Cyclists now killing each other

[Harpie]

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2339817,00.html

Rocky Mountain News October 11, 2003 LITTLETON (Colorado)

Bicyclist dies after head-on collision on trail

A 60-year-old bicyclist died Friday after colliding head-on into another bicyclist, Littleton
police said.

The man's name was not released Friday night.

The crash occurred about 1 p.m. near Prince Street on Mary Carter Greenway Trail after a 35-year-old
bicyclist bumped into another rider and ran into the 60-year-old man.

The 35-year-old was treated for minor injuries at Swedish Medical Center and released.

=============================================================

This was a matter of time; I've seen cyclists race around on this greenway like they were competing
for the gold medal. It sounded like the 35-year old was the one at fault, and probably exceeding the
speed limit (I believe it's 15 on the greenway).

Marianne

 

[Michael Fuhr]

"Harpie" <[email protected]> writes:

> http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2339817,00.html

[snip]

> This was a matter of time; I've seen cyclists race around on this greenway like they were
> competing for the gold medal. It sounded like the 35-year old was the one at fault, and probably
> exceeding the speed limit (I believe it's 15 on the greenway).

The story doesn't contain enough information to say who was at fault, nor does it say anything about
any of the cyclists' speeds. It says that "a 35-year-old bicyclist bumped into another rider and ran
into the 60-year-old man" but it doesn't describe the circumstances that caused the 35-year old to
bump the other rider. It's possible that the "other rider" was actually the one who did the bumping,
or that the 35-year-old had to make a sudden evasive maneuver to avoid an inattentive person or
animal (e.g., an unleashed or otherwise uncontrolled dog). It's also possible that all three riders
contributed to the accident through their combined actions or inattentiveness. The press isn't known
for accuracy in reporting incidents such as this, and without more information it's impossible to
lay blame or make assumptions about what happened.

I've ridden that trail and it has a 15mph speed limit posted in many places. The Colorado Bicycling
Manual[1] published by the Colorado Department of Transportation reminds trail users to control
their speed and says that bicyclists must yield to skaters, walkers, and equestrians, and that
faster traffic must yield to slower traffic. However, no matter how careful a cyclist is, no matter
how much he controls his speed, no matter how loudly he announces his presence, other trail users
will still cause accidents by not paying attention to what they're doing or by allowing their
children or pets to run wildly on the path. It's frustrating that cyclists, especially "fast" ones,
are automatically blamed for such accidents.

If an investigation finds the 35-year-old to have been at fault then he should be held accountable
for the older man's death. But don't automatically judge him guilty based on the scant information
reported in a newspaper.

[1] http://www.dot.state.co.us/BikePed/BikePedManual.htm

--
Michael Fuhr http://www.fuhr.org/~mfuhr/

 

[Ajrbjr]

Head ons with other riders have been on my mind since yetserday. I was on a forest preserve trail
and 3 different times people were coming towards me riding pretty fast with no hands. I kind of
expected them to grab on when they got closer but none of them did. Only one was a kid. I don't care
if they want to kill themselves but they shouldn't endanger those around them.

Andy

 

[Steve McDonald]

About 20 years ago in Eugene, they closed off a section of road in a park to motor vehicles. Two
bike riders going in opposite directions were using it in a heavy fog. It's hard to imagine that
they were both dense enough to be following the center stripe and to be riding fast in those
circumstances. When they collided, they both suffered several broken bones and had to lie on the
road for an hour before someone discovered them. They both had broken spines and became permanently
paraplegic.

At about the same time, the local college installed a 2-way bike lane on a downhill section of
street. It was placed between the sidewalk and an angle-parking strip. Could any worse
combination of features have existed? It ran by the campus police station and the first week,
an officer stepped into the path of a speeding downhill biker, without thinking to look right
or left. He was so badly injured, that he barely survived and was never able to work again. The
morons left this deathtrap in place for over a year, despite numerous other mishaps and
countless near-collisions between bikers and pedestrians.

We now have an active bicycle coalition group here and whenever such a hazard is discovered, we
carry out an organized hounding of the city or county, until it's corrected. However, in the
adjacent town of Springfield, numerous road hazards exist for bicyclists and the apathetic
government is not responsive to complaints. There's a side-by-side comparison of a good
bicycling city and a very bad one.

Steve McDonald

 

[David L. Johnso]

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 22:54:22 +0000, AJRBJR wrote:

> Head ons with other riders have been on my mind since yetserday. I was on a forest preserve trail
> and 3 different times people were coming towards me riding pretty fast with no hands. I kind of
> expected them to grab on when they got closer but none of them did. Only one was a kid. I don't
> care if they want to kill themselves but they shouldn't endanger those around them.

Lighten up. Riding no hands is not necessarily dangerous. I ride from time to time no hands, even in
a group. The bike is still totally controllable -- OK, stopping is a bit questionable, but
controlling direction is not a problem.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | There is always an easy solution to every human problem - neat, _`\(,_ | plausible, and
wrong. --H.L. Mencken (_)/ (_) |

 

[Pete]

"AJRBJR" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > Riding no hands is not necessarily dangerous.

This is a true statement.

>
> It sure as hell is when the guy is weaving all over the place and there
are
> kids all around and he's coming right towards you.

This has nothing to do with the above.

Corollary: Driving is not necessarily dangerous. Driving like an idiot can be very dangerous.

Pete

 

[Michael Fuhr]

"Harpie" <[email protected]> writes:

> http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2339817,00.html

Here's a follow-up story:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2346033,00.html

--
Michael Fuhr http://www.fuhr.org/~mfuhr/

 

[The Real Bev]

Steve McDonald wrote:

> At about the same time, the local college installed a 2-way bike lane on a downhill section
> of street. It was placed between the sidewalk and an angle-parking strip. Could any worse
> combination of features have existed?

Yes. Putting the bike lane BEHIND the angle-parking strip, absolutely guaranteeing that a driver
backing out of a parking place will never be able to see a cyclist until it's too late.

--
Cheers, Bev
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"I don't care who your father is! Drop that cross
one more time and you're out of the parade!"