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DC proposes tighter ban on drivers blocking bike lanes

By Max Smith

WASHINGTON — New D.C. rules would make it crystal clear: Drivers cannot stop in or otherwise block bike lanes.

While blocking the lanes is already generally illegal, current regulations include a number of exceptions or loopholes for things, such as passenger or freight pickup and drop-off and for avoiding blocking other traffic.

Those exceptions have contributed to enforcement issues the city has promised to address as part of “Vision Zero” safety efforts, so the District Department of Transportation’s proposed rule changes could make it easier for police and parking enforcement officers to punish violators ranging from regular drivers to ride-hailing services or delivery trucks.

Blocking in a bike lane momentarily would still be permitted only when necessary to parallel park, turn, or if the driver is directed there by a police officer. Blocking the road would not be allowed for Uber, Lyft or cab pickup and drop off.

If public comments through Mar. 11 do not lead to any major changes to the proposals, the new safety rules could become effective this spring.

Comments supporting or opposing the changes can be emailed to publicspace.policy@dc.gov or mailed to 55 M St. SE, 7th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20003.

One attack, many Americas: Why 9/11 and its many griefs land differently 25 years later

By The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — When the planes crashed and the buildings fell on that sunny September morning 25 years ago, the shock waves of dismay and grief went far past downtown New York City, rural western Pennsylvania and just outside Washington, D.C. They radiated through every part of the United States in communities large and small, tearing at Americans' sense of safety and their place in the world. Hearts were broken across the nation, not just of those who lost their loved ones but among strangers who mourned for them, the Sept. 11 attacks leaving no one unaffected in an unwanted moment of horrifying togetherness. A quarter of a century later, the effects linger. We all live in a post-9/11 world, with its security strictures and surveillance. But here's the thing: Americans don't all live in the SAME one. What the attacks and their aftermath have come to mean isn't a single viewpoint shared by everyone, for reasons chronological, political and personal. It's a tapestry of meaning and grief as varied as the nation in which 9/11 took place.
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