proving four separate facts about the crash, all of which must be true, and can be difficult to prove.

   Every other jurisdiction uses some form of comparative negligence, which allows the injured party to recover some of their loses even if they were partially to blame. Contributory negligence is loved by big business and the insurance industry but it punishes victims — who are disproportionally pedestrians and cyclists — twice, and should be changed.

2. Close the negligent driving loophole. In Virginia and Maryland, it can be very difficult to convict a negligent driver with a crime. In both states recently, drivers who were over-driving their vision or not paying attention hit cyclists from behind and killed them. In one case the driver got a $313 ticket in the other the driver wasn't punished at all.

   The problem is that simple negligence is only a misdemeanor in Maryland and not a crime at all in Virginia. DC, on the other hand, has a law against "careless, reckless or negligent" driving that can result in 5 years in prison or a fine of up to $5000. Virginia and Maryland should close the loophole that allows negligent driving to be treated as "just an accident."

3. Ban distracted driving. Distracted driving is quickly emerging as one of the major causes of road casualties. DC, Maryland and Virginia should move swiftly to make distracted driving (and that includes cycling) illegal.

   This means making texting while driving a primary offense in Virginia, where now it is a secondary offense, and increasing the fine from $20. It means banning the use of electronic devices while driving, including phones, computers, pagers and video games. Hands-free phones aren't significantly safer than hand-held phones and drivers should not be allowed to use those either. Finally, drivers should not be allowed to manipulate a GPS device while driving, though they can listen to directions.

4. Treat cycling as transportation. Complete Streets is a doctrine requiring transportation agencies to build roadways that enable safe access for all users. Several states have adopted complete streets legislation or policies.

   Maryland adopted weak Complete Streets legislation in 2000, but it needs to be stronger. Virginia has a policy to accommodate cyclists and pedestrians, but it needs to be expanded. DC has no complete streets policy and should pass legislation to that effect.

   In addition, both DC and Maryland should emulate Virginia's ban on culs-de-sac, as they make for circuitous cycling on traffic sewers. M-NCPPC should end its policy of closing trails at night or when it snows and region-wide, critical trails should be cleared after a heavy snow. People still commute at those times.

5. Leave a safe distance. Maryland and Virginia should follow DC's lead and pass a three feet minimum passing distance law, as well as a law making it illegal to open a car door unless it is safe to do so.

6. Fix equipment requirements. Maryland, Virginia and DC require some equipment that isn't needed, fail to require one piece of valuable equipment and should try to standardize their light rules.

   The three have different laws about what kind of lights are required, but a common set of rules would help DC area cyclists. Combining the three state's laws could create a requirement for, at minimum, a front light visible 500 feet away attached to the bike, a rear light visible at the same distance attached to the bike or the rider and a rear reflector visible 100 feet away.

   While bells are nice, they shouldn't be required. I've never met a cyclist who thought their life, or anyone else's, was saved by a bell. And Maryland and Virginia should match DC's unique law allowing fixed gear bikes without a separate brake.

7. Improve the return of recovered and impounded bikes. All three jurisdictions should create a process that maximizes the number of recovered stolen bikes and impounded bikes returned to owners. They should check all such bikes against the national bike registries. They should place photos of them on a recovered bike web site, as Arlington County does, and make it searchable by serial number.

   The serial number of bikes that are auctioned, donated or scrapped should be recorded in a searchable online database so that owners can recover the money or donation receipt for their bike. All jurisdictions should regularly report recovered bike statistics such as total number, number returned, number disposed, etc... as well as registries used to return them.

8. Let cyclists decide where to ride. The uniform vehicle code, which most states use to define traffic laws, requires cyclists to ride "as closely as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway" and then lists several exceptions. While Denver has rewritten the law to make cyclists the judge of where in the lane a cyclist should ride, a more dramatic change is needed.

   It's not unreasonable to require cyclists to move right to accommodate faster traffic when safe and necessary, but attempting to codify this has led to frequent misinterpretation. A better rule would require riding right only when the lane is wide enough to allow a car to pass a bicycle safely in the same lane (safe), and when there is only one lane in that direction (necessary). Those cases are actually quite rare, so DC, MD and VA could be required to sign those roads as "Ride Right Roads." In addition, Maryland should repeal its law requiring cyclists to use bike lanes and shoulders when present.

9. Let cyclists ride more than two abreast. Most places limit cyclists riding in a group from riding more than two abreast, and only when not being passed. Cyclists riding in an informal group ride often find themselves riding three or even four abreast, and under current law that's illegal. Instead the law should only require cyclists to stay in a single lane, except when legally changing lanes, and to move right to facilitate overtaking vehicles when judged safe and necessary.

