VisionZero Omnibus legislation - will forever change driving in DC

[Anonymous]

This is amazing!!! The new Omnibus Vision Zero legislation would:

-Require DDOT to construct protected bike lanes when a road is repaired (if that road has already been identified as needing a bike lane)
-Pilot program to allow trained citizens to report vehicles parked in bike lanes, bus, and crosswalks
-Prohibit all right turns on red
-20 MPH speed limit in all residential zones
-Additional testing for drivers
-Increased towing and impounding of negligent drivers
-Require developers with more than 10 units to construct curb-cut drop-off zones for ride shares (so they do not double park or block the bike lanes)
-Adding crosswalk paintings to every intersection in the District that do not have them
-More transparency required from DDOT (apparently they just blatantly ignore the Council)

It's sponsored by NINE City Council members. This is a done deal.

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/05/08/d-c-bill-would-make-protected-bike-lanes-mandatory/

[Anonymous]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is amazing!!! The new Omnibus Vision Zero legislation would:

-Require DDOT to construct protected bike lanes when a road is repaired (if that road has already been identified as needing a bike lane)
-Pilot program to allow trained citizens to report vehicles parked in bike lanes, bus, and crosswalks
-Prohibit all right turns on red
-20 MPH speed limit in all residential zones
-Additional testing for drivers
-Increased towing and impounding of negligent drivers
-Require developers with more than 10 units to construct curb-cut drop-off zones for ride shares (so they do not double park or block the bike lanes)
-Adding crosswalk paintings to every intersection in the District that do not have them
-More transparency required from DDOT (apparently they just blatantly ignore the Council)

It's sponsored by NINE City Council members. This is a done deal.

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/05/08/d-c-bill-would-make-protected-bike-lanes-mandatory/

No way! I'm especially excited about the bolded. We live in a quiet, suburban-ish neighborhood that borders MD. In the six years we've lived here, we're noticing more and more MD traffic coming through, no doubt due to Waze, etc. There are often walkers and kids on bikes, and I've seen these drivers do some silly things, so reduced speed would be great.

Everything else looks good too.

[Anonymous]

Wow, we need this now.

[Anonymous]

I'm friends with a bunch of MPD. They've been told from on high to "let the cameras handle speeding" from now on because it's such a money-maker for the city and frees up MPD to use their time in a more cost-effective way.

So good luck with anything in this bill dealing with enforcement.

[Anonymous]

I'd be happy with mobile speed cameras rolled out all over the city and moved regularly.

Currently, policy is that motorists are given a 10 mph grace on photo radar. I'd like to see it reduced to 5 mph when the speed limit is 20 or below, 30 really is meaningfully different from 20. For a 5-10 mph violation I'd be OK with the fine being nominal, say $25. Research shows that small but regular punishment is more effective at changing behavior than draconian but unreliable ones.

[Anonymous]

Love it fingers crossed

[Anonymous]

This is missing a crucial piece, which would be $$ tolls at all major entry points to DC from Maryland and Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be happy with mobile speed cameras rolled out all over the city and moved regularly.

Currently, policy is that motorists are given a 10 mph grace on photo radar. I'd like to see it reduced to 5 mph when the speed limit is 20 or below, 30 really is meaningfully different from 20. For a 5-10 mph violation I'd be OK with the fine being nominal, say $25. Research shows that small but regular punishment is more effective at changing behavior than draconian but unreliable ones.

Won't happen due to calibration (variance in accuracy) of both the speed measuring device and the car's speedometer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm friends with a bunch of MPD. They've been told from on high to "let the cameras handle speeding" from now on because it's such a money-maker for the city and frees up MPD to use their time in a more cost-effective way.

So good luck with anything in this bill dealing with enforcement.

That's a shame because speed cameras don't do everything we need. They assign tickets to the owners of the cars involved, but no one gets points or revoked licenses from a speed camera. Consequently, there are people blatantly endangering the rest of us with thousands of dollars of tickets unpaid.

[Anonymous]

DC has tons of laws but doesn’t enforce them. This will go nowhere because the city will ignore these laws just like the existing laws that go unenforced.