D.C. Bicycle Advisory Council

Photo:  @Ranpuba The DC Bicycle Advisory Council Safety Committee will meet with Sgt. Terry Thorn of Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) on Wednesday, February 3rd, 6pm at the Traffic Safety and Special Enforcement Branch, 501 New York Ave., NW, located at the intersection of New York Avenue and 5th Street NW. We'll discuss MPD's training efforts on bicycle rules of the road and MPD's public education and safety programs conducted in 2015 and its plans for 2016. Please join us. We will make time to discuss additional safety issues that you want to share. Please feel free to leave questions/suggestions in the comments.

The bimonthly Safety, Education and Enforcement Committee (SEE) will reconvene at Merzi in Penn Quarter, 415 7th Street, NW (Downhill in same block as Carmine's, across from Hill Country, just north of D Street). The meeting will be Wednesday April 23, beginning at 6 pm. The agenda includes discussion regarding educational issues per BAC testimony at the District Department of Transportation / BAC / PAC oversight hearing last month. SEE will also discuss creating an immediate and practical educational intervention pertaining to the G and I Street NE contraflow lanes. Capital Bikeshare stations are nearby at 8th & D Streets NW and 6th Street and Indiana Ave NW.  A bike parking corral is located at 8th and D Streets.  If you have questions, please contact Andrea Adleman ,Chair of the SEE Committee.

The Safety, Education and Enforcement Committee (SEE) will reconvene at the Penn Quarter Teaism . SEE will meet at 6:00 PM, Wednesday, February 19, 2014, 400 8th Street NW, Penn Quarter (Downstairs). The agenda will include discussion on the next steps following Metropolitan Police Department's (MPD) presentation at January 2014 BAC general meeting. SEE plans on inviting MPD to its April 2014 to address education and enforcement concerns from bicyclists. The meeting will also discuss a report on the District Department of Transportation regarding the "safe accommodation" provision of the Bicycle Safety Amendment Act of 2013. Lastly, SEE will discuss the new DDOT speed camera report issued 1/14. Please support SEE and Andrea Adleman Chair, Safety, Education and Enforcement Committee and bring your ideas to the downstairs section of Teaism.

The Safety, Education and Enforcement Committee (SEE) will reconvene at the Penn Quarter Teaism after a brief hiatus. SEE will meet 6:00 PM, Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at Teaism, 400 8th Street NW , Penn Quarter. BAC welcomes Andrea Adleman as the new chair of this committee as she focuses more attention on the education of District bicyclists and the people who interact with them, among other things. Andrea is an avid cyclist who who frequently partners with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, most recently with the Women and Bicycles program. She is also communications consultant, journalist, food critic, cupcakologist and otherwise dynamic individual. Preliminary agenda items include next steps following Council Member Cheh's December 16 Public Roundtable on the District's Bicycle Infrastructure Master Plan , a look back at past committee work and ideas about future projects. Please support her and bring your ideas to the downstairs section of Teaism. 

The Idaho Stop is an Idaho traffic law that effectively allows bicyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs and not come to a complete stop at most signed intersections. This effectively allows for a rolling stop at signs. BAC wants to know what you think of the Idaho Stop law and if it, or something like it, should be enacted in the District. Create in 1982, the Idaho Stop does not give bicyclists carte blanche , they must yield to the right of way if there are other vehicles or pedestrians at intersections. UrbanVelo has a nice video ( at the end of this page ) explaining the Idaho Stop and its potential implementation in Oregon. BikePortland also provides a FAQ page explaining how it works. Currently according to WABA's Pocket Guide , DC regulations state that bicyclists "have all the general rights and duties of drivers of vehicles " but bicyclists but must also follow "the instructions of official traffic control signals, signs, and other con...

