RSS FeedLet’s Be Careful Out There
One of the common complaints about DC is that no one ever gets pulled over for traffic violations. You see people speeding, running red lights and stop signs, talking or texting on their phones. It can be frustrating, unsafe, and lead to anger on both sides of the automobile. That’s why we’ve found it so interesting that one block of PQ has lately become a police trap, of sorts.
For the last 6 weeks or so, on seemingly random days, we’ve seen an MPD officer park his car on the 400 block on 9th street (next to the FBI, between D & E), stand in the right hand lane, and flag people coming south down 9th. The officer will get 4 or so cars pulled up behind his, and then visit them all in turn. We assume the violation is that these individuals have been riding down 9th street in the right hand bus/bike only land, but are not turning onto E and rather continuing straight down 9th (using the bus/bike lane as a through lane).
Light cycle after light cycle, the officer will flag down offenders, visit them, and the pull over a new batch. We don’t have any idea if MPD is handing out tickets, or just warnings, but we hope to see this kind of enforcement more often at other trouble spots in the city.
We suppose some people might think we’re doing a disservice by alerting the scofflaws to this potential trap, but if this post can make a few people think twice about riding in the bus/bike only lane, then we believe we’re only helping to keep that lane clear for the proper traffic.
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hopefully they can monitor 7th Street NW from G to H Street.