Advocacy & Safety - Biker Down

I lifted the text below from my bike club's website:

"Alan Stern, 52, commuted, raced, and trained 15,000 miles or more a year on his bike for nearly 30 years, winning a state road bike championship and qualifying for Race Across America along the way. He has called Chicagoland Bicycle Federation every day for 10 years, never to talk about anything else except bikes: riding them, fixing them, racing them. On January 3 at 9:30 pm, a driver at California and Devon in Chicago nearly took Al's right leg off, broke his left ankle, snapped both wrists, broke his collarbone and several ribs, and kept driving.

"Al had been doing everything right: he was in the right lane, going north. He had a headlight, a front-mounted white blinking VistaLite, a reflective vest, reflective ankle bands, and a helmet with reflective markings. The westbound car, turning left off of Devon, turned into Al's northbound lane,
smashing into him. Al's at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston where his leg was saved. All limbs are in casts.

"The state says Al is disabled, and supports him and his mother. He has worked only sporadically at local bike shops as a temporary wrench. With no driver identified, there will be no money to cover the expenses that the state doesn't. "

There is no other moral than what we already know: You can do everything as safely as possible, but you have no control over what drivers are doing. Keep your insurance in force and and batteries in your blinkies.

It's just a shame they didn't get the tosser. Having got away with it once, he'll probably try it again now.

There is nothing I can add to this.

I was looking for a smilie for "rage", I think we need one.

Sickening

Originally posted by Louis
I was looking for a smilie for "rage", I think we need one.

Sickening

You couldn't really call that a 'smilie' then, could you?

I tend not to feel fear when I'm riding, but this is in no small part because I try not to think of the possibility of things like this happening. Sometimes I do reflect on it, and while I still don't really get scared about it, it does depress me. It's a strange feeling when you suddenly realise that you're trusting your life to people you don't even know, every day.

How sad.

Sickening.

On my way home last night I passed a very old woman with all the coordination of a zombie trying her upmost to get out of her parked sportscar. She could hardly twist her legs out of the car let alone pull her self out. I thought that that was sickening too, just the thought of her at the controls of a death-machine.

It makes me want to puke.

This confirms what I've said here before, and is the only rule I live by when on the road --Every car out there is there for only one purpose TO KILL ME--

Defensive riding has to be the uppermost thought in mind. You have to anticipate and expect the unexpected; to foresee the unforseeable; and be aware that it still may not be enough.

Stories of this kind are very depressing. There is so little that can be said to comfort or ease the grief of those involved.

May a similar fate befall the hit & run driver.

There are a few things we can do about homicidal motorists:
1) Actively advocate stricter accountability and standards for motorists. It is a difficult fight, but not a futile one.
2) Ride defensively, wear visible colours, use bright lights, etc.
3) Teach your friends and relatives how to cycle defensively.
4) Actively advocate bicycle-friendly road design.

Received a flyer today from an advocacy group called Bikes Belong. They do lobbying of congress for ISTEA money. Many local groups are also members. The Maine group I belong to is involved with them.

It may be of some interest to you. www.bikesbelong.org

Yup, I think the one time I feel even a twinge of doubt is the moment of truth when you are meeting an approaching car(s) and know that there is also a bogey coming up fast on your rear as well. Do they see you? Is someone behind the car meeting you wanting to whip it out into your lane to pass? It may not be proper policy in the bigger bike-aware cities, but here in my area I just play it safe and try to pull off the shoulder as soon as this scenario presents itself. I live in an area where lanes are not only non-existent, they are UNHEARD of, and people just flat out are not looking for a cyclist. There's something that gets me in a rash...these same people are always worried about hitting a deer or the neighbor's dog (tho I wouldn't miss that nasty snarly/chasey yellow lab 4 miles away) but it never crosses their minds to watch out for US!! If you let it sink in and get to you-the fact that these lumbering tons of steel are hurtling past you only inches away-you would surely lose it

Originally posted by Weasel
Sickening.

On my way home last night I passed a very old woman with all the coordination of a zombie trying her upmost to get out of her parked sportscar. She could hardly twist her legs out of the car let alone pull her self out. I thought that that was sickening too, just the thought of her at the controls of a death-machine.


Just today, I was waiting for a bus and a man about my age (early 60's) came by "driving" a van and talking on his cell phone. His eyes were down, not on the road, and he appeared to be in a dreamworld. I thought, "He's neither looking where he's going nor paying any attention to driving. And he's steering tons of metal and fuel down a street full of other humans."

Originally posted by JonR


Just today, I was waiting for a bus and a man about my age (early 60's) came by "driving" a van and talking on his cell phone. His eyes were down, not on the road, and he appeared to be in a dreamworld. I thought, "He's neither looking where he's going nor paying any attention to driving. And he's steering tons of metal and fuel down a street full of other humans."

For some reason Jon, I liken that to something from the film Terminator 2. Maybe it is just my warped imagination. It would be almost funny if it wasn't so tragic. :(

Originally posted by Oscar
On January 3 at 9:30 pm, a driver at California and Devon in Chicago nearly took Al's right leg off, broke his left ankle, snapped both wrists, broke his collarbone and several ribs, and kept driving.

"Al had been doing everything right: he was in the right lane, going north. He had a headlight, a front-mounted white blinking VistaLite, a reflective vest, reflective ankle bands, and a helmet with reflective markings.

The dangers we face on the roads goes up astronomically at night. I'm not afraid of being called a whimp by saying I avoid it.

I try to take comfort in my very conscious and deliberate bigotry. The Motoring Primate is an INFERIOR CREATURE TO THE HUMAN BEING. IT is hyper aggressive, hyperterritorial, and has inferior sight, hearing, and empathy. It has the brain of Prez Bush and the heart of Saddam Hussein. We must assume that it is out to get us and ride accordingly.