Another Day, Another Survey.

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Vienna Seeks Ways to Prevent Bike-Vehicle Crashes
by Brian Trompeter November 10, 2009

Bicyclists plying sidewalks along heavily trafficked Maple Avenue are by far the likeliest to collide with vehicles, Vienna police officials told the Vienna Town Council at its Nov. 9 work session.

Police studied all bicycle crashes within the town limits during the last four years. Nearly all of those accidents involved collisions with vehicles.

There were seven bike accidents - including a cyclist fatality - in 2006, five crashes in 2007 and nine in 2008. Vienna police said they were concerned because in the first 10 months of 2009, there already have been 11 bike accidents.

Most of the collisions resulted from cars striking cyclists while motorists were trying to make right-hand turns. In many cases, drivers were turning right at a red light and their attention was focused on vehicular traffic coming from the left, police said.

Town police recently conducted a survey that asked Vienna residents to identify bicycle and pedestrian dangers and recommend solutions.

The survey received 104 responses, including some asking for a bicycle/pedestrian bridge over, or a tunnel under, Maple Avenue, said Master Police Officer William Murray.

The Town Council rejected the bridge idea in the mid-1990s and settled instead on a stoplight at the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail.

Many survey respondents said the town’s signs and markings were sufficient for bicycle and pedestrian crossings and recommended town police enforce laws regarding the behavior of cyclists and pedestrians, as well as motorists.

Many respondents desired bicycle lanes on roadways, but town officials said this would be hard to accomplish along Maple Avenue.

Other residents suggested banning right turns on red along Maple Avenue. This would solve many of the bicycle crashes, but likely lead to sizable traffic backups, said Vienna Police Chief Robert Carlisle.

The 2006 fatality occurred at the non-signalized intersection of Maple Avenue and Mill Street.

Police this year unveiled “Eye to Eye,” a program originated in Portland, Ore., that recommends pedestrians and bicyclists make firm eye contact with drivers before proceeding across intersections.

Town police have highlighted the program in Vienna’s monthly newsletter and provided literature about Eye to Eye to two local bicycle shops. In an effort to reach more people, police may give presentations at local schools and reserve space on a banner across Maple Avenue near the W&OD Trail.

While bicycling on town sidewalks generally is allowed for young children and adults accompanying them, cyclists of all ages may ride on sidewalks in heavily congested traffic areas.

Legally, bicycles are considered vehicles when traveling on roads, but as pedestrians when on sidewalks, Carlisle said.

Council member Laurie Cole urged town police to call their programs “traffic-safety” efforts, instead of aiming them mostly at cyclists and pedestrians.

“It’s everybody’s responsibility,” she said.