Pacific Northwest - Sad

Another cyclist gone:(
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008495440_webcyclist11m.html?syndication=rss

This kinda stuff happens way to often. My condolences to the family. I've had a few close calls myself, as I'm sure many of you have. We should all feel fortunate that was not us.

I believe this is yet another example of why drivers should have to take a driving test when they renew there license every 5 years.

I can't believe some of the comments I read about the article. Those clowns need to have their driving privlages taken away. Just so they can see what it is like to be a cyclist or pedestrian in this area.

^^ exactly what I was thinking

I really wish newspaper websites would stop allowing comments when someone local is killed in a tragic accident. We had something similar in Vancouver when a teenager died in a automobile accident, and the comments were just vile. I'm sorry, but someone's son just died, and in this case, someone's father/brother/uncle just died.

Y'know...I don't know when the ridiculous practice of letting anonymous posts about news articles started, but I agree this is just not a good practice. I'm sure it's a money thing, as in CNN discovered their webhits go up when they started doing comment sections, but there is absolutely no value added. At the very least they should make the comments ID verified with a name at the end of each one. All the comment boxes seem to do is enable polarized opinions to get aired while hurting, all too frequently, the victims of tragic circumstances.

Very sad. My sympathies to the family and friends of the victim.

Do you think making them register would temper the comments? Not going to happen. No one is forced to read the comments, if they disturb you that much don't read them. I prefer an open debate, regardless of the troll comments that always pop up. Much better than the old system of a closed garden where the editors decided who got to comment and then usually edited the comment.

They (the newspapers) should have the same requirements to comment on articles as they do on their own editorial page. You can not have a letter printed unless you provide the paper with your name and addresss and then your name is printed along with your letter. This might curtail bs like we read on the times website.

:( for the victim's family and friends.
:mad: at those who use a tragedy as a vehicle for their own ugliness to spill out. I didn't read the comments, and I don't plan to. I've seen them before. Let's all be extra careful out there, especially with the weather this weekend.

Y'know...I don't know when the ridiculous practice of letting anonymous posts about news articles started, but I agree this is just not a good practice. I'm sure it's a money thing, as in CNN discovered their webhits go up when they started doing comment sections, but there is absolutely no value added. At the very least they should make the comments ID verified with a name at the end of each one. All the comment boxes seem to do is enable polarized opinions to get aired while hurting, all too frequently, the victims of tragic circumstances.

From the papers' standpoint, anonymous commenting is even easier than printing call-in rant line complaints 'cause nobody needs to listen to the recording to decipher it through the drool etc...

The updated article in the Seattle Times now says the cyclist had lights and was wearing "protective gear, including a reflecting vest". How could the driver have not seen him? The article doesn't mention alcohol being a factor, but I wonder if the driver was impaired in some other way.

Bikes are just not as visible as cars no matter how many lights and reflectors you have on. You are just smaller. This is why the law requires motorcyclists to have their headlight on all the time. If you want to be safe on a bike, this might be something to consider. Because your are small, you can easily be hidden behind a windshield pillar. This is one of the reasons that motorcycle patrolmen ride side-by-side, so people will see them. I don't know exactly what happened in this case, but after looking at the location where the accident happened I can understand how the driver could have missed the bicyclist, especially if the bicyclist was coming down the hill at 30 to 40 mph.
A contributing factor in my opinion is the skewed intersection. Renton Avenue has a center turn lane and it would seem easy to make a left onto South 130th Street at such a shallow angle. Instead of stopping, looking, and executing the left turn, a driver would just tend to veer left without stopping (and without looking as carefully). Current road standards call for new intersections to be built at approximately ninety degrees for this reason.
Check it out on google maps. They have the road cameras now ("Street View") and you can look at the pictures as if you were standing in the middle of the street.