Advocacy & Safety - Sometimes there is nothing you can do.

Sometimes your safety is out of your own control. Even in liberal hippy-town bicycle-central Madison, Wisconsin.

http://www.cityofmadison.com/wsc/pdpress.wsc/ReleaseDetails.html?releaseNum=8637


On Tuesday morning, a little bit after midnight, Madison Police received a call about an injured bicyclist. The victim said he was eastbound on Speedway near the funeral home when he detected headlights coming up behind him. The next thing he knew a passenger riding in the back of a dark colored van reached out and grabbed him by his bike helmet. The victim says he was first pulled toward the van, and then pushed strongly away from the vehicle. The push caused him tumble over several times. The victim had a red flashing light mounted on the seat post of his bike, which was illuminated, and flashing at the time of the crash. Additionally, a headlight mounted on the bike's handlebars was turned on. The bike has reflectors on its pedals. The victim was also wearing a reflective yellow vest. He reports hearing male voices laughing as the van drove off. He was transported by ambulance to a local hospital for injuries listed above.

Anyone got any bright ideas about how to prevent something like that?

If you sense a vehicle approaching from behind and slowing to match your speed, the vehicle occupants are quite likely up to no good. If this happens at night you should assume that the vehicle occupants are up to no good. Possible evasive maneuvers include a quick stop followed by a U-turn, or any sudden course change away from the vehicle (onto a sidewalk, down a side street, etc.). Always have a cell phone and some way of recording vehicle details, like a pencil and paper, a voice recorder, or a camera equipped cell phone.

If you sense a vehicle approaching from behind and slowing to match your speed, the vehicle occupants are quite likely up to no good. If this happens at night you should assume that the vehicle occupants are up to no good. Possible evasive maneuvers include a quick stop followed by a U-turn, or any sudden course change away from the vehicle (onto a sidewalk, down a side street, etc.). Always have a cell phone and some way of recording vehicle details, like a pencil and paper, a voice recorder, or a camera equipped cell phone.

I was thinking something along these lines. I know the road where this happened. There are no cross streets, and very few driveways at that location. Knowing that road, I doubt there was much traffic there at midnight. He probably did have a few seconds to become suspicious about a van slowing down next to him.

I wonder if I could have hopped the curb quick enough to avoid that though. It doesn't take long to grab a helmet from out of a window. Gotta work on those handling skills.

I read that article this morning as well. I live in suburbia, 10 miles east and 15 miles north of me is the edge of a metropolis. 10 miles west and south are rural farms and Amish communities. I say this because it's summer now, and well, the kids that don't get summer jobs start getting a little bored and start raising hell once the sun sets.

I remain cautious, not paranoid while riding, I want to have fun when I'm out on my bike but this article made me wonder what I would do when faced with similar circumstances? I have a rearview mirror which may give me, at best, a second or two notice before trouble occurs. Depending on the closing speed of the van and the distance they were at I would try one of two things, if they're far enough away but I feel nervous about the intent of the occupants (like hearing the hollering mentioned) I would immediately break left and do an emergency U-turn or ride against traffic if necessary to a public safe spot. If I had less reactionary time I would slam on my brakes and/or hop the curb as soon as I could to reduce their time to react and keep things somewhat in my control.

As the thread title states, sometimes there is nothing you can do, my suggestions would require a lot of vigilance and luck on behalf of the cyclist and could put you in further harm. I guess it's what you're willing to do to protect your behind. Kudos to anybody that could get a license plate in such a situation, unless you have an on board recording device (voice or visual) I don't know how it could be done. In the first few moments following a crash I'm hardly able to open my cell phone much less fish out a camera/recorder or write down a plate.

There is no such thing as 100% prevention....it's not statistically possible! All you can do is operate under the presumption that at some point, a mistake on your or another road users part WILL occur and try not to be in the way when it happens by staying as situationally aware as is humanly possible.

I read about that incident and decided there was nothing the bicyclist could have done.

Alcohol was probably involved and the occupants of the van were probably young and bored and it was an impetuous, spontaneous act.

One can always wish for witnesses, but in lieu of that, "thank god I wasn't killed", is about the only way to deal with it.

That incident and an earlier one this year when a cyclist was hit by a car from behind and killed makes me appreciate that cycling is an inherently dangerous activity.

This got some degree of local press and if the occupants of the van realize what they did to the cyclist, I hope they see that it was foolish, that they could have been charged with a felony. It scares me to think that people set out on these excusions thinking about "getting a cyclist".

Madison is not the place it once was. The muggings around bar closing time downtown, the general apathy of students at the UW, the gang activity,...sigh...

I call this the bullseye effect. During the winter, I often run when it is dark, and I always wear a reflective vest, a headlamp (pointed downward toward the road) and usually a "blinkie" light on my back. Invariably, some a$$hole sees all this and aims his car at me to "teach me" that I shouldn't be running on the road. With all that stuff on you or your bike to warn drivers of your presence you also give the idiots a target.

Usually, it's some punk kid and usually he drives away with a dent in his door. I find I'm more apt to retaliate while running since I can get off the road easily, and, if they want a piece of me, they better be able to run sub 6 minute miles.:p In fact, usually sub 7:30 is enough to keep most of the would-be assailants at bay.:rolleyes:

It doesn't matter if you do everything 'right' 100% of the time, sometimes stuff happens and there is nothing you can do to prevent it...though the Monday morning quarterbacks will always try to tell you what you 'could' have done differently.

My guess is the guys in the van were a little drunk and decided to do something "funny"; i think the accident occured at around midnight.

Madison is not the place it once was. The muggings around bar closing time downtown, the general apathy of students at the UW, the gang activity,...sigh...

well, this is a consequence of unfettered building and cramming more and more people into the same living space. You sacrifice the virtues of a tightknit community with shared values for anonymity and the ability to act like a jacka$$

1) Locate the van
2) Buy a cheap used bike
3) Torch the van
4) Leave the bike as a replacement with a note reminding the van owner not to forget to wear a helmet


/Internet Tough Guy

It seems to me that even if you've tried to figure out ahead of time what you would do in a case like this, you probably won't think of it at the time anyway. You can't possibly expect everything all the time, so if it does happen, chances are by the time you get your mind around the fact that it's actually happening, it's too late to do anything about it. Best hope I guess is what markf said, be alert to the danger situations and signs before it actually starts happening.

1) Locate the van
2) Buy a cheap used bike
3) Torch the van
4) Leave the bike as a replacement with a note reminding the van owner not to forget to wear a helmet


/Internet Tough Guy

:lol:

One of the biggest triggers for "red alert" for me is a car matching my speed. It is usually never good, and you are in a very vulnerable situation because you can't usually go left or right. I'd much rather deal with a car going the opposite direction turning left in front of me because thare are many avenues of escape.

A car coming up next to me is usually its the precursor to a right hook, so I look over and yell and get ready to take evasive action immediately. Maybe just looking over would have dissuaded them because they could see the biker was aware of them, or he might have been able to fend off the arm reaching for him.

A helmet mounted mirror helps.

I had a car come up behind with a teenager hanging out the window, getting ready to grab.
I quickly moved a bit right and brought my fist down on his head.

We can raise our sons to be decent human beings. Decent men would never do something like this.