I think he's absolutely right. The only way to really be safe riding is to avoid the traffic. Bikers should be able to do that anyway possible. I can't count the number of times I've almost died around that area b/c of cabs doing illegal U turns or people just speeding. Tell you what...if this happens to me...I'm running.

this makes me happy for two reasons:

1. our police officers are actually doing something other than sitting in front of the 7 Eleven.

2. bikers in this town break traffic laws nonstop! stop signs? f*&! 'em. one way streets? who cares? and then when you almost hit them with your car as they run a stop sign or traffic light, they give you and evil stare or flip you off as if you were the one at fault.

i say the more tickets given to disobedient bikers the better.

*ducks and runs for cover*

I'm with GhettoBurbs--since they changed the traffic pattern in front of the new Harris Teeter to make Kalorama NW one-way, I've been biking on the sidewalk.

I'm also with Moore's argument--this is the absloute wrong response by MPD to the traffic issue around that intersection.

I'm a bike commuter and I started riding this block of NH after my previous route felt too unsafe.
I have never felt great about riding the wrong way on that street, but I didn't know of any good alternatives - the sidewalk's not a bad suggestion.

However, w/r/t to the 14th st. comment - 14th is only safe below U st. ABOVE that point, it gets a rating of "poor" on the DC bike map. Columbia Heights folks (and those north of that) have an extremely difficult time connecting all of the safe routes into 1 continuous route downtown. The best I could do was include a very unsafe section Florida and the one-way section of NH into my otherwise very safe route.

And that cop looks like he's been spending a little too much time at Cakelove. Somebody get his ass on a bike patrol STAT.

monkey, i'm all for shaking down hookers, but i wouldn't be surprised if our fine police force interpreted that as meaning 'dancing with them under the sheets'.

and i agree that they should give out more moving/parking violations, particularly to our insane posse of cab drivers (and anyone with VA or MD plates). i just feel like bikers in this town want their cake and to eat it too.

Just because you're on a bike doesn't mean you get to ignore all the rules. The roads would be a lot safer for EVERYONE (including PEDESTRIANS, who often have to weave through bikers and cars, both of whom are being navigated by people who believe they have the right to run the road their way and screw everyone else) if people would just suck it up and follow the traffic laws. And that means not biking the wrong way down a one-way street.

I'm sick of bikers getting off easy because they're on bikes. I've almost been killed and/or pushed into traffic by bikers far more often than drivers. And the times I've had bad encounters with drivers is usually the product of their attempts to avoide reckless bikers. I'm often on FOOT in DC, because I don't like to drive in the city. I take the metro, then I WALK. Who's looking out for me?

Seriously, bikers, stfu.

This reminds me of when, about a year and half ago, MPD began ticketing jaywalkers after incidents where pedestrians got run over. Even though the victims were not themselves jaywalking when they got run over.

As an FYI, as part of the 16th Street Corridor Study, the District Department of Transportation is strongly considering allowing two way bike traffic on both one way sections of New Hampshire Ave (one north of U, one south of U) to accomodate what is clearly a desireable route for cyclists. In the meantime, it is illegal for cyclists to ride against traffic on any one way street.

If you use that route to get to Dupont, we recommend turning right on V, crossing 16th and turning left onto 17th then right on NH. It's a bit out of the way, but the route is on low volume streets and completely legal.

If you are unclear of the laws as they relate to cyclists, we have an excellent pocket guide to DC bike laws that's available at http://www.waba.org/wabastore/. Soon these will be distributed at all police district stations and we hope will be distributed to the police themselves. DC bike maps with designated bike routes are also available.

Eric
WABA

hey rules is rules. biking is my primary means of transportation and I ride to work daily. I've got no problem with enforcement but isn't this putting the cart in front of the horse?

I am a proud scofflaw waiting to be Novak'd and I know my day is coming, accident or enforcement. But this highlights how cyclists are stuck between a rock and hard place with regards to obeying rules. Another prime example of this is M st. through Georgetown. It's a parking lot during the evening rush hour and with lots of illegal parked cars in the curb lane cyclists are forced to weave through traffic between lanes. It's illegal and unsafe but I do it rather than going a block or two north of M street just to head west.

So I say enforce away and we'll gladly pay (clever, no?) but do us cyclists a favor and put every single bit of that revenue into improving cycling routes so we can all go about lives.

"As a cyclist, I think this is fine. Going through stop signs and red lights when it's completely clear are okay—I really believe—but biking on a one-way-street is not cool."

I agree. When you go through a stop sign or red light (safely, when it's clear, and never at such a speed that you can't know what's coming before you enter intersection), you're able to know exactly what's coming and whether the intersection will be clear for the entire time you'll be in it. When you go the wrong way on a one-way street, you are making a prediction that for the next few minutes, there won't be cars coming down it, or a garbage truck, or several cyclists going the right way. And you have no way of knowing if those predictions will actually be correct.

On those occasions when you need to get someplace that is down a one-way street, get on the sidewalk for the block or two it takes to get where you're going.

When you go the wrong way on a one-way street, you are making a prediction that for the next few minutes

A few minutes to go 2 blocks? Who's on the bike? Estelle Getty?

Correction: 14th does have a bike lane, but not until SOUTH of U Street .

Therefore, when one is biking south, they have no choice but to either share either 14th or 16th street with cars (and trucks and buses), or take the New Hampshire Ave cut through.

I say, leave the cyclists alone, and go after the criminals responsible for the uptick in robberies in Columbia Heights.

i think the pic of the biker with her arms crossed sums up all of the arguments succinctly

"If you use that route to get to Dupont, we recommend turning right on V, crossing 16th and turning left onto 17th then right on NH. It's a bit out of the way, but the route is on low volume streets and completely legal."

Make sure you say hello to your friends at the Police Station when you do. You can't miss the them; they are usually double parked and/or opening a door.

PS. The cop misswrote my name and address yesterday morning. So, I shall not be paying the $25 fine. ( Which I hear is only half of what Novak is fined for his hit and run...)

The gist of the comments is that people being punished for breaking the law is bad. That makes my head hurt.

Why did bikers even bother to stop? There's no way MPD is going to be able to chase someone down with all the traffic on U and 16th...

As a cyclist, I'm thrilled to see a picture of a cop *gasp* actually enforcing traffic laws. The majority of bikers in this town are morons and won't stop riding against traffic on one-way streets until they face the consistent threat of a ticket.

However, if you step up enforcement for cyclists, you also have to do it for the idiot drivers who don't give a shit about operating their 3,000-pound hunks of steel in a way that won't kill people.