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bicycle
Councilmember David Grosso, joined by six of his Council colleagues, today sent a letter to District Department of Transportation Director Jeff Marootian in support of the Washington Area Bicycle Association’s proposed 20x20 plan which calls for the creation of 20 miles of protected bike lanes to be completed by the end of 2020.
You can read the letter below:
For Immediate Release:
May 7, 2019
Contact:
Matthew Nocella, (202) 724-8105
Washington, D.C. – Councilmember David Grosso today introduced legislation that would increase pedestrian safety at crosswalks by requiring curb extensions as part of any future District Department of Transportation road improvements.
“All road users, especially pedestrians, are incredibly vulnerable at intersections,” Grosso said. “Unfortunately, we are reminded of this too often with the deaths of pedestrians in crosswalks, like Monica Adams Carlson and Cora Louise Adams last year just a few blocks away from here on Pennsylvania Avenue.”
The Curb Extensions Act of 2019 would target intersections for improvement by forcing DDOT to extend the curbs whenever it performs road reconstruction or repaving work.
Curb extensions lengthen the curb to align with parking lanes and reduce the amount of time pedestrians spend in the crosswalk.
“Curb extensions make pedestrians safer. Pedestrians are more visible to drivers, crossing times are shortened, and vehicles are forced to slow down at intersections,” said Grosso. “As an added benefit, it also expands opportunities to beautify our streets and expand our urban tree canopy with additional greenery.”
“Meeting the District of Columbia’s Vision Zero goal of eliminating serious injuries and deaths on our roads means shifting the culture of DDOT to focus on the safety of all modes of transportation, not just cars,” Grosso said. “This will never happen as long as we continually rebuild our dangerous intersections in their same, unsafe configurations.”
Councilmembers Anita Bonds, Elissa Silverman, Brianne Nadeau, Mary Cheh, Brandon Todd, and Charles Allen joined Grosso as co-introducers of the legislation.
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For Immediate Release:
April 23, 2019
Contact:
Matthew Nocella, (202) 724-8105
Washington, D.C. – The following is a statement from Councilmember David Grosso on the deaths that occurred on the District of Columbia’s streets over the past weekend:
“This weekend two more people were killed on our streets by speeding cars: Dave Salovesh, while biking on Florida Avenue NE, and Abdul Seck, while walking in Anacostia. I am deeply saddened by these deaths, and my heart goes out to their families and friends. But as an elected official, my thoughts focus on how our local government could better prevent these deaths.
“Mr. Seck was visiting our city from New York, and, like fellow tourists Monica Adams Carlson and Cora Louise Adams who were killed on our streets in December, was a pedestrian. Mr. Salovesh was a long-time advocate for safe streets in our city, and I encountered him often over the years. He was passionate and persistent, but the Mayor and the District Department of Transportation have not listened to his pleas.
“The simple fact is cars are killing us. Since I joined the Council in 2013, we have passed laws and budgets that we believed gave DDOT the necessary tools to create a multimodal transportation network with safe sidewalks and protected bike lanes. The failure to actually complete these improvements is a result of many missed opportunities and deadlines. It’s no surprise to see we are no closer to our Vision Zero goals, especially when we consider that too much emphasis is placed on accommodating the needs of drivers. We need to shift our focus to building streets that cater to all modes of transportation and protect the well-being of our vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists.
“Prioritizing automobiles creates a disastrous cycle for safety. Not only are our current bikers and pedestrians less safe, but potential cyclists and pedestrians opt for riding in cars due to safety concerns. Those additional cars then, in turn, make it even more dangerous for people to walk and bike in our city.
“We need to do more. Dave Salovesh had some ideas, like creating a continuous network of protected bike lanes. We could start there.
“At today's Committee of the Whole meeting, I joined Councilmember Mary Cheh as a co-introducer of her Mandatory Protected Cycling Lane Amendment Act of 2019 to accelerate the construction of protected bike lanes on our streets. I also joined Councilmember Charles Allen to co-introduce emergency legislation to improve safety for pedestrians and bikers by forcing DDOT to complete the Florida Avenue Multimodal Project.
“I will continue to work with my colleagues on whatever new laws and budget language we need to change the status quo in how we design, build and maintain our roadways. It simply should not be physically possible to go so fast on our streets that people can be so easily killed by cars. This means narrowing our roads and intersections and using that newly freed up space for wider sidewalks, bike lanes, plazas, and more.
“Our city has no excuse for the deaths of Dave Salovesh and Abdul Seck. These were not simply tragic accidents, but the inevitable result of prioritizing the speed and convenience of cars by failing to narrow our roads, paint our crosswalks, install stop signs, and make other changes to allow our residents and visitors to safely travel in our city.”
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Councilmember David Grosso sent a letter last week to Director of the D.C. Department of Transportation expressing his disappointment at the lack of progress of protected bike lanes on 6th Street and 9th Street NW between Florida and Pennsylvania Avenues, NW.
Changes in the area, including the reopening of MLK Library and removal of bike and bus lanes, necessitate a speedy implementation of both these protect bike lanes to improve mobility and safety for cyclists on corridors that touch Wards 1, 2, and 6.
You can read the full letter below and here.
03072019 Letter to DDOT - 6... by on Scribd
On February 24, Councilmember Grosso sent a letter to Mayor Bowser opposing Virginia Railway Express' request to build portions of their rail yard within the New York Avenue right of way, and to expedite the planning and construction process for the trail and greenspace in this land along with other pedestrian and bicycle connections to serve the Ivy City neighborhood.
