Advocacy & Safety - Cyclist hit from behind, killed

A 77 year old woman from the Eugene area was struck from behind by a 75 year old man. She was riding with her grandson on Sunday at 11:30 AM, straight road, wide shoulder, clear day her grandson was not hit. Sad!! How does this happen?
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/01/23/c1.cr.bikefatal.0123.p1.php :( :mad:

People in a car will stare at an object and steer right into it. Strange but true.

She was repairing her bike on the narrow shoulder.

Lesson: move far off the roadway to do repairs, even if it means you'll be in grass instead of on pavement.

What a horrible shame.

From the article: "A woman bicycling with her grandson on Marcola Road was struck and killed by a pickup truck Sunday as she was repairing her bicycle on the shoulder of the roadway" (my emphasis).



People in a car will stare at an object and steer right into it. Strange but true.
Usually, this happens to drunk drivers who drive into the back of cars stopped at the side of the road (often police cars) because they cannot effectively perceive the difference between a moving and stopped car. They think they're just following the car in front of them.

This case seems to be different. I believe this is a classic case of "inadvertent drift". Drivers inadvertently drift into shoulders (and bike lanes) more often than many of us would like to admit. Most of the time, there is no one there, so it really doesn't matter. In this case, it did. Tragically. My heart goes out to the family.

Whether stopped or riding, beware of the susceptibility of shoulders and bike lanes to inadvertent drift. When stopping, it's best to get off the road entirely. When riding, I believe the key is getting the approaching driver's attention by riding closer to the center of the lane, and moving over to facilitate their passing only after you have their attention. A mirror is very helpful for this. [NOTE: this technique and it's alleged efficacy is not "standard" vehicular cycling; it is mostly my own opinion, loosely based on the concepts of "primary riding position" in John Franklin's wonderful book, "Cyclecraft". Take it with a grain of salt, but it works for me].

She was repairing her bike on the narrow shoulder.

Lesson: move far off the roadway to do repairs, even if it means you'll be in grass instead of on pavement.

What a horrible shame.

Yes!

Remember when you are doing repairs you are no much lower and less visible. If I had to do repairs on a limited shoulder I would also face traffic. It may not help, but it improves the chances of seeing someone coming and taking evasive action.

People in a car will stare at an object and steer right into it. Strange but true.

i don't mean to change the subject but this very topic was the first lesson taught to me when i started mountain biking, look where you want to go, not where you don't want to go.

My best friend in high school was killed by a drunk driver out near marcola, people go way to fast on those roads because of fairly little traffic (at least when i lived in Eugene). Bumemr to hear about this.

This looks like one of those 12% cases where an old person is the cause of a road death.

People too old to drive should check into this:
http://www.itnamerica.org/

Horrible. A few weeks ago, a woman was hit and killed as she got mail from her mailbox. Some people should *NOT* have a drivers license. (fortunately, in this case they found the driver ... the full story is sickening).

jw