D.C. Bicycle Advisory Council

Highlights of BAC accomplishments in July: The BAC held its bimonthly meeting on July 11. Ward 4 member Rachel Maisler spearheaded memorial rides in honor of the two cyclists killed in late June and early July. Maisler spoke at a July 19 Vision Zero rally organized by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. Here's a clip of my speech at the @WABADC rally earlier. You can read my remarks (as prepared) here: https://t.co/aCKbEL5B7N #bikedc pic.twitter.com/yqt3lf6PPj — HandlebarsDC 🚴 (@HandlebarsDC) July 19, 2018 This month: August activities BAC committees are meeting as follows: Safety, Education and Enforcement Committee Meeting Tues., Aug. 7 6 p.m. West End Library conference room 2301 L St NW Legislative Committee Meeting Wed., Aug. 22 6 p.m. The Potter’s House 1658 Columbia Rd NW Facilities Committee Rolling Meeting To be determined BAC committee meetings are open to the public. September preview DDOT Director Jeff Marootian will speak at ...

Bicycle Advisory Council chair David Cranor today issued the following statement in response to the D.C. Council vote in support of contributory negligence reform. The legislation, the Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act of 2016, will be enacted pending a second affirmative Council vote, anticipated in the fall. The act would permit bicyclists and pedestrians to receive compensation from a driver's insurance as long as the non-motorized party is less than 50 percent at fault. Under current law, a bicyclist or pedestrian deemed 1 percent at fault is ineligible for any compensation. This contributory negligence policy would be replaced by a form of comparative negligence. Said BAC chair Cranor: "The Bicycle Advisory Council supports this measure. The consequences of a crash between a cyclist and driver are often unevenly distributed, with the cyclist generally bearing the greater burden. Under current law, cyclists also generally bear the greater financial burden even w...

In August of 2015, the District of Transportation (DDOT) in partnership with Council Member Mary Cheh, Chair of the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, initiated visits to 5 District intersections that have experienced high crash rates, injuries or fatalities.  That report, " High Crash Intersection Site Visits Summary and Next Steps " was recently released by DDOT. BAC, along with the Pedestrian Advisory Council, local Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, and other concerned groups met DDOT staff at these locations and discussed the potential reasons behind crashes and to help determine the best possible solutions for their elimination. Many sites listed in the report have been visited by the BAC Facilities Committee.

The Grist posted a nifty video (see below) that provides tips to new bicyclists on how to push that first pedal. While the video is fun to watch, it also suggest two different left turning techniques that could appear on our streets -- the "Standard Left" and the "Copenhagen Left". The standard left makes the turn just like a vehicle - the bicyclist signals, moves into the left lane, and then turns left. The Copenhagen left is like how a pedestrian crosses a street - a bicyclist stays right and crosses the street that they would like to turn left on, turns their bike so that they are going the correct direction, then waits for the signal (Sounds complicated but it's not). While the Copenhagen left seem to take longer than the standard left, many feel that it is generally a safer way to turn because it reduces the chance of an auto crash. While not popular in the US, it's gaining popularity as communities create bike-specific signalization and r...

The map below shows road-related fatalities in the Washington region for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and vehicle occupants. The data is provided by ITO World , a United Kingdom-based organization that produces mapping and visualisations that help people understand and analyze complex transportation data. According to the ITO World website, the map contains road fatality information from several countries, including the United States. The US map shows virtually every fatality that occurred on roads as a result of a collision involving a motor vehicle between between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2009. By using the zoom bar on the left of the map, the "key" button and the search bar on the right, basic details of each incident are available including the general location, person's age, sex and the year in which the crash took place. While the data does not allow for the separation of crashes by transportation mode in a particular area, it does provide ...