Fwd: [CG] Great sign from DOT on Beacon Street Somerville, MA
Jim Baross
From: Bruce Kulik bku...@alum.mit.edu [chainguard] <chain...@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 3:02 PM
Subject: [CG] Great sign from DOT on Beacon Street Somerville, MA
To: chain...@yahoogroups.com, "bicycle...@googlegroups.com" <bicycle...@googlegroups.com>
Beacon Street in Somerville is a major bicycle route to/from the
north west inner suburbs of Boston. Recently after major utility
work that royally chewed up the road, they put an interim top coat
of pavement on before scheduled reconstruction next year. That's
another story, but before they had a chance to restripe the road,
they put up the following electronic sign reminding motorists that
in Massachusetts, bicycles can use the full lane anywhere at any
time. I thought that was great!
IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT
BICYCLES CAN USE FULL LANES
ANY WHERE ANY TIME IT'S THE LAW
Bruce Kulik
Medford, MA
David Takemoto-Weerts
That’s a great move in MA, but would not work in CA, as you all know. While there are many circumstances here, even where bike lanes are striped, where cyclists can use the full lane, I suspect the MA CVC does not mandate bike lane use by cyclists as does CVC 21208. Repeal of 21208 is something that CBC and CABO should be actively supporting.
David Takemoto-Weerts
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Edward Hasbrouck
> That’s a great move in MA, but would not work in CA, as you all know.
> While there are many circumstances here, even where bike lanes are striped,
> where cyclists can use the full lane, I suspect the MA CVC does not mandate
> bike lane use by cyclists as does CVC 21208. Repeal of 21208 is something
> that CBC and CABO should be actively supporting.
never has been any sort of "keep to the right" or mandatory sidepath or
mandatory bike lane law, and who keeps a bike in Mass. with family and
rides there regularly when visiting, I totally agree that we should
support repeal of CVC 21208 as well as CVC 21202.
Mass. road use law is quite distinctive, since Mass. is one of (or maybe
the only?) state that has never adopted any national model vehicle code.
For better or worse (IMHO mostly better), Mass. provides one of the few
models of what a US vehicle codes developed independently of the national
models, although of course influenced by them, might look like.
Among other distinctive features of Mass. vehicle law, under its no-fault
motor vehicle insurance scheme, the operator of a motor vehicle involved
in a collision with a bicyclist or pedestrian is presumed to be at fault.
Compensation is paid to the bicyclists or pedestrian, up to the no-fault
limit, without the need for court proceedings, arbitration, or the need to
get a lawyer and negotiate a legal settlement. It;s not quite the same as
the "strict liability" regime I've been told exists in Germany, but up to
the no-fault limit, it amounts to the same thing. The limits aren;t high
enough for major injuries, but when I lived in Mass., I had two bikes that
were wrecked by motorists behaving badly replaced, and was reimbursed for
minor medical expenses and some lost wages, without having to go to court.
In addition, Mass. has by far the lowest percentage of uninsured motorists
of any state, about a quartter of the percentage in California:
http://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/uninsured-motorists
This is a direct result of the fact that Mass. is pretty much the only
state that actually enforces its motorist vehicle insurance mandate.
It works like this:
Unlike in CA or most other states that have various grace perios or
temporary registrations, there are no circumstances whatsoever in which
any motor vehicle can be operated on a public right of way in MA without
displaying valid plates, front and rear. Any motor vehicle without plates
is per se being operated illegally. It can and will be stopped on sight by
any police officer, and the driver can be arrested, not just cited.
I've been in a municipal court in MA on a Monday morning when someone was
brought in who had driven a (stolen) car with no plates from California
without being stopped. They got less than 50 miles into MA before being
pulled over and arrested, and had spent the weekend in the lockup.
In MA, licenase plates are proof of insurance. Plates cannot be issued
without first providing proof of insurance. When you buy a car in MA, you
(or the dealer) sends a runner to the Registry of Motor Vehicles with the
proof of insurance to pick up the plates, and the plates must be on the
vehicle (or it must have dealer plates valid only on vehicles covered by
the dealer's insurance) before it is driven off the dealer's lot.
If the insurance lapses, the insurance company is required to report this
fact to the Registry, which sends a deamdn to the owner for retrun of the
plates. If the plates aren;t promptly turned in (or the car insured
again), the Registry reports this to the police and puts the plate and VIN
numbers on the same lookout list as that of stolen cars. If the uninsured
car is spotted parked, it will be booted or towed. If it is spotted in
operation, it will be stopped, and the driver arrested.
Police treat unreturned plates of uninsured motor vehicle as a low
priority compared to arrest warrants for parole violators, etc. But if
they have time, I have actually known local police to knock on the door of
someone whose car insurance had lapsed, and ask for the plates back.
Uninsured motorists are a huge problem (including for cyclists and peds)
in most states, but much less in MA. I never heard of anyone getting hit
by an uninsured driver while I lived in MA, although I'm sure it happens.
If anyone claims that motor vehicle insurance mandates or strict liability
for motorists in collisions with cyclists or pedestrians are unenforceable
or politically unacceptable in the US, have them look at the MA example.
Peace,
Edward Hasbrouck
----------------
Edward Hasbrouck
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<http://hasbrouck.org>
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"The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World" (5th ed., 2011)
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