A Dangerous summer. Friends seriously injured and lucky to be alive. A reminder that what we do is extremely dangerous and how cautious we should be. We can never have enough reminders:
http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/editorials/0000139.shtml
His Helmet:
Lucky to be alive indeed. Unfortunately this summer my uncle was not lucky. He did everything right, daytime ride, wide shoulder, helmet, etc. For whatever reason a bus driver drifted into the shoulder and hit my uncle smack dab in the center of the vehicle. He never had a chance. 110% the vehicle driver’s fault. Oddly, two other cyclists died in Boise the same month. Two daughters lost a loving father.
We had a local tragedy today as well. I didn’t know him, but some of my friends did. From what I’ve been told, it sounds like we lost one a hell of a good guy…
This is awful ews- I’m so sorry to read this. These things that are all too common really frame the necessity for us to be as safe as possible which is, sometimes, not even safe enough.
We had a local tragedy today as well. I didn’t know him, but some of my friends did. From what I’ve been told, it sounds like we lost one a hell of a good guy…
http://www.wral.com/...local/story/5553372/
I used to live in Cary and rode that route alot, and the same area a friend of mine was badly damaged by a car.
I Love the last sentence:
“Over the past month, Stephens said police have started a campaign to make cyclists aware of the dangers on the road and remind them that they are required by law to follow the same rules of the road as motorists.”
This is like 1/4th the issue. It’s that drivers dont know how to interact with cyclists.
Exactly. There is no impetus for driver education when interacting with cyclists.
From the article… Friends said Rosar was a defensive driving expert. “He wanted you to be aware that your bicycle was a vehicle on the road and had the same status as automobiles,” Chilcote said.
We may think we have the same status, but that’s hardly any comfort when a bicycle and car come together… It’s hardly a victory laying in the hospital (or worse) thinking “Ha, I was in the right”.
A sad story.
Brad
Thanks for posting. In the first 30mins of my ride today I rode past two separate ambulance/bike accident scenes. That made me extra cautious for the rest of the ride.
All of your advice is great. I am not a group rider…but I will wait for a few other cyclists to ride with when going through a congested area. If nothing else, we are a easier to see as a group.
Sorry to read these stories.
Local cyclist was down in Newport Beach on PCH yesterday(my regular ride).
It’s dangerous out there.
I hope everyone made it back safely from their rides over the weekend.
Friend of mine hit two Thursday’s ago by a car while he was in a bike lane!
Driver cited for “Failure to yield”
Cyclist will fully recover and is having his ride replaced. Very lucky guy!
Hey Tom, another tool I’ve started using for safty when I’m out on long solo rides is http://phonelocator.mobi/
It works with my Nokia E71 but I’m sure there are similar applications for other phones that allow people to track your location via a website. It can prevent unecessary worry, or worst case scenario it can help track my last known location down if anything bad did happen. That and I could phone up my Wife or a friend if I have a mechanical issue and just tell them to check my website for my location.
On a side note my Dad who lives in England loves to use it to see what I’m up to in the states.
It’s dangerous out there.
CORRECTION: There are dangerous drivers out there.
.
Holy crap…I just heard about yet another car/bike accident that occurred yesterday morning at the intersection of Hines Drive and Northville Road. Apparently the rider’s bike was destroyed, but thankfully he’s okay.
More and more it makes me happy we have over 100 miles of bike paths locally other than road crossings now and then the worst I have to watch out for is other bikers, joggers, and walkers with their dogs.
Wow, well stated.
As someone who also spends quite a bit of time on the road, would like to respectfully add two (2) items to your list of preventative measures.
1_BRIGHT clothing, the day glow version. (let the “elite” roadies sneer at this suggestion while they browse the web at the ER) and
2_Some good quality day lighting (such as DiNotte and others manufacture), leave the kids stuff at home.
Just an observation, and not intending to be critical in any way of your writing - just an observation:
I think it is fascinating how bike/car accidents are reported, because often the word choice personifies the cyclist and dehumanizes the driver. For instance, look at the title of this thread. Rather than using parallel terms (i.e. cyclist hit by driver or bike hit by car) it reads cyclist hit by car, thereby humanizing the cyclist and not the driver.
I see this word choice all the time in the newspaper. Just the other day I read a story where a “cyclist was hit when a car swerved off the road.” Did the car not have a driver? I wonder why writers choose to make this rhetorical move.
The cynic in me thinks that perhaps newspaper writers choose such words because it keeps the driver out of the equation, and somehow not at fault. Then readers, who don’t like cyclists, can say, “Dumb cyclist got in the way of the car!” Now it is the car’s fault and the cyclist’s fault, and never the driver’s fault.
Once again, word choice carries all the meaning in writing.
That is an interesting insight. I don;t own a car, and I work in a bike shop, so to me- the cyclist is the more “human” and identifiable element.
I see cars as rather anonymous- not as instruments of the driver. It’s an admitedly odd perspective.
Local cyclist was down in Newport Beach on PCH yesterday(my regular ride).
It’s dangerous out there.
Sorry to hear about this. Santa Ana River Trail to PCH south to Laguna Cyn/Irvine to Jamboree back to the river is one of my standards. It’s just a matter of time before I am a hood ornament. Which sucks.
A 10 wheels truck pass by and almost hit me today, while there was no cars in the other direction, he could have easily pass 3 meters on my left, but it was more like a 2 inches. So stupid a$$hole, I wish I was able to find him, I would have told him some insane things (I know it does not change anything, but it makes me feel better).