Inspired by a visit with my cousins in Frederick, Maryland, I wrote a letter to their state delegate (i.e. congressman), Charles Jenkins, and senator, Alex Mooney, regarding the state's laws relating to cycling, and sent it, along with a cover letter from my cousin, David.

Dear [Delagate Jenkins / Senator Mooney]:

I would like to relay a message to you, as your constituent, from my cousin, Eli Damon from Massachusetts, who recently visited me and my family at our home in Frederick. Eli hopes to raise your awareness of an issue of Maryland law that is of intense concern to him. Please read his enclosed letter, and please give solemn consideration to his message. Thank you.

Sincerely,

David ----

-

Dear [Delagate Jenkins / Senator Mooney]:

I recently traveled from my home in Massachusetts to visit my cousins, David, Cherish, Bradley, Joshua, and Elihana, who live in Frederick and have for many years, two of them for their entire lives. I very much enjoyed spending time with them. However, I was upset to learn about some of Maryland's statutes, which left me in a quite vulnerable, constrained, and dependent condition while I was in your state. I want to share with you this problem I encountered in the hope that you will consider working to correct it using your authority as a legislator.

You see, I drive a bicycle as my primary mode of transportation. It is a common belief that practical transportation can only be provided by a motor vehicle. However, with the proper techniques, based on well-established safe cycling principles, and in the absence of legal restrictions, cycling is an extremely safe, reliable, flexible and efficient form of transportation that imposes very little demand on road capacity and contributes negligibly to wear of road surface, especially when compared to motor vehicles. In fact, in addition to using these effective cycling techniques myself, I also teach them as an instructor, certified by the League of American Bicyclists. I intended to teach effective cycling to some of my cousins but was compelled to give up that intention when I realized that the techniques I teach could be in conflict with the law. Beyond being unable to teach cycling while visiting my cousins, I found myself somewhat trapped in their house, unable to leave without an escort from one of them.

I have many reasons for adopting cycling as my primary mode of transportation, but one reason I should mention, since it helps to explain why restrictions on cycling impose an especially heavy burden on me, is that I am unable to drive a motor vehicle due to a disability. As I said, I have many other reasons as well. Many of these reasons I share with other transportation cyclists and would potentially share with many others if they were to embrace effective cycling techniques.

There are several ways in which Maryland law prevents cycling as a practical mode of transportation and even creates unnecessary collision hazards. I will spare you for now the gritty details of Maryland cycling laws and effective cycling principles and techniques, except to pitch you my new teaching slogan, inspired by my most recent student: Pay attention, follow the rules, be assertive, and STAY IN CONTROL. (By "the rules", I mean the standard rules of the road for drivers of vehicles.) I would be only too eager to discuss these subjects, as well as the myths and biases about cycling, in detail if you are interested. In outline form, the impact of Maryland cycling laws are as follows.

• On many roads, and the most important ones in particular, cycling is outright prohibited.

On other roads, some combination of the following problems are always present.

• Cycling is nominally permitted but only in a manner that is excessively difficult and dangerous. Most cyclists do not understand the source of the danger and consequently expose themselves as well as other drivers to collision hazards.
• The legality of effective cycling techniques is unclear and legally subject to interpretation by police officers, prosecutors, judges, and jurors, who are often prone to misunderstanding the impact of their decisions. Many people do not understand safe cycling principles and misjudge the consequences of various cycling laws and techniques. Many people do not appreciate the public nature of the roads, arguably the most public of all public places. Many people do not appreciate how essential it is in our society that a person be able to travel freely and independently or the crippling effect of being prevented from traveling freely and independently. There are many ubiquitous myths and biases regarding cycling and police officers, prosecutors, judges, and jurors are no more immune to them than anyone else.
• Effective cycling techniques are legally permitted but the statutes are worded in a manner that is not sufficiently clear and authoritative to counter the myths and biases regarding cycling. In many cases, statutes are worded in a manner that is outright misleading, even though a careful and open-minded analysis would reveal the legality of effective cycling techniques. The process of eliciting such an analysis when a specific case arises is usually difficult, time-consuming, and expensive for both the citizens involved and the state as a whole.

