erok

Safety a casualty of biking's popularity

Saturday, June 18, 2005

By Lawrence Walsh, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By all accounts, bicycling is growing in popularity in the Pittsburgh area.

Unfortunately, accidents are also on the rise.

The latest occurred about 8 p.m. Thursday in the 1900 block of Beechwood Boulevard near the Frick Environmental Center in Squirrel Hill.

Thomas Cenna of Point Breeze, who was wearing a helmet, ran over a tree limb, was thrown over the handlebars and hit his head on the curb. Cenna was in critical condition last night with a fractured skull at UPMC Presbyterian.

Because Cenna didn't have any identification, police early yesterday issued a news release describing him and his bicycle and asking for the public's help in identifying him. Police urge bicyclists to always carry identification and the name of a contact person in case they are injured.

Last Saturday, Francis Andrews, 36, of Pittsburgh, was killed when he was hit by a car on West Park Road in Worth, Butler County. State police said Andrews was pedaling north about 9:45 a.m. when he saw a southbound car approach. He applied his brakes, lost control and skidded into the path of the car.

Two companions, Ralph Juhascik, 54, of Pittsburgh, and Courtney Scott, 27, of Annapolis, Md., also fell. Scott suffered minor injuries. Juhascik wasn't injured. Police said the trio was riding in a fund-raiser to benefit multiple sclerosis research.

A day earlier, Paul V. Haase Jr., 77, of Waverly, a bike racer in the U.S. Senior Olympics, died at UPMC Passavant of injuries he received on June 7 on Tennis Court Drive while warming up for a cycling competition in North Park.

Details surrounding Haase's death remain sketchy. It was initially reported that his death was heart-related. But the coroner's office, which conducted an autopsy last Saturday, said his death was accidental and that he died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck. It had no other details. Neither did county police.

Another bicyclist, Joseph Brautigan, 41, of Monroeville, who was wearing a helmet, suffered a head injury on May 11 while riding on North Ridge Drive in North Park.

Brautigan deliberately put his bike into a skid and went down to avoid a pickup truck coming out of a parking lot from his left, said Jim Morton, an assistant county police superintendent.

Although former railroad and railway right of ways are safer than roads, accidents can happen there, too.

A woman approaching Confluence on the Great Allegheny Passage in Somerset County last month tumbled over her handlebars when her front tire dropped into soft sand while she descended a short hill. She needed 13 stitches to close her cuts.

A work crew from Ohiopyle State Park repaired the surface, but heavy rains last week eroded it again. The passage, which when completed will link Pittsburgh and Cumberland, Md., is used by several hundred thousand people a year, according to the Allegheny Trail Alliance, a rail-trail organization.

Pittsburgh police Officer Mike Murray, a city bike patrol officer, said visibility is key to safe bike riding on public streets. That includes a headlight and blinking red taillight when riding at night.

"Bicyclists may think drivers see them, but all too often they don't," said Murray, 40, who works out of the Zone 4 station in Squirrel Hill. "They should always wear a helmet and bright colors and signal their intentions before turning. They also should make sure they make eye contact with drivers before executing a turn.

"Remember, not everyone is a good driver," he said. "Most car-bike accidents happen at intersections or crosswalks, primarily because motorists don't see them. Cyclists have to keep their eyes on the road and pay attention at all times. Look out for gravel, stones, potholes and sewer grates, especially in wet weather."

Murray, who rides his black Smith & Wesson bike 15 to 20 miles a day in Shadyside and Oakland, said bicyclists can ride in the traffic lane if they can maintain the speed limit. Since few cyclists can do that, the safest place to be is along the far right side of the road.

"State law requires bicyclists to obey all traffic signals and signs, but too many of them blow through stop signs and red lights if no one's coming," he said. "They should wait their turn just like everyone else."

Although bike messengers might disagree, especially those who navigate the busy Downtown area, Murray thinks that "for the most part, Pittsburgh is a pretty bike-friendly city.

In addition to knowing the rules of the road, cyclists also should keep their bikes in good operating condition, said John Wester, 41, another Zone 4 city bike officer.

Wester said the city's bike patrol officers follow the ABCs of safe biking every day by checking the air pressure, the brakes and the cranks. The pedals are attached to the latter.

Wester and Murray said their bikes are inspected every three months by officers who are certified bike technicians. Unless recreational bicyclists can do it themselves, the officers said they should have their bikes tuned up by a professional before every season and serviced when needed.

