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roofrat69 t1_itzpth5 wrote

“The white Mazda CX-5 was trying to pass another car at the intersection when it hit Kessleman, according to the police report.”

I see this happen a couple times a month. It seems our politicians are finally coming around to fact that the culture of lawlessness in this city is bad for business (see Nadeau and Lewis-George’s photo op at Petworth metro earlier this week).

How many more Washingtonians have to get shot or run over before our elected leaders actually do something about the sociopaths running wild in our streets in every ward?

Charles Allen and others love to talk about fairness, which is fine, but what about justice for victims?

Throw the bums out.

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oloshan t1_itzzvif wrote

Alternative solution: let's decriminalize hit-and-runs!

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22304_selling t1_iu00hyk wrote

There would be an immediate drop in crime rates.

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metrazol t1_iu0wg5o wrote

See, that's the kind of smart thinking we need. You thought about running for council?

Except nobody gets charged with it, so it doesn't get counted in the rates. You sure you didn't just leave the front end of your car somewhere?

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churchofnobody t1_iu1jzw8 wrote

It’s absolutely maddening. Was driving down admo at a safe speed and this SUV barrels around me and nearly hits a women with a stroller at the crosswalk.

These idiots have no chill and for what?! To get to some stupid destination 10 seconds earlier? It really pisses me off. Fuck all disrespectful drivers.

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scynzbich t1_iu0dib9 wrote

I think the difference here, bc this happens a lot, is a safer biking culture in this city. Protected bike lines would save so many lives bc people in DC cannot drive for shit and even if they could, a bike/scooter vs a car even in a minor bump can lead to major trauma.

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pro-laps t1_iu0ffj9 wrote

how long before drivers trying to pass another car just drive into the protected bike lane? the answer is the first day

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Jamesspoon t1_iu0oiul wrote

Sorry to tell you and this is 100% true: The other day I was driving down that part of NJ Ave and a Tacoma-sized truck overtook me on the right, also at an intersection, using that brand new lane. That was the first or one of the first days after the new lanes were completed.

Edit: adding that when he got in front of me he stopped inside the intersection because the light was still red. lol

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scynzbich t1_iu0okw7 wrote

I mean look, we can place fines and have better infrastructure. But the point is that the more we protect the bikers the safer it is overall. Just take a look at biking infrastructure in the Netherlands. There are levels to this lol

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aup123 t1_iu0sy2u wrote

I have a feeling that the dutch value the lives of the people around them a little differently. In DC so many people wouldnt care if the guy on the bike dies.

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drr71-2 t1_iu42qcc wrote

It's not the bike lanes... it's the animals that don't care about other people's lives... whether thw person they hit lives or dies. Put these DC drivers in the Netherlands and the issue will be exactly the same there as it is here.

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bruno92 t1_iu4i2jg wrote

Then it isn't truly protected. An adequate protected bike line should prevent (or at least strongly deter) drivers from veering into it. That's the whole point.

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Jamesspoon t1_iu0o7jw wrote

Sadly, this happened at NJ Ave and P street, where there are brand new bike lanes. I don’t recall how protected that particular stretch is, though. NJ Ave going south now has just one driving lane, so that Mazda was definitely pulling some BS.

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anonymous_aardvark2 t1_iu0t9ng wrote

It’s protected but there’s no elevated platforms near bus stops leading them to remove protection in front of several intersections.

Imo they should add elevated platforms so it acts like a curb to deter people from overtaking.

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anonymous_aardvark2 t1_iu0szgc wrote

They just added a protected bike lane on this stretch though. Now whether or not flex posts deter an aggressive driver is another story.

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Bitterfish t1_iu145wn wrote

Dude the """"culture of lawlessness"""" has very little to do with this. We need to redesign streets to require and incentivize safe driving. Narrow lanes. No passing. Protected bike lanes. Congestion pricing. MUCH LARGER registration fees on high-mass vehicles like this SUV -- a completely unnecessary vehicle for most people to drive around a city.

In other words, the way to make streets safe is not to pursue some fantasy of social control, it is to make it physically difficult or impossible to hurt people with cars. The government ultimately has almost no control over culture, lawless or otherwise -- but it is possible to bend people's moment-to-moment behavior with infrastructure.

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roofrat69 t1_iu1dz9b wrote

Social control? You mean laws?

I live on a narrow street and I regularly hear the sound of drivers bottoming out as they hit the speed bump outside at 25 mph. Dude. Drivers are doing crazy shit right in front of cops because they know there will be no consequences.

I’m all for protected bike lanes. I’ve also seen drivers in them. How do you propose we deal with people who break laws designed to protect us and ensure an orderly society?

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BrightThru2014 t1_iu2qaic wrote

Yeah that’s not happening any time soon so why not enforce laws in the same way they’re enforced in any other prosperous liberal democracy?

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CarlosDangeroso t1_iu3vcn0 wrote

Curious what you have in mind when you refer to "any other prosperous liberal democracy." Maybe Sweden?

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CowboyAirman t1_iu1cxjr wrote

No, no, no. we just need to lower the speed limit. Problem solved.

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drr71-2 t1_iu4296d wrote

I keep being told in Reddit that this city is very safe and this is just part of living in a city and that folks who are careful will be just fine. I can only assume these folks getting shot, hit, mugged, raped, harassed, & robbed aren't being careful or aware of their surroundings and it's partially their fault.

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