Get children off the street - When Stop Means Stop

Congrats and thank you. We’ve reached 1588, a new high on our way to the 2500 milestone. Let’s shoot for 1700 by Monday next week, July 13. Can you stand outside the Safeway and show our QR code?

Our latest release focuses on DC’s program to encourage children to bike to school. Tell us if it makes a bad situation worse..  

 “Look both ways when you cross the street.” A simple warning that has been replaced by a demand that the streets be safe for children biking to school. That demand is undeliverable, but DC has signed onto it.

DC is currently seeking comments for its Safe Routes to School program that promotes kids biking to school. DC policy promises safe streets for all. But with its introduction of bike lanes, e-bikes, rebates, pilot projects and safe routes, DC is a major contributor to fear and confusion on the streets. Is DC making itself liable for inevitable, unfortunate consequences in what has become a radical transformation of traffic? 

At a public meeting, a mother complained that when she put her daughter on a bike in traffic, her daughter cried. The implication was that the city was failing in its obligation. One would expect DDOT to reject irresponsible behavior, but instead DDOT accepted it. Oddly, we have reached the point where a child crying in terror is more sensible than the parent or the government. 

On Easter weekend a 10-year-old riding an e-bike in a bike lane on 14th St., NW, was struck by an ATV and suffered brain injury. His mother said afterwards, “I thought my child would be safe in the bike lane.“ Why would she think that? Because DC promotes it. Is DC liable for the mayhem it creates?

At a meeting about the new bike lanes on Kansas Avenue, a father demanded safe passage to take his two children to school on his bike – all three on the same bike. Yet a parent who puts his child in a car without a child safety seat can lose custody of the child. Where is the child safety seat on a bike?  

The government’s job is to provide warnings, precautions and safeguards, but DC is not doing that. Instead, DC makes the streets more dangerous. A few years ago, DC passed the law called the Bike Safety Stop which allows bikers to run stop signs. It is neither a ‘stop’ nor is it safe, but it is the law. Try to explain to a 12-year-old, who is just learning to obey the law, that the word ‘Stop’ sometimes means ‘Go.’ What can we expect when we put children on the street?

Streets are dangerous. Why are we encouraging children to bike to school? DDOT consultants like Toole Design promote biking for every age to justify more bike lanes. And DC has adopted design precepts that embrace hazard. One hundred years ago, playgrounds were built to provide a place for children to play safely off the streets. Streets are not playgrounds. Why pretend that they are?

We are responsible for the laws our elected officials make. We are also responsible for telling them to stop. Municipalities across the country are recognizing the hazards of e-bikes and their fatal attraction for children. It is time we told DC lawmakers to Stop. Please ask someone to sign our petition to regulate e-bikes. https://c.org/GVFzcRN8kP

Nick DelleDonne

DC Safe Streets Coalition

703 929 6656