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1. GW Parkway and Clara Barton Pkwy - Up until a few years ago it was totally legal to bike on both of these roads. In general it is legal - and safe - to bike on any road with a speed limit of 45mph or below. But NPS decided that it wasn't safe any more, without citing any incidents or evidence to the contrary. Some continue to ride on the parkways despite their ruling - and WABA is opposing it. Some are unsure that NPS rules can supersede state law.

2. Whitehurst freeway - legal for cycling and a great shortcut for the confident. As far as I know, no one has ever been hit, injured or killed while riding on it, so I'm not sure how doing something with 100% success rate is crazy and stupid.

3. Gerrymandering - I'm with M. Republican-controlled states like Texas are gerrymandering the bejeezus out of their districts, so Democrats are forced into a situation where they're forced to either match that when possible or lose power. It's an inevitable race to the bottom. Ideally Maryland would cut a deal with an equally sized red state wherein neither of them would gerrymander - and both parties in both states would agree to the districts as drawn - but I think that is too kumbayah for our current structure. I don't think the federal government can do much to force states to stop the practice. It's frustrating as hell, but I don't know how to fix it.

4. Whether or not cyclists should not have been on the GW Parkway is irrelevant. It's attempted murder either way. You can't shoot someone because you saw them jaywalk. I suspect someo of these cyclists didn't have bells on their bikes, but no one is saying "The driver was wrong, but these cyclists should have state-mandated bells on their bikes." It makes as much sense as "The driver was wrong, but people must pay their sale taxes at the point of sale."

by David C on Oct 18, 2011 10:37 am • link • report