The Athlete's Lawyer

Doug Landau wins a chair at the Frederick County 2009 SportsFest

Soccer, Basketball and Golf tournaments were not the only events contested at the Frederick County Parks & Recreation Department‘s “SportsFest 2009.” FCPRD also held Aquathon races for adults, teams and kids at the Sherando Park Pool in Stephens City, Virginia. TriathlonTrialLawyer Doug Landau entered the SportsFest Aquathon, which combined a 500 meter pool swim with a 5km cross country run. While the Herndon injury & disability lawyer was one of the last to emerge from the pool, he managed to catch enough racers in the woods to finish 3rd overall. This was a good thing, as Landau won a chair and needed to sit and rest before racing again the next day in Colonial Beach !

After the race, the ABRAMS LANDAU trial attorney entertained questions from the Winchester, Clark County and Front Royal multisport athletes, cyclists and wheelmen who had been following the fate of the “MS-8.” These “outside the Beltway” athletes were baffled by the criminal prosecutions of the charity bikers in Loudoun County and Leesburg. Landau patiently explained the court cases, the outcomes and the relevant laws before going to watch some of the other SportsFest competitions. This truly “Multi” Sport event is unique, inexpensive and looks like great fun for all ages and the entire family.

Maccabi Triathlon Team members Urbach, Stuckelman and Landau with their 2009 DC Dextro Triathlon prizes

The DC Dextro Triathlons had 5 Maccabiah team athletes competing 4 weeks before the quadrennial games’ triathlon was to be contested in Israel. It was a great day for members of the USA Maccabiah Triathlon team racing in our Nation’s Capitol (yes, that’s the White House behind Landau’s head !). Mark Stuckelman, a member of the 2009 team, along with 2005 team member Rob Urbach, won an age group award in the Olympic Distance race. Doug Landau, also from the 2005 team, won an award in the sprint distance event. Because the race was contested under DC’s hot and humid conditions, it was an excellent training exercise for Stuckelman, who will likely encounter severe “heat load” in Israel. By preparing for extreme conditions, endurance athletes can carry enough water, electrolytes and calories to prevent dehydration, overheating and “bonking.” Experienced athletes like Stuckelman will experiment with different hydration solutions and gels in order to ascertain the best mix of solid and liquid fuels for long, hot racing. Heat injury and exhaustion can lead to bike crashes, dizziness, fainting and loss of consciousness. That is why it is so important to train for the conditions in which you will be racing and to acclimatize once you arrive at the race venue.

Maccabiah USA athletes Rob Urbach, Doug Landau, Lisa Levin Reichman and Mark Stuckelman

Maccabiah USA Sports for Israel supporters and participants crossed paths at the ITU Dextro Triathlons in Washington, D.C. These races were held in the Potomac River and finished on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and Capitol Hill ! The world’s best pro triathletes competed after the amateurs. Their transition area was carpeted for their multi-lap, draft legal races. Doug Landau got to watch the race with 2-time Olympic medalist Simon Whitfield of Canada. What Landau, who has a keen interest in sports medicine, found particularly interesting was the fact that the leaders where running at just over 5 minutes per mile pace at heart rates of only 140 beats per minute!

Triathletes Urbach, Charles Chester and Landau after the DC Dextro Triathlons

TriathlonTrial Lawyer Doug Landau was able to visit with 2005 teammate (and bicycle crash injury client) Rob Urbach before and after the races. Also participating in one of her first multisport races was 2005 US Maccabiah Triathlon Team Manager Lisa Levin Reichman. Mrs. Reichman, in addition to being a busy wife and mother who was featured in the Examiner newspapers this spring, was also a Pan Am Maccabiah Games half marathoner and medalist. Doug Landau has worked with Maryland attorney and triathlon competitor Charles Chester, andit is hoped that Chester will have the opportunity to go and compete in Israel together. 2009 Triathlon Team Member Mark Stuckelman, who was visiting from Los Angeles, California, was using the DC race as a tune up. Good luck to Mark and the rest of the 209 United States Triathlon team.

Leesburg, Loudoun and Fairfax County bikers lawyer Doug Landau answering questions at the Reston Bike Club ride in Herndon, Virginia

If I get ticketed while riding my bike I could lose my license to drive my car, but if I get my license to drive my car suspended, do I lose my bicycle privileges ?”

Do I now have to carry my drivers license when I ride my bicycle ?

Are the Loudoun, Fairfax and Leesburg police now going to write me up for not having reflectors and lights when I ride with my bike club ?