"Bicyclists can do a lot of damage to their bikes if they don't maintain them properly," said Jason Wright of Pittsburgh Pro Bicycles in Squirrel Hill.

For more information about biking in the city and/or maintaining and repairing your bike, go to www.bike-pgh.org; outsideadventures.org, e-mail outsideadventures@yahoo.com or call 724-230-0237; www.bikepittsburgh.com, e-mail golden trianglebikes@yahoo.com or call 412-600-0675; Venture Outdoors, call 412-255-0564 or visit www.ventureoutdoors.org.

Copies of the state Bicycle Driver's Manual are available at the State Office Building, Downtown.


(Lawrence Walsh can be reached at lwalsh@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1488.)

DISCUSS, and please respond to the writer....

emilymildew

This feels typically Pittsburgh to me. "Gosh, those cyclists sure do take risks and they run red lights all the time." What is the point of mentioning that?

------

Email I sent:

Dear Sir,

I was pointed to the article you wrote in Saturday's Post-Gazette about bicycling.

I am curious as to why you placed the responsibility for safety squarely on the shoulders of the cyclists and did not mention the fact that cars need to pay close attention to what is going on around them.

I am also curious as to your thoughts on an opportunity you may have missed. Your article mentions that "the safest place to be is along the far right side of the road." However, it does not mention the law, which is that riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is illegal (despite what drivers yell at me at least weekly while I am riding my bicycle) and that cyclists are required to ride as far to the right AS PRACTICABLE.

Cyclists don't want to make trouble for cars or inconveience them. It is a safe assumption that if a cyclist is traveling further from the right-hand side of the lane than a car would like, there is a safety reason involved. Perhaps the lanes are narrow and it would be dangerous for a car to pass a cyclist there. Perhaps there is debris on the side of the road.

Many drivers in this city have a problem with being made ten or fifteen seconds late to another red light.

You mention the law that requires cyclists to obey traffic signals; why don't you mention the one that requires us to ride in traffic with cars because we ARE traffic?

I feel as though you have let down the cycling community, sir, and have missed a valuable opportunity to potentially save lives.

Thank you,

Emily

PurpleK

Ride in the traffic lane if they can maintain the speed limit? Speed limits are maximums, not minimums. The point is not to go FASTER than the limit. On the vast majority of roadways, going slower than the speed limit is perfectly acceptable. And this is a cop saying this?

randya

You are of course correct. This misinterpretation of the law by the police is very common, and not only in Pittsburgh.

Roughstuff

Smith and Wesson bike? IS that a mythprint?

roughstuff

TCNJCyclist

You're absolutely right about speed limits being upper limits. However, I think the author was trying to say that cyclists should stay as far to the right as possible (safely), unless they can keep up with traffic (where they could ride in the middle of the lane). It's a poorly worded/constructed sentence that's unclear and can read in several different ways.

Is it just me or is this entire article unclear?

The author mentions that three cyclists were involved in an accident during a charity ride, but never mentions who was at fault. He also mentions that a cyclist died while warming up for a ride, and while I know that there wasn't an official explanation for the death, when the title of your article is "Safety a Casualty of Biking's Popularity", you should at least be able to say that the death was caused because of cycling (if you are going to use something as an example).

chocula

Nope. Made by Cycle Source Group, the same outfit that makes Jeep branded bikes, among others.

qmsdc15

It is not in the interest of police to be perceived as reasonable, intelligent people. That would make them appear weak and vulnerable to certain criminal types.

DCCommuter

This is an interesting sentence construction. Notice that the first sentence is ascribed to Officer Murray, but it's ambiguous whether the second is his opinion or that of the reporter. I wouldn't be surprised if it's actually the reporter inserting his own bias here; most reporters spend a lot of time driving around in traffic covering stories and have little sympathy for slow traffic of any kind.

The Pennsylvania Bicycle Operator's Manual is mentioned in the article. It is available here: https://www.dot.state.pa.us/Penndot/B...l?OpenFrameSet

It is John S. Allen's "Street Smarts" relabeled. It advocates vehicular cycling and specifically instructs not to ride too far to the right, directly contradicting the article.

I thought this was an interesting bit. The cranks? What's to check? Do they count them and make sure they get the same result each time? In terms of parts that are likely to fail and cause an accident, I would put those behind the headset, handlebars, forks, wheels, frame and seat. I love the idea of cops on bikes, but these guys are painful.