10. Improve access and parking. Building rules restricting bike commuters from bringing bikes inside as well as rules restricting bike parking in the public space make it unnecessarily difficult to park a bike. The region should adopt a rule similar to New York City's Bicycle Access to Buildings law which requires buildings to allow bicycles inside under certain circumstances. Cyclists should also be allowed to park their bikes to poles within bus zones or located within 25 feet of an intersection.

11. Decriminalize safe cycling. Laws that were written for cars and drivers shouldn't necessarily be applied to bikes and cyclists. The Idaho stop law allows cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs and stop lights as stop signs, which is what many cyclists do anyway. Since it's inception in Idaho, cycling has actually gotten safer.

    Another change should allow cyclists waiting at a light to move past the advanced stop line while the light is still red so as to stay in front of and in view of drivers. And finally, Maryland should review its law requiring cyclists to have both hands available for reaching the handlebars. DC and VA don't have such a ban and and this law could make it illegal for a cyclist to do something as simple as grab a water bottle.

12. Allow more sidewalk cycling. Though sidewalk cycling is a critical tool to effective cycling, it's illegal in Prince William County, Alexandria and most of Maryland.

    While it might make sense to ban it in certain areas with heavy pedestrian traffic, such as DC's Central Business District, a county-wide ban is excessive and imprecise. These jurisdictions should make bans the exception and not the rule. Even in areas where its been decided that a ban makes sense, the law should allow riding on the sidewalk for the purpose of parking, as is done in Denver.

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by Luke X. Martin, Jan 20, 2010

The Chicago Police Department is teaming up with Lincoln Park business owners and residents to give new mobility to local police efforts.

The Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce, along with the Clark Street Special Service Area, donated 18 mountain bikes to Chicago police this week. Police said the bikes will help them stay more visible.

Sgt. Mike Neckermann of Chicago police's Central Command Group said the bikes should hit the streets in a couple of weeks. He said the bicycles will go to officers in the 18th, 19th and 23rd districts, which stretch from the Chicago River to Lawrence Avenue .  The districts are bound by the North Branch Chicago River to the west and the lakefront to the east.

"It's more of what we like to call a curb-to-curb approach,” Neckermann said. “In a car, you're somewhat limited as to your areas of patrol. Sometimes you're boxed in in a car. You miss out on things you can see, smell, whatever."

Neckermann, who estimated the department already uses about 500 bikes, said the new bicycles will provide a welcome upgrade to officers already patrolling on two wheels.

Clark Street SSA Director Bruce Longanecker Sr. said many business owners were looking for ways to improve safety along the Lincoln Park ’s Clark Street corridor. The commission came up with the idea of donating the bikes about six months ago.  “Talking to the police officers we found that the bikes that they have were cannibalized," or put together from parts of other bicycles, he said.

Longanecker said he hopes the new bikes help police protect Lincoln Park homes and businesses.  "It's to make the street more inviting for the businesses and for the residents," he said.  Cmdr. Ken Angarone said bicycles also make police more mobile.  "A bike can move in and out of traffic,” Angarone said. “If they have to, they can use the sidewalk.”

Angarone, who heads the police department's 18th District, said the bicycles also help break down physical barriers between police and those they protect.  

”Members of the community have no problem speaking to an officer riding by on a bike," Angarone said.  "Sometimes they'll get information on a crime trend or something that's going on that they weren't aware of."

The extra bikes also help police cover more ground.  Angarone mentioned Oz Park, at the corner of Lincoln and Webster avenues, as one place police can better patrol on a bike.

A press release from the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce said the donation was valued at $25,000.  The money came from Lincoln Park SSA's 2010 budget, which is drawn from the area's property taxes.

"The commission that oversees Clark Street SSA wanted to do something to improve security," said Loren Dinneen, director of special projects for the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce.  "(The police) have had a tremendous need for additional bikes, so we were happy to donate them."

Pittsburgh will soon offer a secure parking situation for commuters who cycle rather than drive into town.

The Bicycle Commuter Center has been built on the northern side of the Century Building in the Cultural District. The concept is simple: Two shipping containers have been converted into indoor bicycle storage with space for 26 bikes. The bikes in the facility will be safe from vandalism, theft, rain and snow–elements to which they may be vulnerable with on-street parking. Annual leases will begin April 1, and are available for $100, with a $10 key deposit. There are also 21 wall-racks and official BikePGH racks outside, available for free for short-term Cultural District parking.

Originally found at POPCity.com

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