These are some of the questions that came flooding into TriathlonTrialLawyer Doug Landau’s office after Tuesday’s Court case in Leesburg, the Loudoun Times article , comments on the blogsphere and Thursday’s coverage on the NBC evening news. While the ABRAMS LANDAU injury and disability lawyer spends most of his time helping injured cyclists, athletes, workers and their families, his answers to these questions are as follows:

1. If your drivers license is suspended or revoked, you can still ride your bicycle. It is an interesting hypothetical though. What if you continue to accumulate “points” for biking infractions, have no drivers license, can you continue to “bike with impunity” as long as you pay the fines ?

2. No, you are not required to carry your drivers license while biking. While I do carry identification, a few dollars (in case I bonk or need some dough for a date), first aid kit, a cell phone, 3-way wrench or swiss army knife, camera (annoying, I know), and some electrolytes, I do not carry my drivers license (or passport) because I might lose these important documents and no law requires that I maintain them with me while cycling.

3. Reflectors and lights are for riding after sunset and prior to sunrise. If the police or sheriff’s offices start ticketing for not having these items during daylight hours, it would be hard to imagine a Commonwealth’s Attorney taking the case to trial. When I prosecuted cases in Florida for the State Attorney’s Office, I would not have tried such a case. The police, courts and prosecutors have better things to do that pursue daytime reflector and light charges.

Thank you for your questions, comments and suggestions.

“How is it illegal in Virginia to operate a bicycle IN BROAD DAYLIGHT with no lights or reflectors ?” “I’m going to check the reflectors on my bike as soon as I get off the computer. ” “Please cite the relevant statute or local ordinance.”

Cycle injury lawyer Doug Landau asks, where would you put lights or reflectors on this client's bike ?

These were some of the comments I recently received after representing cyclists in the Loudoun County District Court in Leesburg Tuesday. The short answer is no, you do not need lights on or reflectors from sunrise to sunset. However, I have been stopped by the police for not having reflectors, lights and even mud guards on my old Italian Bianchi racing bike while commuting home from the train station in Cambridge England !

Most racing and triathlon bikes do not have lights, reflectors or mudguards in order to save weight, rotating mass and because most competitions are held in the daytime. If you are a bicycle commuter, long distance bike tour participant or training very early or late in the day, you may need to have lights, reflectors and other safety gear. Here’s the relevant Virginia Code section

§ 46.2-1015. Lights on bicycles, electric personal assistive mobility devices, electric power-assisted bicycles, and mopeds.

A. Every bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, and moped when in use between sunset and sunrise shall be equipped with a headlight on the front emitting a white light visible in clear weather from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front and a red reflector visible from a distance of at least 600 feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful lower beams of headlights on a motor vehicle. Such lights and reflector shall be of types approved by the Superintendent.

In addition to the foregoing provisions of this section, a bicycle or its rider may be equipped with lights or reflectors. These lights may be steady burning or blinking.

B. Every bicycle, or its rider, shall be equipped with a taillight on the rear emitting a red light plainly visible in clear weather from a distance of at least 500 feet to the rear when in use between sunset and sunrise and operating on any highway with a speed limit of 35 mph or greater. Any such taillight shall be of a type approved by the Superintendent.

Washington Area Bicyclist Association, Winchester Wheelmen, VBF, Fairfax Cycle and other groups have called, sent e-mails and comments about the Multiple Sclerosis Ride and other bikers’ court cases in Leesburg. They raise valid points, concerns and criticisms. I will try to answer as best I can.

Cycling injury and bike crash lawyer Doug Landau welcomes your comments, suggestions and help

For those who want to speak to me in person, over the next 7 days I will be available in Fairfax, Frederick and Westmorland Counties for sports events in Herndon, Winchester & Colonial Beach. I plan on riding tomorrow with the Reston Bike Club here at the Caboose in Herndon (a block from the ABRAMS LANDAU office); competing at the FCPRD SportsFest Saturday morning; and then traveling to Colonial Beach that afternoon for the Olympic Distance Triathlon on Sunday. I hope to be in D.C. next Wednesday as well.

Though I will not be in my “Court attire,”I welcome discussing cycling issues “live” at those times. I devote the majority of my work to helping injured and disabled children, families, workers, cyclists and other athletes with their catastrophic and permanent injury cases throughout the East Coast. Our office has an “open book” policy as well as the only “total transparency” policy (where we INVITE people to come and watch us in court, teach, conduct mock trials for the new judges’ training program, lecture, race, etc.) so that everyone can see what we do and how we do it. It’s as simple as that. I want to thank all y’all for keeping me “in the loop.” Please let us know of cycling safety and legal issues in the future.

