Vienna's Streets are Deadly. We All Know It and Nothing Is Being Done.

So cars were stopped in both direction, and some idiot swerved around the stopped cars. How awful. But how is that the town's fault? What action can they take to stop individual recklessness on the part of a driver? What action do you advocate? Stand up with a real solution and we will applaud you.

But don't you see--this is an obvious solution to the gang problem. Have all the gang bangers ride on the W&OD Trail at the Church Street crossing.....

Well, duh, Maud wasn't behind the wheel but I guess a town employee could have been. We all know some employees have a hard time seeing pedestrians in crosswalks.

I think it has been said more than a few times to put in bridges. Perhaps, a raised table would help or an actual stop sign. But, doing NOTHING is bad leadership. I am not on town council nor do I want to be. It is not my job to run this town but there are a few boobs sitting up there who think they are and they better start acting like it.

Vienna Mommy "Perhaps, a raised table would help"

Vienna Resident "("More speedbumps! Wheeeeee!")"silly, cosmetic, feel-good stop gap"

And a stop sign???.. the cars were stopped and the driver swerved around. Noway a town can legislate away reckless drivers like this.

Real solutions needed.

Please, impart your wisdom. You are obviously part of the machine and the mantra is "The traffic is bad and we cannot do ANYTHING to control it." Lame.

Hopefully they'll nail this guy for insurance and points - he whipped around a bunch of stopped cars to go through the parking spaces and through the crosswalk. The cyclist had stopped, then both sides stopped to let him through (some courtesy actually exists), when this yahoo blasts around the side. He could have killed the cyclist just to save a couple seconds on a side street.

Even with the stop lights at Maple street, I can't count the number of times that drivers gun their engines to beat that light, or just blast right through it after it turns red. Cyclists have to assume that they're invisible (because cars just don't expect to see them). Cyclists also have to pay attention to the signs, because it doesn't matter how clear it looks, there's always the possibility of someone doing something unexpected.

Unfortunately, you're probably going to see more of these incidents as gas prices go up, and more inexperienced riders get on the roads.

This happens everywhere. I was almost hit in similar circumstances in Falls Church. At the risk of sounding like a Town apologist, let me say that one approach that works is to place a small median strip in the street (a raised median works best). That will prevent a car from passing a stopped car, and it also tends to slow traffic generally. This is done along the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda, for example. Beyond that, you just have to investigate what can be done to improve visibility.

This was a foolish accident. However, there are other issues at that crossing that were pointed out in the past. Cars are designated to park too close to the crossing lane. Perhaps if the last parked car was not there the driver in the accident might have seen the rider enter the roadway. The parking spaces on Church Street seems to be to "pack them in" without regard to safety.

Not speaking for that part of town, but driving down Cedar lane near the bike path can be a heart-stopping experience. Most of the pedestrians are smart, but others are rather aggressive, just popping out in the road assuming you'll stop. They really need to put a tunnel or bridge there. With a speed limit of 35mph, one of these idiots will get creamed one day thinking that everybody should stop for them.

Just when I think you can't any funnier, you top yourselves!

Wyltn, you are right on the mark about the parking spaces. Anyone who has used the Trail knows that cars parked adjacent to the Trail make it more difficult for cyclists and motorists to see each other.

Hey "kevin" - I can only HOPE that yours is a message of sarcasm, not reality ---Please just give a "brake" to those aggressive idiot pedestrians that "pop" out on the road, "ass uming" you'll stop....errr, yeahhhh....

Yield to Pedestrians!

JM, I personally do not expect that a driver will stop for me. At the stop signs I always either get the drivers attention that he will let me cross or I will walk behind the first vehicle. Perhaps the reason I have lived to be an old man. Thanks to ABS brakes and good reaction several instances occured where the pedestrian could have been struck by me. You cannot trust that every driver will see every pedestrian. As you drive around town and notice a direction sign, think about how long you drove past that sign without ever seeing it. There are statistics about how many signs are actually observed by drivers. You can't see them all and the same applies to pedestrians. Cyclists crossing Cedar Lane in the dark is illegal. The park is closed at dark but the fools dart across the street with the understanding that they have the right of way. Who put that stupid idea in their head?

I wondered why the driver was only charged with failing to yield right of way. When you swerve around cars stopped at a crosswalk to let someone cross, it seems more serious than just failure to yield right of way. Particularly when injury occurs.

Also, on Cedar, I think a light or something that works like one is needed. When you post a 35 mph limit, many people drive 10-15 mph over it. It's dangerous. Drivers are alerted to the presence of the trail, so I believe they have added responsibility to slow down and look, but everyone shares responsibility to use a trail crossing safely. The Cedar Lane crossing is past the town line - I think.

As to the accident last week on Church Street, the fault I see with the town is failure to throw the book at a driver who rather behaved recklessly. Even then, though, it is possible that the driver never had a lapse of judgment before and had a clean driving and record and maybe the cops were being more lenient for some reason. I imagine he will never pull a stupid pull-around stunt like that again.

Church Street, in general, is a pedestrian/bicyclist/driver nightmare. I think it's silly when the town implies it is a pedestrian zone or whatever they choose to call it. It's a pedestrian/bicyclist whack-a-mole game for inattentive or impatient drivers.