Reply to Please don't ride your bike on busy streets after dark

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just this evening I saw a cyclist wearing his black work suit while speeding past a stop sign.  “Idaho stop” I guess. I’m a very careful driver but it infuriates me when cyclists don’t take easy yet important steps to improve visibility and safety. Everyone should do their part. Why is that so hard for some cyclists to understand? [/quote]

Cyclists are adamantly opposed to any requirements whatsoever being imposed on them. Rules are for other people. [/quote]

Drivers are adamantly opposed to speed governor bring installed on their cars.  Rules are for other people.[/quote]

I’m not opposed at all. It would mean absolute end to speeding tickets. I don’t speed, so I don’t get speeding tickets. And since I don’t speed, a governor wouldn’t change my driving at all.

And it’s time for bikes to be registered, tagged, and inspected.  Do you oppose this? [/quote]

I am a NP but oppose this because what freaking difference does it make?  CARS are licensed and tagged and run red lights and speed and kill people all day long with zero repercussions.  What would licensing and tagging do?  It would not prevent any deaths or make the streets safer.  [/quote]

Exaggerations aside ("kill people all day long", seriously?), most drivers are not charged because they are not at fault.  Yes, sometimes they are, but at least in my city, almost all recent pedestrian deaths are a result of the pedestrian taking unsafe actions (crossing in the middle of the road at night seems to be the most common reason). I know you are going to try to argue that the law somehow favors drivers, but that isn't going to prevent deaths.  We need to put into place safety measures that reduce conflict between cars, cyclists and pedestrians, and part of that include recognizing that all parties engage in unsafe behaviors. The failure of cyclists to accept any blame for their own actions causes deaths.  [/quote]

Curious what city this is because this is not true in DC.  Pedestrians are overwhelmingly being killed by careless drivers in crosswalks.  [/quote]

Traffic fatalities are down 30 percent this year. Just 26 people killed. Let's put a denominator on that: That's out of probably billions of trips. [/quote]

This is a complete non sequitor.  The number of fatalities should not influence whether or not drivers are held accountable for killing pedestrians in crosswalks.  If one person were murdered by a person using a gun in the US each year should we not convict the person who murdered him/ her?[/quote]

The number of pedestrians killed in crosswalks is similar to the number of people killed by lightning strike, which is not that far off the number of Washingtonians who are eaten by sharks. But every incident is investigated by the police. Do you think there's instances where the police are like "eh, we probably don't need to bother with this one?"[/quote]

Within an hour of Alison Hart being killed, in a crosswalk, the DC police put out a statement saying that she "was unable to stop" before the truck hit and killed her.  She was in a crosswalk, no mention of why the driver hit her or any actions taken by the driver.  That is not an investigation, that is victim blaming.  So yes, I think it is quite frequent that DC police do not investigate why a driver has killed a pedestrian in a crosswalk.  Putting a statement out within an hour that ascribes actions to one party is not an investigation.  [/quote]

If MPD ever did a proper investigation of the deaths of Alison Hart, Shawn O'Donnell, and others, please feel free to post it here. I have not yet seen them. To maintain - as some posters do here - that a press release passes for an investigation is complete nonsense.

Rhonda Whitaker and Waldon Adams were killed while cycling around Hains Point a year and a half ago. This article does a great job of summarizing what has happened since (spoiler: jack shit): https://dcist.com/story/22/04/27/waldon-adams-rhonda-whitaker-killed-hains-point/

Nina Larson was a 24 year old pedestrian killed in Columbia Heights. You can also read everything her mother knows about that investigation here also: https://dcist.com/story/22/04/27/waldon-adams-rhonda-whitaker-killed-hains-point/

eh, we probably don't need to bother with this one?" seems to actually be a pretty good description of what is going on . . . or not going on, in this case. And the comparison with lightning strikes is stupid and offensive. Drivers who obey speed limits and other DC traffic laws generally don't kill people. Those who speed and run stop signs and/or red lights do.[/quote]

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