Court case for motorist who intentionally struck cyclist is Monday

The court case involving the motorist who is alleged to have intentionally struck a cyclist who was riding on Maple Ave. in Vienna is scheduled for Monday at 9:30am at the Vienna courthouse. The courthouse is located in Vienna Town Council chambers. See our earlier blog entry about the case that included this exerpt from the Vienna Patch article Driver Arrested After Dispute with Cyclist

Vienna Police have arrested a man for allegedly intentionally striking a cyclist with his vehicle after a dispute on Maple Avenue while both were in motion.

John Arthur Thorpe, 52, of Bristow, was arrested Aug. 18 for assault and aggressive driving and taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, said Officer Gary Lose, VPD spokesperson. He was released on recognizance, according to the General District court online database.

We attended part of the first scheduled hearing on October 15 and it was a learning experience. We learned that even the most blatant traffic offenders are often treated lightly. Those who pleaded guilty were often given relatively light penalties. In at least two cases the judge stated that he was lowering the speed of the offense which would "help you out with the DMV."

Only the worst of the worst offenders every make it to court, and yet it seemed that the judge was treating their offenses very lightly. Police almost never write speeding tickets unless motorists are driving at least 10 mph over the speed limit and yet those motorists were only given a slap on the wrist.

We plan to attend the court hearing on Monday morning and will report back on the outcome.

Update: After a couple of hours of traffic citation cases, the judge called the name of the motorist who struck the cyclist. The motorist, John Thorpe, appeared with his attorney. Unfortunately the cyclist wasn't there. Notice of the hearing was sent to the wrong address and the prosecutor was not able to contact him by phone. Three witnesses were also present. The judge agreed to one more postponement, to Monday, January 7 at 9:30am in Vienna.

Court hearing on Monday on motorist's assault case - Update - case moved to Nov. 5

In August a  motorist is alleged to have intentionally struck a cyclist on Maple Ave. in Vienna. The court case is scheduled for tomorrow, Monday, Oct. 15, 9:30 a.m. at Fairfax County General District Court, 4110 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax. From the Vienna Patch article Driver Arrested After Dispute with Cyclist:

Vienna Police have arrested a man for allegedly intentionally striking a cyclist with his vehicle after a dispute on Maple Avenue while both were in motion.

John Arthur Thorpe, 52, of Bristow, was arrested Aug. 18 for assault and aggressive driving and taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, said Officer Gary Lose, VPD spokesperson. He was released on recognizance, according to the General District court online database.

A court date has been set for 9:30 a.m. Oct 15.

Around 6:30 p.m. Aug. 16, a cyclist believed a vehicle to be traveling too close to his bicycle as both traveled westbound on Maple Avenue near Nutley Street. The cyclist reported he began banging on the vehicle's window to urge the driver to move over.

Witnesses reported it appeared Thorpe intentionally struck the rear tire of the bicycle, causing the cyclist to fall.

Update: The case was delayed until November 5, 9:30 a.m. at the Vienna Courthouse located in Vienna Town Hall, 127 Center St.

FABB at bike events in Vienna

Vienna ES bike rodeo

We attended several bike-related events in Vienna this week. Around 90 kids took part in the Vienna Elementary School bike rodeo on Monday. Trails for Youth conducted the rodeo with mechanical support from both Spokes, Etc. and bikes@vienna. Bike rodeos are one of the best ways for kids to learn the rules of the road and bike handling skills. One day all elementary kids will have the opportunity to attend a bike rodeo.

Hunter and Liz at Vienna Green Expo

On Thursday evening we had a table at Vienna Green Expo. We handed out bike safety literature and bike maps and spoke to several people about bicycling in the area. A common theme was that if we had better bike facilities more people would bike.

Maple Ave Shopping Center rack

Today there were two events in Vienna. The first was a ride from the City of Fairfax to Vienna Metro highlighting the proposed route that will be signed. Six of us left from Oasis Bike Works at 10am and took the short ride to the station. A long section of the route is along Old Lee Hwy which is narrow in a few sections and needs to either be widened or have shared lane markings installed.

Vienna Mayor Seeman cuts the ribbon

From the station we rode to Maple Ave Shopping Center to take part in the bike rack ribbon-cutting. Center shops offered discounts and other goodies and bikes@vienna contributed a bike that was raffled off (the winner will be announced on Monday). Mayor Seeman and Councilwomen Kelleher, Cole, and Sienicki were in attendance.

Eleven custom inverted U-racks are installed along the front of the shopping center. There's been a need for the racks here for a long time and it's great that the center management worked with the Town and Cris Janoski and others on the Vienna Bicycle Advisory Committee to install the racks. Thank you!

Breezer Greenway donated by bikes@vienna

Good things are happening in Vienna. What about in your community? Do you have good bike parking at local stores, schools, businesses? If not, why not ask store owners to provide it? Print out the 12 Bike Parking Essentials for Retailers flier and hand it to them. If you need help, let us know.

Update: Read the Vienna Patch article on the bike rack ribbon-cutting celebration, Maple Ave Shopping Center Welcomes Bike Racks

New bike racks at Vienna Metro station

The Vienna Metro station is a popular destination for many Metro patrons. We were pleased to hear recently that WMATA has installed 32 new inverted U racks at the station. From the PlanItMetro blog:

Last week, Metro installed 32 new “U-Rack” bicycle racks at Vienna station, providing parking space for 64 additional bicyclists, nearly doubling bike parking capacity. The new racks are located on the south side of the station, in the direction of the parking garage. The installation is the latest in Metro’s overall Bicycle and Pedestrian Capital Improvement Program.

Vienna’s bike racks were often full, even overflowing, causing cyclists to lock their bikes on railings, trees, and lamp posts. In our last bike parking census, Vienna was the single most capacity-constrained station for bicycle parking. Last spring, we counted 96 total bikes at the station, with 30 bikes tied to objects other than racks.

With new space for 64 bicycles, we have almost doubled our bike rack capacity at the station, and will hopefully encourage even more bike-to-rail access here.

Velomobiles stop in Vienna on last day of tour - Update

Today in Vienna an enthusiastic crowd of cyclists and others met members of the velomobile group, Roll Over America, on their last day of a four-week cross-country tour of the U.S. Most of the group were from Europe, primarily Germany and the Netherlands. There were also a few from the U.S. including reps from VelomobileUSA which makes and sells velomobiles in Texas. There were 30 velomobile drivers who stopped for about an hour to enjoy lemonade, cookies and water provided by FABB (thanks to Fionnuala for organizing the event).

It was impressive seeing the colorful collection of velomobiles in one place. The first group rolled in at around 3:45pm and the rest came in over the next hour. The group was on their way to their final stop in the tour in Georgetown.

Velomobiles can be an excellent way to use a pedal-powered vehicle year round. Most of them have an enclosing cover that can be used in foul weather. Some have full suspension, including independent suspension that makes for a comfortable ride (although unfortunately we didn't get a chance to try one out). The vehicle produced by VelomobileUSA costs around $10,500 shipped.

The tour is a great way to show off the technology and get people excited about the prospects of using velomobiles for daily travel. Four of the vehicles were power-assisted, but due to the long distances traveled, and the relatively short battery life, those vehicles were often the last to arrive after having to stop to recharge the batteries. For now pedal power is the way to go for long distance velomobile travel.

As the group was leaving Vienna we took this video that shows all 30 vehicles rolling toward Georgetown on the W&OD Trail.





Update: 8/26/2011:
See a video about the velomobile tour stop in Vienna on Vienna Patch.