Consequently, a trip made by bicycle might be impossible even to begin legally and once begun might be difficult, dangerous, or impossible to complete legally. A transportation cyclist could easily face a dilemma such as whether to seek, buy, or retain a house, seek, rent, or retain an apartment, seek, accept, or retain a job, patronize or open a business, or visit a friend or relative in a place where cycling is severely restricted. Having begun a trip, a cyclist might reach a point along the route where he or she finds him- or herself facing the following options.

• Continue cycling in a safe and efficient manner along the route, risking legal penalties, possibly including arrest and/or criminal charges.
• Continue cycling along the route, but in a difficult and dangerous manner, risking death, injury, failure to complete the intended task, failure to return home at night, and possibly legal penalties as well.
• Return home immediately, which could be very difficult when far from home.
• Remain stranded until another option is identified.

This is not a dilemma that can be taken lightly, especially when it must be faced regularly as a part of daily life.

I hope that you can appreciate not only the injustice to individual citizens of Maryland's legal restrictions on cycling but also the indirect but severe harm they do to the state as a whole. I beg you to use your authority as a legislator to work to repeal these laws and replace them with laws that strongly affirm the right of all people to travel freely on the public roads by as simple a mode as they wish. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Eli Damon

Bill Kelly, chairman of the College Park Area Bicycle Coalition (CPABC) forwarded me the following notice from Jack Cochrane, chair of the Montgomery Bicycle Advocates. (I have reformatted it and made some minor corrections.)

The Maryland General Assembly passed a very important bill this year that repealed the law requiring bicyclists to ride on the shoulder and not in the travel lanes if a shoulder was present. It also gave bicyclists the right to use crosswalks without dismounting and permission to pass cars on the right using the shoulder. We owe our gratitude to Maryland Delegate Al
Carr (Kensington-District 18) and Senator Brian Frosh (Bethesda-District 16) for championing the bill. Delegate Carr took on this bill because he is a cyclist! The bill number is SB624, published at http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/chapters_noln/Ch_518_sb0624T.pdf.

The bill accomplishes three important things:

• The bill lifts the requirement that bicyclists must ride in the shoulder when present. Previously, cyclists were not allowed to ride in the travel lanes if a shoulder was present, except in limited circumstances.  Now cyclists have the option to take the lane (subject to existing stay right rules) when they deem it safest. The remaining restriction for shoulders is that you must still use the shoulder on roads with speed limit above 50 mph (i.e. 55 mph or higher).
• The bill still permits s bicyclists to ride in the shoulder if they choose to. Cars are still explictly restricted from driving on shoulders although that law is rarely if ever enforced.
• The bill allows bicyclists to ride in a crosswalk without dismounting (except where riding on sidewalks is prohibited). The law was at best ambiguous before. For example, right-turning drivers (even turning right on red) were prevously required to yield to pedestrians but not bicyclists in the crosswalk. This is not just a theoretical concern, since recently a bicyclist in Rockville was considered at fault in a bike-car collision where the driver was turning right across the crosswalk the rider was in. The previous law could even be interpreted to require bicyclists on the Capital Crescent Trail to dismount to cross side streets. The bill also expands the crosswalk definition to include unmarked locations where a bike path or bike lane crosses a street, to strengthen the changes. Previously, only sidewalks had this attribute.

These measures go a long way toward making Maryland roads safer and more effective for cyclists, and move Maryland toward being one of the better states for biking.

One other revision to the code provides that cycles with a 2 wheel front/1 wheel rear configuration are now street legal. Prior law actually defined these as 'play vehicles' and riding them on roadways was technically prohibited.

Still on the agenda is removing the restriction that bicyclists ride in marked bike lanes, which was not achievable this year but will continue to be a goal of bike organizations. Other suggestions for legislative measures to help improve cycling in Maryland are welcomed. Please send any such comments or suggestions to .

Jack Cochrane
Chair, Montgomery Bicycle Advocates

I sent this response to Jack Cochrane.

