Everywhere a Sign
Today on the Streetsblog Network,
we ever-so-gingerly broach the issue of etiquette when pedestrians and
cyclists share the same space. Mayor Adrian Fenty has proclaimed
pedestrian safety as a top priority, and is backing up his words with
millions in federal stimulus funds and a pedestrian master plan. Adam
Voiland at DC Bicycle Transportation Examiner has also noticed a proliferation of signs instructing cyclists to dismount in pedestrianized areas.
Riding prohibited signs abound in Georgetown.Do such signs work? Rarely have I actually seen a cyclistabide by a dismount sign, though that's not to say they don't guiltriders into somewhat safer cycling habits. I certainly feelcompelled to at least slow down when passing such signs. However, thereare also plenty of riders chafing at the new signs.
A colleague ofmine, a competitive mountain rider, shared her exasperation about thesigns after a pedestrian chewed her out for not dismounting -- as a signinstructed -- near a bridge on the Mount Vernon bike trail. "The signsprobably caused -- or at least exacerbated -- the problem," she said."We’ve become overly concerned about safety, and we’ve forgotten thatwhat we really need on the bike paths [is] for people to exercise goodjudgment."
Voiland goes on to cite the late Hans Monderman,
who believed that traffic signs often do more harm than good. Are
common bike-ped spaces appropriate laboratories for further testing
this theory?
Also today: Tuscon Bike Lawyer describes how local police add insult, and then some, to cyclist injury; Grist admonishes the media for soft-pedaling on climate change; a guest blogger on the N Judah Chronicles extols the communal virtues of San Francisco's MUNI; and BLDG Blog argues that transit product placement is a steal.
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