Belmont Ridge @ W&OD Trail - Bike Rules question

I slow down there - always - and don't stop unless I have to. I would rather be rear-ended then kill someone. Even if it is the pedestrian's or biker's mistake, I would feel horrible. Unfortunately, part of driving is compensating for other people's mistakes. We have all made mistakes while driving/walking/biking and so have our kids - and we just need to "catch" each other sometimes. You know, the do unto others thing.

 

Slowing down is one thing, coming to a complete stop is another.

 

I do not disagree that slowing when people are present is a bad idea. Stopping is, and as was stated is also illegal. If someone is stopped, they are likely to get rear-ended. Should drivers have control at all times - yes. You could be held at fault for hitting the person in front of you, but that person would also be at fault for stopping. Either way no one wins. Worst case is that someone stops, gets rear ended, and gets shoved forward and runs the biker over anyway.

I think we all agree this is a bad intersection. Bikers constantly fail to stop, drivers do not know what to do - sometimes they stop, people get rear ended because folks behind them do not have control.

Just put up some fences to force bikers to slow down or dismount and walk the bikes across.

I also had the nice experience of a biker run a red light at Claiborne and Broadlands yesterday. And the day befoe 2 of them blew the stop signs at waxpool and Ashburn Vill. Bikes are vehicles and they are not to run stop signs or lights. Why do they not get this ?

 

I would suggest staggering 3 fence sections to eliminate a straight path. This would force a slow down. Similar to entrances at military installation to slow car approaching a gate.

Many drivers do break traffic laws. 36 in a 35 is illegal but the consequences of that are not nearly as great as running a light or a stop sign. I am not saying all bikers do these actions, just stating what I have seen in the last few days.

 

I also take major issue with folks rolling through stop signs or texting. I frequently talk to lcso to provide enforcement of the stop signs in the neighborhood.

 

Not just the main drags either. Apparently all of the stop signs from the cul-de-sacs onto Vestals Gap are merely suggestions for the folks that live there. I never realized that it was optional to stop when turning right either.

 

I was by the crossing at the BBQ place in Ashburn. Two bikers approached the road. The woman rider slowed and stopped. The male rider didn't stop at all and just rode right on into the road. There were cars near but not close enough to be in danger of hitting that person. Something tells me she will have a long life. Him, not so long.

 

I am so glad people are posting about this.

I was YELLED AT the other day for not stopping at this crosswalk, during rush hour. A lady was stopped at the crossover and had already let a few bikers over and was still stopped. I went right through it as there was no one in the road. There were bikers stopped (one foot on the ground) on either side, but they were supposed to stop. Had these bikers been already in the crosswalk, or ready to go, I would have stopped, however that is very hard to judge from the road in a moving car. Bikers have a stop sign for a reason!

While this woman was stopped, a HUGE line of cars formed behind her. It didn't take long. I used to live in Leesburg and commute to Brambleton for work and was stopped on this road a lot for this very reason.

It's very frustrating, and it hits close to home with me. A boyfriend of mine in high school lost one of his best friends at one of these intersections on the W & OD. He wasn't paying attention and didn't stop at the stop sign, so he was blindsided by a truck and died instantly.

Obviously, I slow down at the zigzags so I can stop suddenly if I need to, and I will stop if bikers are already crossing. But I'm not going to stop for bikers who are stopped themselves. I hope more tragedies can be avoided once everybody knows the rules.

 

I do NOT slow down. I do the speed limit as advised.
I am just a bit more cognizant of potential bike path "law breakers"

 

Per the Virginia code (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-100)

"Vehicle" means every device in, on or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a highway, except devices moved by human power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. For the purposes of Chapter 8 (§ 46.2-800 et seq.) of this title, bicycles, electric personal assistive mobility devices, electric power-assisted bicycles, and mopeds shall be vehicles while operated on a highway.

And highways are defined as (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-904):
"Highway" means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way or place open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel in the Commonwealth, including the streets and alleys, and, for law-enforcement purposes, (i) the entire width between the boundary lines of all private roads or private streets that have been specifically designated "highways" by an ordinance adopted by the governing body of the county, city, or town in which such private roads or streets are located and (ii) the entire width between the boundary lines of every way or place used for purposes of vehicular travel on any property owned, leased, or controlled by the United States government and located in the Commonwealth.

And:
A person riding a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, motorized skateboard or scooter, motor-driven cycle, or an electric power-assisted bicycle on a sidewalk, shared-use path, or across a roadway on a crosswalk, shall have all the rights and duties of a pedestrian under the same circumstances.

So, bicycles are a vehicle when operated on a highway, but are considered pedestrians when on a shared use path like the W&OD.

In any case, the crossing at Belmont Ridge is dangerous. Pedestrians (bicycles, skaters, runners, walkers, etc.) should stop. Vehicles should slow. That all said, the W&OD crossing at Hunter Mill Rd. is a different dynamic due to the signage for cars, slower vehicle speeds, and a tendency for cars to stop for trail users.

-Jim

 

Is she waiting to cross, http://www.wodfriends.org/gallery5.html

 

Totally agree, I'd rather deal with being rear ended than hitting a pedestrian.

 

Slightly off-topic, but that looks like a cool book. I just bought a copy.

 

I know , it's a cool book, my friend had one. This topic made me think of it.

 

Maybe because living in Ashburn, right off Belmont Ridge, it's the section of the trail we all deal with most of the time.

 

The discussion here isn't about a pedestrian or (bicyclists) in the crosswalk as we approach, it's bicyclists who cross even though traffic is moving or people coming to a complete stop for bicyclists waiting at the stop sign and waving them through. Both are very dangerous.

 

yeah uh, a pedestrian can be a bicyclist too, not just runners and walkers. All have done the same thing whilest I was driving down Belmont. Runners will sometimes run out too.

 

Don't stop to let her cross!!!