Fifty Plus (50+) - How many times before somebody learns...

Yet another example of the challenges we face every time we go out on the road:
http://davidsonnews.net/2010/08/20/cyclist-hurt-in-collision-with-truck-on-e-rocky-river-rd/

This happened on a road I ride frequently on the back of the development where I live. Although I'm not a personal friend of the rider involved, I know who he is, as well as the gentleman mentioned as having come upon the scene after the accident. Maybe jppe was right in his recent thread, and the drivers are getting more aggressive in this area...
I'm beginning to fear it will take a cyclist dying before the drivers in the communities in and around Charlotte perhaps take note and respect us and our rights.

Based on my commuting experiences, I believe that it offends the 'pride' of some drivers to wait and go behind a cyclist when making a turn, when they would gladly wait for another car. Of course there are also a large number of drivers who go out of their way to be extra considerate of us. A big hurray to those folks. I also believe that deaths hit the cycling community hard, because we all know how easily it could have been us, but cyclist deaths don't have much affect on the driver community.

Haven't there been a couple of cyclists killed around the Charlotte area in the last year? Wasn't one of them a fairly well-known rider?

Charles

I'm beginning to fear it will take a cyclist dying before the drivers in the communities in and around Charlotte perhaps take note and respect us and our rights.

Experience tells me that even that is unlikely to cause even a single person to drive any differently whatsoever.

Just this year, I'm seeing way more "incidents" involving car drivers. Today's episode didn't involve me (merely a spectator, this time) but did involve one aggressive driver and one very, very angry one. My reaction is not to expect drivers to change their ways, but instead to ride even more defensively and just assume they're actively trying to kill me.

This is sad and reminds me of just how lucky I am to live in an area where most drivers are curtious to cyclists. One example of this - and it happens all the time, I was out for a ride with a group at lunch yesterday, about 6 of us. We came upon a dangerous left hand turn and the first cyclist made the turn easily, then an oncomming car appeared - he slowed & stopped until all of us had made the left hand turn - he could have easily just kept going, he had the right of way. In the case of this accident, I never assume a driver sees me until I have eye contact and some type of gesture that tells me he recognizes I am there, I also assume that even if they have seen me if I am no longer in thier direct field of view I no longer exist in thier world, i.e. they will turn right over into me. Maybe I am overly cautious but so far it has worked.

I am not sure what the count is around the Charlotte area. But here in the Winston -Salem, Greensboro area, there has been 5 cyclist killed in the past 5 weeks and 4 more seriously injured in that same time period.

The recent article in the Charlotte paper didn't do anything to help the situation-it just brought more attention and has inflamed the situation overall.

As a 100K mile road bicyclist, I honestly believe today's average motorist is more distracted, more frustrated, more isolated, and more aggressive than his/her counterpart of 20 years ago. I choose my routes and times of day carefully and do not ride as often or as freely as I otherwise would.

Riding home at the end of a morning spin the other day I was passed by several cars and trucks. Even though some had to slow and wait due to traffic coming the other way ( I was already as far over as I could get ) each gave me plenty of space as they went by. Then someone went by so close my elbow almost hit the side mirror. As they went by I saw it was a Wake County Deputy Sheriff! So, the one guy you would think would be really cautious nearly creamed me. He probably didn't mean too, but I was very suprised to when I saw the markings on the patrol car.

My best friend has moved now, but he used to live in River Run, and I remember he was always going out that way on his rides. That article was scary. Hit pretty close to home.

jcinnb

With no fear of any penalty or prosecution for doing stupid things to cyclists these events will continue and likely increase. Small video cameras on bikes recording the vehicles around them thus allowing tickets and prosecutions will help. In some places like Florida laws need to be changed so that people can be prosecuted for unintentional manslaughter, gross negligence, etc.

Once this is done people will pay a bit more attention to educational campaigns.

Palt I live an hour away from you and in the last 5 weeks 2 cyclist have been killed and one seriously injured witin 20 miles of me. I'm a newb as far as bicycle riding is concerned but I've ridden motorcycles all my life. The cage drivers are getting a lot worse, agression and cellphones are 2 of the main reasons. There's a 7 mile smooth asphalt greenway 1/2 mile from my home. Thats where I'm doing the majority of my riding now. Pedestrians with Ipods are agravating but if I do have a collision with one of them more than likely I'll walk away from it.

Until the law requires the same penalties for running over cyclist as for any other vehicle wreck and injury and the police enforce the share the road requirement, there will be no change.

I think the cell phones and texting while driving are at the root of some recent accidents.

I hear this all the time, " a car ran over a bicycle" and it makes me sick. A car did not run over a bicycle, a human being operating a motor vehicle ran over another human being on a bicycle because they were in too big of an almighty hurry and are self centered, selfish and don't give a s---t who they hurt as long as it does not interfere with their little self important universe. It is almost pathological.