Today, Councilmember David Grosso sent a letter to the District Department of Transportation to inquire about studies and plans to bring more bicycle racks to Historic Anacostia. Councilmember Grosso noticed a complete lack of infrastructure for bicyclists while participating in the Peace Walk on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
We will update this post when we receive a response from DDOT.
Letter to DDOT on Bicycle Infrastructure EOTR by Team_Grosso on Scribd
Councilmember David Grosso's letter to Mayor Bowser on his priorities for the Fiscal Year 2017 District of Columbia budget.
WASHINGTON, DC— On Friday, November 7, the Committee on the Judiciary & Public Safety will hold a mark-up and vote on B20-884, the “Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Amendment Act of 2014,” which would remove the harsh and antiquated system of contributory negligence for pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable roadway users who are injured in collisions with motor vehicles. The introduced bill is available here.
“Pedestrians and bicyclists injured in a crash with a motor vehicle are frequently barred from recovering damages to pay for associated medical bills and damaged property,” said Councilmember Tommy Wells. “The District of Columbia and four other states are the only remaining jurisdictions in the nation with this outdated and unjust negligence standard. I am proud that we are finally taking the steps to change this unfair law.”
“Fairness, safety and equity are the basic principles of this legislation,” said At-Large Councilmember David Grosso who co-introduced the bill with Councilmembers Wells and Cheh. “Based on the testimony we received during the September hearing, the Committee was able to expand the bill to include vulnerable users from pedestrians, cyclists, those in wheelchairs and others. This amendment significantly enhances the bill, adding a needed layer of protection for those residents who rely on alternate means of transportation to get around the city.”
The Committee worked with the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), the Pedestrian Advisory Council (PAC), and All Walks DC to help craft the bill. “It is well past time for DC to join the majority of states in bringing fairness to the legal system for vulnerable roadway users, including bicyclists and pedestrians,” says Shane Farthing, WABA executive director. “The victim-blaming contributory negligence doctrine prevents blocks access to justice for people hoping to recover from roadway crashes and injuries. As bicycling continues to grow in the city, we count on our elected officials to make the necessary legal changes to protect people who bike, and we look forward the passage of this bill.”
"All Walks DC calls upon our elected representatives to make a stand against the legal status quo that protects drivers and insurance companies at the expense of pedestrians,” said Tracy Loh of All Walks DC. “This bill is an opportunity to not only make DC safer, but improve access to real justice for pedestrians who suffer traffic conflicts in our great walking city."
"The Pedestrian Advisory Council advises the Mayor and Council, and in this role we voted to recommend that pedestrians be included in the bill and testified to this at the September hearing," said PAC Chair Jason Broehm. "We're pleased that the bill was amended to do this."
To rally support for the bill, Councilmembers Wells and David Grosso will hold a joint press conference on Thursday, November 6 at 10:00am in Room 123 of the John A. Wilson Building. Wells and Grosso will be joined by All Walks DC and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association which will unveil its official voting record scorecard for DC Councilmembers. B20-884 is the first bill on which Councilmembers’ votes will be graded.
PRESS CONFERENCE DETAILS
WHAT: Joint Press Conference
WHO: DC Councilmember Tommy Wells, DC Councilmember David Grosso, Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA), All Walks DC.
DATE: Thursday, November 6, 2014
TIME: 10:00am
WHERE: Room 123
John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004
Both Councilmembers will be available for questions immediately following the presentation
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By Nikko Bilitza
Councilmember Grosso recently introduced the “Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Amendment Act of 2014.” This bill would make it easier for cyclists to get compensation for damage sustained in accidents with cars, by ending the legal use of contributory negligence in automobile-bicycle collisions. Contributory negligence is a legal defense that argues that the plaintiff in a negligence case cannot receive compensation if they are even one percent responsible for the damage. For example, Driver A is making a left turn and hits Driver B, who was driving over the speed limit through the intersection. Driver B sustains injuries and sues Driver A for negligence but loses because Driver B was driving over the speed limit, which contributed to the injury.
Only four states use contributory negligence, a legal defense that is unfair for traffic cases considering that plaintiffs often have to pay off expensive medical bills or vehicle repair bills. This bill will help cyclists who often get the raw end of the deal in traffic cases due to jurors or police misunderstanding how laws apply to cyclists. According to a study by the League of American Bicyclist, only 12% of fatal cyclist accidents resulted in any form of punishment for the driver or compensation for the family of the victim. These cases spurred Councilmember Grosso to propose legislation switching to a comparative negligence standard, which stipulates that the plaintiff is compensated in proportion to their responsibility for the damage. This change is especially timely, as DDOT and Howard University recently reported a 130% increase in collisions involving cars and cyclists in the District from 2010 to 2012.
Source: Traffic Safety Statistics Report for the District of Columbia (2010-2012), D.C. Department of Transportation and Howard University.
We need to make sure that cyclists affected in these accidents will receive fair and proportional compensation. The Councilmember is pushing to move the bill forward when the Council reconvenes after the summer recess on September 15.
*This post is part of an ongoing series of posts by Councilmember Grosso’s staff to support professional development. All posts are approved and endorsed by Councilmember Grosso.
The winter weather has decided to stick around a little while longer and as a result of the snow, the Committee on Transportation and the Environment rescheduled the performance oversight hearing of the Bicycle Advisory Council (BAC), Pedestrian Advisory Council (PAC) and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) several times. Finally, on Friday, March 21, the hearing got underway, and ran for six hours.
Bicycle Advisory Council (BAC):
Pedestrian Advisory Council (PAC):
District Dept. of Transportation (DDOT):
