Head-on this morning on MVT

[Mariner]

I was headed south on the MVT just past the Gravelly Point parking area. As I rounded a slight bend, which is a blind curve, there were three cyclists headed NB in close single file, well to their right. Unknown to me, someone else was behind me on my left attempting to overtake. There were shouts, a crash of bikes, and I turned around to see bikes and bodies flying.

At least one rider from the three NB riders was on the ground. I didn’t see blood but I’m sure there was some from hitting the asphalt. The person who caused the collision was profusely apologetic while I screamed at him.

Dude, it is a blind curve. Next to the Parkway. Next to a roadway with no separating barrier. On a trail with nowhere to go. On a blind curve. Your behavior caused some injuries, I don’t know how bad, but could have sent all five of us to the hospital. And all because you wanted to pass.

Location:
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.863862,-77.0421732,20z

and here:
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.864186,-77.0421626,3a,49.4y,204.53h,84.42t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sqcDkuFOHbenZ7s6BzxVWwQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I have video but it doesn’t show the crash. It probably did record my screaming though.

Topic

[DanB]

@baiskeli 140602 wrote:

Maybe there should be marked “No Passing” zones on trails.

The W&OD has the markings already.
http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?7583-No-Passing-Zone-on-W-amp-OD

[Raymo853]

@Tania 140610 wrote:

Although I agree there should be no passing zones, I doubt everyone would adhere to it.

Maybe this section calls for speed bumps, I am serious. Instead of pavement they could use those thick paint stripes versions.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[bentbike33]

@Raymo853 140620 wrote:

Maybe this section calls for speed bumps, I am serious. Instead of pavement they could use those thick paint stripes versions.

Or just a repaving moratorium. Might be more in line with the NPS budget.

[Steve O]

@Raymo853 140620 wrote:

Maybe this section calls for speed bumps, I am serious. Instead of pavement they could use those thick paint stripes versions.

I dunno. The NB cyclists may have only been traveling at 12-18 mph, which IMO is completely fine (how slow do you want the speed humps to make you go?). Mariner said single file, but that doesn’t mean they were in a pace line nor even traveling that fast. And if the passing rider were also going 12-18, their relative speed might be 30 mph. I don’t think speed really had much to do with the cause (although it will always contribute to severity). Cyclists can pass each other in opposite directions at 20+ and be perfectly safe. The problem was he was on the wrong side of the trail when he could not see what was ahead of him. Speed bumps will do nothing to prevent that.

[LeprosyStudyGroup]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]11863[/ATTACH]

[Steve O]

@elbows 140571 wrote:

… the NPS (or Arlington on Custis) could target unsafe passers and issue them citations …

I agree. The problem is how to find them and catch them. How can the enforcement officials be in the right place at the right time to witness bad passing? And then catch the perpetrator (e-bike, anyone?).

[huskerdont]

@Steve O 140625 wrote:

I dunno. The NB cyclists may have only been traveling at 12-18 mph, which IMO is completely fine (how slow do you want the speed humps to make you go?). Mariner said single file, but that doesn’t mean they were in a pace line nor even traveling that fast. And if the passing rider were also going 12-18, their relative speed might be 30 mph. I don’t think speed really had much to do with the cause (although it will always contribute to severity). Cyclists can pass each other in opposite directions at 20+ and be perfectly safe. The problem was he was on the wrong side of the trail when he could not see what was ahead of him. Speed bumps will do nothing to prevent that.

Jersey walls on the center line!

[Mariner]

@Long_Slow_Distance 140595 wrote:

Did the passing rider actually make contact with the NB riders or did the NB collide with themselves? The passing rider definitely used poor judgment, but 3 riders in tight formation with a tail wind can pick up a lot of speed on that stretch – we all have a responsibility to ride safely and maintain a safe distance.

Yes the passing rider made contact. The three riders were not moving that fast, though they were in close formation, which suggested they knew each other, and this was reinforced by the conversation after the crash. I’ll look at the video of them again to see just how close.

[GovernorSilver]

Hopefully it won’t come down to us needing something like this, to defend ourselves from blind-curve opposite direction lane invaders.

[Terpfan]

If my memory serves me right, aren’t those the same woods they found that poor missing woman dead in a few years ago? (Not murdered, she had wondered out of the airport I believe).

Anyway, NPS implement a safety change to the trail? hahahaha. The best I would hope for is a mirror, but then that just might facilitate more idiocy.

[LeprosyStudyGroup]

Painted on no passing zones approaching blind corners really does seem like the right balance to me. It’s a good reminder for the ignorant yet impedes nobody in any way. You can’t ever stop all bad actors in safety or in security, you can only foster a culture that appreciates and encourages good behavior. I don’t like structural solutions that treat me like I’m a dangerous asshole by default because of the actions of a few actual dangerous assholes, not that I don’t make mistakes and bad calls sometimes too.

[elbows]

@Steve O 140627 wrote:

I agree. The problem is how to find them and catch them. How can the enforcement officials be in the right place at the right time to witness bad passing? And then catch the perpetrator (e-bike, anyone?).

I don’t know, but I think stings would be sadly productive. There are so many spots with bad passes, I think they could get someone pretty regularly. And couldn’t they just have two police posted – one to observe the bad pass and another down the trail to motion over? I thought that was how they did speed trips on the Parkway. Not saying it will happen, but I do think it would be safety resources better spent than other campaigns.

A coworker of mine switched over from the MVT to streets after a bad crash, and that was before things got busy.

[dasgeh]

@elbows 140744 wrote:

I don’t know, but I think stings would be sadly productive.

I was going to say any tickets would probably die in court, because there aren’t really laws backing them up. But more importantly, I don’t think I trust officers to do enforcement fairly. And without consistent markings of where someone should/n’t pass, is it really fair? Someone may have just misjudged a situation.

I think signage for places where someone shouldn’t pass – and corresponding signage indicating that the danger is over – would go a long way, at least to building patience.

[bentbike33]

@LeprosyStudyGroup 140649 wrote:

Painted on no passing zones approaching blind corners really does seem like the right balance to me. It’s a good reminder for the ignorant yet impedes nobody in any way.

This, but follow the same patterns as used on 2-way highways, not the ill-maintained single line used now (which on the Custis was left unpainted in the resurfaced stretches done about 3 years ago).

[Sunyata]

@dasgeh 140745 wrote:

I think signage for places where someone shouldn’t pass – and corresponding signage indicating that the danger is over – would go a long way, at least to building patience.

On many mountain bike trails (single track, bi-directional trails), there are blind corner signs that do a pretty good job of indicating an unsafe curve. Even though, passing is not really an issue on single track trail, head-on collisions are. I wonder if something like this would be effective on the MVT or Custis Trail where there is a blind corner. Maybe something similar as below, but with “Do Not Pass” instead of “Proceed with Caution”?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]11886[/ATTACH]

[Author]

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