Robert Riddle•3 years ago First, I am a pedestrian, a cyclist, and a driver. I see firsthand, using each of these transit modes, how many life-endangering drivers we have using our City streets. They're not the majority, but the minority creates a serious threat to the lives and safety of others.There are three critical traffic calming strategies, from my perspective, missing from this draft Toolkit.1. Speed cameras -- I see it all the time on our local roadways: the dangerous drivers DO slow down when traffic cameras are present. 2. Law enforcement-- there is an unfortunate trend in recent years away from Police ticketing dangerous drivers for speeding and other flagrant moving violations. This puts pedestrians and cyclists at great risk. Time and again, in our little City, I have had drivers aggressively speed around me and fly through stop signs because I was driving at the speed limit. Also, in the past (two or three Chiefs ago), when threatened by a driver for being a cyclist and using the roadway, Hyattsville police did not demonstrate that my report of the near-miss collision violation and life threat was taken seriously. I have been threatened as a cyclist since then, but learned not to waste my time trying to report a driver to City police because as far as I could tell, police acted as if I was the annoyance, instead of the aggressive driver.3. Parked cars impeding the easy flow of motor vehicles-- another unfortunate trend, in my opinion, is the misuse of parked cars in place of real traffic calming. As a driver, resident, and homeowner, just leaving from and returning home includes unnecessary aggravation and even danger because the City allows random parking where there is room for only one car at a time to use a dual-direction roadway. This causes undue congestion and unnecessary aggravation. I also wonder how this must complicate transit for emergency service vehicles (fire trucks, ambulance) because this questionable strategy encumbers the free flow of motor vehicles. When you have a street that's wide enough for three vehicles but you choke it so only one vehicle can use it at a time, that's a recipe for increased drivers' aggression. Make the street one-way if the intention is for one car at a time to navigate it. Otherwise, allow parking on ONE side and keep TWO clear. Similarly -- I've raised this issue before, but it bears reiterating until it's addressed -- the City created a traffic congestion problem when it chose to allow street parking in front of Yes and Busboys, when that shopping center was built. Traffic coming into the area -- including, often, those of us who live here -- from the Alt 1 flyover are squeezed into a single lane. There is ALWAYS a traffic jam-up there, ever since that development, and it's totally unnecessary. Cars can be slowed with better means than jam-ups, and in my regular experience of that location, aggressive and dangerous driving seems to have INCREASED for auto drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians (I have been all of these, while trying to navigate that dangerous mix) thanks to that unnecessary bottle neck. There is parking behind the shopping center; eliminate those few street side spaces, PLEASE.
