Want another reason to ride your bike to work? In addition to being more fun than sitting in traffic, cycling or walking to work every day can help you lose weight, and is an excellent way to stay active when you don’t have time to make it to the gym during the week.
The Problem With Parking in Bike Lanes
In DC and around the country, motorists continue to park in bike lanes, despite the fact that the practice is both illegal and unsafe. When a car is blocking a bike lane and a cyclist is forced into lanes of traffic, this disruption clearly presents a dangerous and avoidable situation for the cyclist as well as the drivers on the road.
Sharing Trails Responsibly
In June 2012, a jogger turned around suddenly on the Roanoke River Greenway in Roanoke, Virginia and caused a cyclist to fall off of her bicycle. The cyclist, Ann Shepherd, sustained injuries including bleeding and bruising of the brain. She brought a suit against the jogger, 62-year-old William Bundy, stating that Bundy was negligent and that his failure to signal caused the collision. Shepherd sought $750,000, citing $81,000 in medical bills and $7,600 in lost wages. Last month, a jury determined that Bundy was negligent and ordered him to pay Shepherd $300,000.
Long-Awaited Capital Bikeshare Expansion Coming This Fall
While there are already more than 3,000 bicycles and 350 Capital Bikeshare stations in DC, Arlington, Alexandria, and Montgomery County, the much-anticipated expansion of the system has been on hold since the main supplier of the bicycles, Public Bike System Co., declared bankruptcy in early 2014. Capital Bikeshare (CaBi), which has been a huge success in the DC area, currently has nearly 30,000 members and has supported more than 10 million trips since its establishment in 2010. Thanks to a new agreement with Motivate, the wait for new bikes and stations will soon be over.