Hi Jack. A few days ago I forwarded you a letter I wrote to Frederick's state senator and delegate. Bill Kelly from the College Park Area Bicycle Coalition forwarded the attached notice from you. At the end of the notice, you said "Other suggestions for legislative measures to help improve cycling in Maryland are welcomed." Even though I don't live in Maryland, I would like to make some suggestions. Besides repealing compulsory shoulder and bike lane use laws, I would also like the far-to-the-right law repealed, as well as the laws that prohibit cycling on various classes of roads, like the one for roads with a speed limit that is greater than 50mph and the one for bridges and tunnels. Eli

I have included contact information for Delegate Charles Jenkins, Senator Alex Mooney, and Washington, DC area and Maryland cycling advocacy organizations.

• Charles Jenkins - Delegate - District 3B (Republican)
  • Capitol
    
    • http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/06hse/html/msa14701.html
    • House Office Building, Room 324, 6 Bladen St., Annapolis, MD 21401
    • 800-492-7122 x3240, 410-841-3240, 301-858-3240
      
    • charles.jenkins@house.state.md.us
  • Campaign
    • http://www.charles2010.com/
    • Friends of Charles Jenkins, P.O. Box 3503, Frederick, MD 21705-3503
    • 301-514-7811
    • cajenkins@verizon.net
• Alex Mooney - Senator - District 3 (Republican)
  
  • Capitol
  • http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/05sen/html/msa02795.html
  • James Senate Office Building, Room 402, 11 Bladen St., Annapolis, MD 21401 (capital office
  • (phone) - 800-492-7122 x3575, 410-841-3575, 301-858-3575
  • (fax) - 410-841-3193, 301-858-3193
  • alex.mooney@senate.state.md.us
  • Campaign
    • http://alexmooney.com/
    • (headquarters) - 1705 N Market St, Frederick, MD 21701
    • (mail) - P. O. Box 669, Frederick, MD 21705-0669
    • (phone) - 301-620-0200
      
    • (fax) - 301-620-1973
      
    • matt@alexmooney.com
• Washington, DC area cycling advocacy organizations
  
  • Washington Area Bicyclist Association
    • (website) - http://waba.org/
    • (blog) - http://washingtonareabicyclistassociation.blogspot.com/
    • (facebook page) - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Washington-DC/Washington-Area-Bicyclist-Associaton-WABA/140715077973
    • (myspace page) - http://www.myspace.com/wabadc
    • 2599 Ontario Rd. NW, Washington, DC 20009
    • (phone) - 202.518.0524
    • (fax) - 202.518.0936
    • waba@waba.org
  • WashCycle
    
    • (blog) - http://www.thewashcycle.com/ 
• Maryland cycling advocacy organizations
  • One Less Car
    • (website) - http://onelesscar.org/ 
    • (RSS feed) - http://onelesscar.org/rss.php
    • 1209 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
    • (Executive Director Carol Silldorff) - 410-960-6493
    • (Executive Director Carol Silldorff) - carol at onelesscar dot org
  • College Park Area Bicycle Coalition (CPABC)
    
    • http://cpabc.org/
    • 10027 Fox Den Court, Ellicott City, MD 21042-2242
    • (Chairman Bill Kelly) - 410-480-1909
    • (Chairman Bill Kelly - BKelly@cpabc.org 
  • Frederick Bicycle Coalition
    
    • (website) - http://www.frederickbicyclecoalition.com/ 
    • (RSS feed) - http://frederickbicyclecoalition.com/wordpress/feed/ 
    • 1700 Kingfisher Dr, Suite 18, Frederick, Maryland 21701
    • 240-347-0003
    • (Communications Director Joe Whitehair) - communication@frederickbicyclecoalition.com
    • (Founder's Chair Roger Rinker) - foundingchair@frederickbicyclecoalition.com
  • Montgomery Bicycle Advocates (MoBike)
    • (website) - http://www.mobike.org/
    • (Yahoo group) - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/montgomerybike/
    • 7121 Thomas Branch Dr., Bethesda, MD. 20817
    • 301-767-5998
      
    • info@mobike.org,
  • Montgomery County Bicycle Action Group (MCBAG)
    • http://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/DOT-DTE/BikeWays/BWMcBag.aspx
    • 100 Edison Park Drive 4th Floor, Gaithersburg MD 20878
    • 3rd Thursday of the month 6:30PM-8:30PM