Ultimately in Baltimore, the problem is that the police department does NOTHING to enforce traffic laws in the city limits.

Whether it is panhandlers entering the street, people jaywalking, cyclists riding on sidewalks or running through intersections, cars running red-lights or ignoring lane directions, the Baltimore Police Department enforces NONE of these laws.

On the other hand, the parking police are an effective revenue agency.

Excellent blog post, and excellent back-and-forth in the comments. The blog touches on something that I wish would be explored further - pedestrian behavior. The amount of jaywalking in Baltimore is astonishing. I have no doubt that this poor behavior has tainted driver perceptions of pedestrians, in the same way that "salmon" turn drivers against all bicyclists.

It seems to be an East Coast thing. I was in Seattle for work about two years ago, and the citizenry looked at one of my companions like she had two heads when she crossed against the light. Thoughts?

I always thought the joy that cyclists embraced was the feeling of freedom, the wind in their face sort of thing. And during a commute, an appreciation of being able to get in a workout and celebrate that freedom while they just happen to be going to work. I've never thought of them as commuters, mainly because they seem to be having more fun than the rest of us, though maybe that’s because they don’t feel bound by as many rules.

Around the city, I find there's a great deal of unpredictability regarding where a cyclist is going - they tend to fly all over the place with little order, sometimes using the right lane, sometimes the left (or separate cyclists simultaneously use both, as is frequently the case on Charles St, blocking two lanes and giving cars just one). I’ve never considered them as cars or pedestrians – they’re more the chaos in the middle. Best to steer clear of them at all costs, whether driving or walking.

I would add to Salmon's commentary that it's difficult to take seriously cyclists who don't take themselves seriously, and this sort of “Hey, Dude” looseness seen similarly in surfers and skateboarders isn’t helping perceptions of them. Just like in a car, for instance, no conscientious driver wants to reach a merge point and find that the driver who has been wreaking the most havoc during a commute wants to slide in front of him. Who wants to yield to that guy? No one. It's just as difficult to extend courtesies to cyclists who aren't taking their role seriously (such as by going the wrong way) or who don't take their own safety seriously (such as riding in a dress and sandals with no helmet - which I've seen more than once around Mount Vernon).

BTW, there is or isn't a law in MD requiring helmets on bicycles? Just curious. Haven't seen the point mentioned in any of the recent discussions.

COMMENT: No, the law in Maryland does not require bicycle helmets for adults -- only for children.

I recently moved to Baltimore and my mode of transportation is biking and walking. Not once have I rode my bike and not had a near miss, nor have I felt completely safe. I ride as if I'm a vehicle, like bikers are supposed to. I signal when switching lanes or turning, but I'm often honked at, yelled at, or cars speed up when they pass. I agree that there are some bicyclists that give us a negative reputation, but I think it's key to point out that drivers need to be safer. Even when I'm a pedestrian, cars do not yield when I have the right of way. I think we need to make the roads and sidewalks safe for everyone and not just point the finger at bicyclists. Instead, encourage biking for exercise, a low cost way to get around, and decreasing cars on the road. More ideas and less complaining! Bicyclists are here to stay.

Interesting article, with some things NYC specific and others that are more universally applicable. Bike salmon are overwhelming in NYC and I've never seen many elsewhere (sometimes in Baltimore, almost never or the West Coast).

I'd suggest that bikes are and deserve a clearly distinct place in between peds and cars; we have different characteristics, pose different kinds of threats, and thus operate differently (why the Idaho stop law makes sense).

More important is that all roadway users should be respectful of all other roadway users and yield/give way to the more vulnerable users on the road. The Eye-to-Eye Pledge that Portland's BTA developed is a good place to start (http://www.seeingeyetoeye.org/pledge).

I also love the points that BSNYC made. On a daily basis I'm a pedestrian, a bicycle rider, and an automobile driver and so are most other folks. Each of us breaks the laws at some points (drivers speeding, bikes doing rolling stops, pedestrians jaywalking) and "a considerate person is a considerate person and an idiot is an idiot, and both will behave as such regardless of how they are propelling themselves at any given moment."

The most important piece is that a pedestrian can't easily hurt someone in a car and a bicyclist poses limited danger to other roadway users, but a driver in a car can easily kill or maim those around them. We should all be responsible and respectful of those around us, while remembering the relative threat that we pose to those around us and acting accordingly.