Originally Posted by
randya
The
final police report on
Brett Jarolimek's fatal right hook accident exonerated the garbage truck driver with the lousy driving record and the broken mirror for right-hooking Brett, claiming that Brett was riding 'too fast for conditions' at 21 mph in a 30 mph zone.
Passing on the right near the curb at an intersection approach is unsafe, and especially so at 21 mph, even if the speed limit is 30 mph.
Originally Posted by
John E
Regarding "unsafe speeds" for cyclists, I think it is self-evident that a prudent and safe speed in a main travel lane is generally higher than in the adjacent narrow bike lane. For those familiar with La Costa Av. west of Rancho Santa Fe Rd., I find myself staying in the bike lane on the (slow) ascent, but feeling much safer out of the bike lane on the (fast) descent, where I want to be seen by potential right-hookers, right-crossers, left-crossers, et al. I guess that makes me a bike lane fan going up and a hard core vehicular cyclist coming down.
That's right, John. The
conditions in "too fast for
conditions" includes lateral position. I see bicyclists often riding too fast considering how close they are to the edge of the road, given all the potential hazards that lurk there, and the limited vantage, conspicuousness and maneuvering space that comes from riding there. Of course, bike lanes like the downhill one on La Costa invite cyclists to do exactly that, and they get accustomed to doing it, and so many seem to develop a lack of sensitivity about the safety compromises inherent in riding like that (much like riding in door zones doesn't necessarily feel unsafe to many cyclists).
I know a guy who was riding about 20 mph in the bike lane on Miramar Road, a 45 mph road, and was hit, arguably because he was going too fast for conditions. He was passing three lanes of stopped motor traffic on his left unaware that they were stopped in order to allow an oncoming van to turn left from the center turn lane across their path into a midblock commercial driveway. The van crossed the traffic lanes and was crossing the bike lane when the guy smashed into the side of the van. There was no way he could have avoided it, given his speed and the shortened sight lines.