CB HI

Originally Posted by PurpleK Ride in the traffic lane if they can maintain the speed limit? Speed limits are maximums, not minimums. The point is not to go FASTER than the limit. On the vast majority of roadways, going slower than the speed limit is perfectly acceptable. And this is a cop saying this?


I do not think it helps them by proving police ignorance of the law, which too many of them so often do.

Dchiefransom

When my club conducts it's annual training of women to ride bicycles, we inspect the bikes the "trainees" will be riding. One year someone noticed a crankbolt was missing.

Ivan Hanz

Yea I'm trying to figure that out too. Of all the crappy maintenance I've participated in, of all the things that have broken on my bike, of all the things I've helped the Wally-world bikers fix on the trail, I've never had to do much with cranks.

Maybe they use a special Smith-Wesson reverse Italian thread that comes loose when you peddle. Sounds like a govt contract.

Besides that, it's an ok article. the thing about PGH is with the big hills, even a neophyte can get to 40mph pretty quick. Screwing up at high speed = big damage/death.

recursive

They offhandedly mention that MUPs are safer than roads as if it were common knowledge. Personally, I disrespectfully disagree.

noisebeam

The first sentence says "can ride in the traffic lane if they can maintain the speed limit" is already wrong. The second of course may not be what the officer said, but just compounds to the wrongness.

As to cranks - perhaps a stretch, but it is often good to check if the chainrings are securely attached to the cranks - I have found loose chainring bolts on my bike and see it happen to others.

Al

erok

If you are interested in these details, check out www.bike-pgh.org, and click on "in the news."

I thought the article made poor links, and had no real thesis other than cycling=danger, and this because of a few unrelated bike accidents, in the region. I don't like how the media plays on fear. i also don't think that if there were a few car accidents in a short time that there would be an article about how dangerous driving your car is.

ghettocruiser

Maybe I shouldn't be admitting this, but I dropped a crankarm on a charity bike ride a few years back. Most mountain bikers are perpetually knocking their cranksets loose.

webist

If the increase in the number of cycling accidents in Pittsburgh does indeed reflect an increase in cycling, I think any article which gives people in Pittsburgh pause to reflect on safety is probably positive.

If however, the premise is too many bikes increase the danger, I belive the author is entirely wrong. Additional riders on the other side of town, regardless of their behavior have no impact on my safety whatsoever, even they are all involved in injury causing accidents.

konageezer

Where did Lawrence Walsh go to J-school, anyway? Community college? Crappy article indeed.

And hey, Lawrence, if you're reading this, "latter" refers to the second of TWO things. More than two, the correct word is "last."

Doofus. Hmmph.

erok

i don't think that he was saying there are too many bikes. the author has been sympathetic to cycling in the past. i agree that any article that causes people to pause and reflect is positive, but he doesn't offer any conclusions, or points to pause and reflect other than cycling is dangerous. For instance he could have mentioned that car drivers need to be more aware, that the city can do a ton of things to increase the safety (but hasn't), etc... Instead, he chose to list the accidents with no context, and more or less put the blame on cycling and the cyclists by implying that everyone goes through red lights, etc.

John E

Because standard clockwise-threaded bolts are generally used on both sides, the left crank is self-loosening (been there ... done that .. hate to admit it to this group ). Most of the bolts on a bicycle should be checked periodically.

slagjumper

Should avoid these things! The otherday I was going accross the Rankin Bridge sidewalk and encountered a 10 foot long rusted cable that could have the same effect.


This one really interests me. Any witnesses? I think that the guy hit a wierd gate thing. These are fixed and protrude into the street and have street signs attatched. I heard that a tour guide hit one a few years back and took out a section of shoulder. The county should get rid of these in any event.


That seems like good advise to me.


That is as BS!. As far to the right as reasonable I thought. While there are no farm combines or tractors on the city street, there are back hoes that cant even go the speed LIMIT in high gear!


I have seen a station number 4 (SQ Hill) bike cop blow off the Forbes and Murray Ave light. I have started pointing left and right with my whole arm as I go through a light as if to say-- Motorists, look there is nothing comming I have looked! Also there is some abiguity in the pa code about the differences between a bicyclist, drivers and a pedestrian. For example both Peds and bicyclists have the same legal BAC of 3.0! I dont have the code ref so correct me if I am wrong. Though I do not bike that messed up.


An improperly maintained bike can do a lot more damage to the rider.