Now to the facts:

ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. was contacted only last week by one of the Defendant bicyclists cited by the Loudoun County Sheriffs for failure to stop. On Friday, July 3rd, 2009 during my and my wife’s annual birthday vacation in Connecticut I spoke to the first of these bikers. This experienced cyclist advised that the cases were to be heard in Court on Tuesday. Agreeing to represent as many bicycle riders who would have me on the 7th of July, pro bono (at no charge), Read the rest of this entry »

Doug Landau & MS-8 biker clients leave the Leesburg Court

This morning Doug Landau represented 2 of the bikers who were ticketed for rolling through a stop sign in Loudoun County. But the details of their ride are turning heads all over Virginia, as reported in prior posts.

On Sunday June 11th, a total of eight cyclists were stopped for this offense (Virginia Code 46.2-821) during the MS ride, by a police officer whose car was parked a full 300 feet away, with orange cones near the 7-11 “rest stop.” As the cyclists approached the stop signs, located on an open, rural road, they slowed down, looked both ways, saw no traffic and continued on their route around the “squircle” (a squared off traffic circle with 4 stop signs and a sidewalk running through the center). Rather than follow some of the cyclists through the middle of the square, these experienced bicycle riders thought going around the “squircle” would be safer. The police officer, who the cyclists thought was waving on participants in the Multiple Sclerosis charity ride, then proceeded to ticket them for not coming to a complete stop. No warning. Just a citation for a moving violation, with 4 points and a large fine as well!

Landau represented two of the cyclists this morning in the Loudon County Court, both of whom plead “not guilty” to the charges. But before the judge called the case up for trial after all the other cases had been heard, Landau showed the photographic and documentary evidence Read the rest of this entry »

TRIATHLON INFORMATION NIGHT

Tuesday 7/7 7:30pm – at the Broadlands Nature Center – Back Patio

Maybe you have now done a race or two, and are wondering, “what’s next”. Or perhaps you’ve heard others talking about all the fun they had training and racing and are wondering if triathlon might be for you. Come for a brief presentation of Triathlon 101, and a question and answer session. Brian Crow (see “Places” section), Triathlon Coach and Trainer, will be here to talk about setting goals, training programs, picking races and Team TPR. This is meant to be an informative evening for both experienced triathletes looking for a local tri club, and people thinking they might want to take the plunge. No commitments required, just lots of information to share and a chance to ask questions. Please forward this to anyone else you feel might be interested. The more the merrier.

Feel free to contact Coach Brian Crow 703-887-5392 and triath@comcast.net or Laura Aldrich 703-728-6922 if you have any questions.

Doug Landau during a recent weekend ride

Laws that make the roadways safer for cyclists and motorists, while at the same time freeing up the traffic courts, police and judges to concentrate their precious time, energy and resources on dangerous criminals and drunk drivers should be adopted. It’s the “All American” thing to do.  As one who has represented injured cyclists and motorists throughout Loudoun, Fairfax and Leesburg, the Idaho Stop law makes sense and apparently saves lives as well.

According to research from the University of California’s School of Public Health, the law has made roadways safer, while getting more people to commute by bike. Carl Bianchi, a retired administrative director of Idaho’s state courts who is widely considered the father of the Idaho Stop, said it was traffic judges — not cyclists — who pushed for the idea in 1982, according to an April article in The Oregonian (‘Idaho Stop’ is a go for bicycle safety“):

“Police were ticketing bike riders for failing to come to a complete, foot-down stop. Judges, however, saw “technical violations” clogging up their courts. “We recognized that the realities of bicycling were a lot different than driving a car,” Bianchi said. But the year after the Idaho Stop became law, bicycle injuries in the state actually declined by 14.5 percent.

Meanwhile, in the past 27 years, Idaho motorists and police have grown to accept the legislation as sensible public policy, said Jason Meggs, a UC-Berkeley researcher who spent last summer crunching years of traffic data, conducting interviews and observing cyclist behavior in the state. Boise, home to Idaho’s biggest bike population, “has actually become safer for bicyclists than other cities which don’t have the law,” Meggs said.”

The Reston Bike Club discussing bike safety after a summer evening ride from Herndon at the W&OD Trail

The law in Idaho permits cyclists to roll up to a stop sign, yield the right of way, and then proceed without stopping. This is what the “MS-8″ Multiple Sclerosis charity ride participants did and what most bike commuters and weekend riders that I have observed do in Leesburg, Loudoun and Fairfax Counties. The “Idaho Stop” law makes sense and should be adopted by other states, including the Commonwealth of Virginia. Click here for an excellent animated video by Spencer Boomhower as to how this law works and the efficiencies in bicycling. The “Idaho Stop” law does NOT allow a cyclist to “Blow through” or “Race through” a stop sign.

Had the “Idaho Stop” law been in effect during the Multiple Sclerosis charity ride or when the Potomac Peddlers bike group was stopped by the Loudoun County Police, then  perhaps the “MS-8″ would have to appear in the Loudoun District Court tomorrow in Leesburg to contest the charges.