May 2, 2011

Dear Washington Post:

While we take some issue with your tone and the logic that leads to your ultimate conclusions, we do
agree with the conclusions that: “Traffic safety laws need to be enforced year-round,” and those who
“seek to make the District more bike-centric [cannot] shirk on getting people—no matter if they are
driving or riding—to follow the laws.”

In a February hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary, chaired by Councilmember Mendelson, we
said exactly the same thing. We complained of poor enforcement of roadway safety laws, poor training
of MPD officers, lack of understanding among motorists and officers of the proper application of
roadway laws to cyclists, and a general lack of responsiveness among enforcement officials to the
concerns of the cycling community.

But before that, in January, we also—somewhat controversially—spoke to the cycling community,

asking cyclists to resolve to ride responsibly in 2011.

Why was it controversial to ask cyclists to ride responsibly? Because for many years, we cyclists have
been encountering deadly situations with drivers and having to take full responsibility for our own
safety. Far before Mayor Fenty and Gabe Klein, and even long before the founding of WABA in 1972,
cyclists have been exercising their right to travel the region’s roadways. And during that time, cyclists
regularly have been run off the road, had objects thrown at them, been threatened, harassed, and
assaulted. And yes, a number of cyclists have been killed on the District’s roadways.

However, when a cyclist goes to tell a police officer about a dangerous interaction, rarely is any action
taken. Common responses have included: “I didn’t see it so I can’t do anything.” “Were you slowing
the driver down?” “I can’t take a report if nobody’s hurt.” “How do you know he was too close to
you?” and “Why weren’t you on a road with a bike lane?”

In this context, the cyclist’s primary motivation becomes self-preservation, and strict legal compliance
becomes a secondary concern. As the vulnerable user, the cyclist is more than just “more apt to come
out the loser in a collision with a car.” Motorists simply are not vulnerable in the same way to death and
injury at the hands of a cyclist. And that is largely why we take issue with your argument.

The very title, declaring cyclists “welcome in DC” smacks of entitlement and condescension, as if it is the
motorists who own the road and are allowing cyclists space due to their largesse. In fact, cyclists have
equal right to the road. We simply don’t choose to drive vehicles with the accompanying mass to
enforce our rights through intimidation and physical confrontation. And that inability, as vulnerable
users, to enforce our rights through physical dominance is precisely why WABA supports enforcement of
traffic laws to make the region’s roadways safer and more predictable. We rely on the protection of law
and its enforcement, as we lack the protection of seatbelts, airbags, and surrounding steel.
But, to date, enforcement remains poor. The old excuses from enforcement officers for failing to
protect cyclists persist, and the District’s leadership—while it has made significant steps in creating
bicycle infrastructure—has done little to make protection of cyclists using that infrastructure a priority.
And, in that context, with a system that fails to protect them, many cyclists will continue to make their
decisions based primarily on self-preservation and only secondarily on legality.

We do not deny that some cyclists ride irresponsibly and choose to ignore certain laws. Whether
through lack of knowledge, opportunism, or simple carelessness, every mode of transportation has
those who fall below the expected standards. But imperfection among all roadway users is no
justification for systemic failure to protect cyclists and pedestrians.

It is in the best interest of everyone to have safe streets on which all users feel protected by the system.
This requires fair levels of protection and enforcement for all users, as well as laws and facilities that
recognize and account for the multitude of differences among pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists and
their modes of travel. WABA advocates for such a system in which traffic enforcement and pedestrian
and cyclist safety is prioritized year-round and in which laws and facilities sensibly align safety and
legality for each mode of travel.

We hope that the Washington Post will join us in promoting a system like that, rather than simply calling
for heightened enforcement of the status quo.

Sincerely,

Shane Farthing
Executive Director