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 next meeting of the Safety, Education and Enforcement committee (BAC SEE) will be the second Tuesday of even-months as usual, which falls on Tuesday, February 12, 2013. The SEE meeting will begin at 6:30pm at Teaism - 400 8th Street NW (we will have a table downstairs). Topics for discussion : Report-back on Penn Ave U-turns outreach day (which involved the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the DC Taxicab Commission, and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association). We will ask how it went, what did it take to make this happen, and should this sort of event happen more? Follow-up on MPD training update - what traffic enforcement priorities is MPD communicating to officers? Please let me know if there are other items you have to discuss. As always, BAC meetings are open the the public.  For more information, please contact the BAC SEE committee Chair, Jameel Alsalam .

How should DC’s automated traffic enforcement program be designed to maximize roadway safety while minimizing public perception that the program is unfair, punitive, or designed to maximize revenue? CMs Tommy Wells and Mary Cheh are co-chairing a task force to recommend legislative changes to the automated (camera) traffic enforcement program to better meet this goal. At the recent meeting of the BAC Safety, Education, and Enforcement Committee, a number of possibilities were discussed.  Opinions on various proposals varied widely, however, the committee had broad agreement on two ideas which we decided to prioritize: 1) improving the justification of locations based on safety issues and 2) graduated fines for initial offenses (e.g., first one or first one at a particular location). Note that the table includes several ideas with comments which were not discussed at the meeting (because they have been raised since the meeting). Priority Proposals Comments Justification of...

The next meeting of the Safety, Education, and Enforcement committee will be the second Tuesday as usual at: Teaism, 400 8th Street NW, Tuesday, June 12, 6:30pm. A couple of weeks ago was the latest in the series of hearings being held by CM Mendelson on pedestrian and bicycle safety and enforcement. The hearing has created ample agenda items: 1. Development of traffic safety benchmarks (collaboration of BAC, PAC, WABA, MPD) 2. Ongoing changes being made to crash report form system 3. Bike theft data and prevention 4. Breath alcohol program roll-out As always, the public is welcomed to attend.

Safety, Education, and Enforcement Committee will be held   Tuesday, April 10, 2012 at 6:30pm at  Teaism , 400 8th Street NW  in the basement eating area. The meeting will be held by  Jameel Alsalam , committee chair and Ward 4 representative. Agenda: Update on recent Street Smart Campaign enforcement  MPD crash report form discussion (does it have the necessary fields to record cyclist crashes?)  Crash response oversight processes at MPD As always, the public is welcomed to attend.

Safety, Education, and Enforcement Committee meetings are normally scheduled for second Tuesday of even-numbered months; however,  that would place the February meeting on Valentine's day. As opposed to meeting on his own, or angering our significant others, Jameel Alsalam , committee chair and Ward 4 representative is rescheduling. The meeting will be held Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 6:30pm at Teaism , 400 8th Street NW. Our agenda: Reviewing outreach and training materials provided by MPD Discussing options to improve road safety through traffic enforcement in 2012 Re-creation of traffic enforcement division More frequent cross-district traffic enforcement efforts Enforcement action targeting three-foot passing law Other ideas? Lt. Breul of the Metropolitan Police Department has provided a copy of the electronic training related to bicycling taken by all MPD officers, along with a couple of outreach brochures.We invite you to provide comments on these documents....

The next Safety, Education, and Enforcement Committee meeting will be Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 6:30pm. The location will be Teasim at 400 8th St  NW.  The committee will meet in the basement. The agenda for the meeting will be: - Report on MPD outreach and education campaign (Lt. Breul) - Follow-up on Police Complaints Board report and Council hearing to-do items (Jameel) - Safety at the tweed ride (Randall) - City budget development around safety programs For more information about the meeting, please contact Jameel Alsalam , committee chair and Ward 4 representative.

Below is a letter sent by the BAC Safety, Education, and Enforcement Committee.  The letter addresses some of the areas of concern discussed in the Office of Police Complaints (OPC) report released September 29, 2011, " Improving the Safety of Bicyclists and Enhancing Their Interaction with Metropolitan Police Department Officers ".