RB1-luvr

oh crap. tragic.

acroy

I did just that. But i like to think they'd miss me.

Sawtooth

That is also exactly what I have done. My wife and I have come to terms with the fact that I really need to ride and that there is risk associated with that behavior. So getting as much insurance as we can seems to be the best contingency plan for us.

acroy

ah-men. i can mitigate the risk by driving but my quality of life goes way down (i'd rather die than sit in a cage in traffic).

So if i get hit, at least the wife can go drown her sorrows in shoes.

Sawtooth

HaHa. +1
Why do I get the feeling that you are in IT or some other design field? This discussion of risk mitigation versus contingency.....

acroy

Plant Manager at a R&D facility. gotta do what i gotta do...

pdsjn

Everything you do has a risk of some sort. When I think of risks from cycling I think of risks associated with the alternatives. last year there where 42,642 traffic fatalities in the US, 30521 were passenger vehicle occupants, 4,810 motor cycle riders, 4784 pedestrians, 1571 large truck, bus and other vehicle occupants and only 773 bicyclists. It looks like you may be safer on a bicycle than the alternatives.

WriteABike

I'm gonna pay extra attention to my mirror on the way home.

Sawtooth

Lets not forget the over 900,000 folks who die from heart disease in the US every year.

Really though, if we are going to compare safety of cycling to driving or other types, we almost have to control for total hours spent doing the activity. Total #s of death in each category tells us very little. If 100% of 500 people die doing a single hour of activity A compared to 10% of the 1,000,000 who die doing a single hour of activity B, total #s of death could lead one to believe that Activity B is twenty times as lethal (10,000 vs 500) as activity A. But in reality, activity A is 10 times as lethal as activity B (100% versus 10%). In other words, there are much smaller numbers of cyclists in the US relative to cars so our total mortality rates would be expected to be much lower even if the two activities were equally lethal.

I think I said that right

noisebeam

I always watch my mirror when stopped and have an 'escape path' planned. Usually it is between stopped lines of traffic as I am left biased. Also another tip is when slowing into a red light/stop sign, do so gradually to allow faster vehicle to catch up to you and monitor if they are slowing too while you are moving forward.

Al

twobikes

I had posted an item on the tragic death of this cyclist already on Saturday. It is at: https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-safety/355298-boise-area-cyclist-killed-friday-morning.html

No charges have been filed because the investigators want to have their facts cold before they pull the trigger, and, if it goes to court, want to have a case they can win. A blog entry at the Idaho Statesman (newspaper) suggested that could take up to four weeks.

Meanwhile, we know very little about how or why the driver lost control. Someone suggested some Hummers had a problem with tie rods breaking. Should the cause be something like that, it would be a condition beyond the driver's control and could happen to any of us, even those here calling for the driver's head on a platter now. The driver was taken immediately to a local hospital where she was tested for drugs and alcohol impairment. But, she was released. It would seem safe to say those were not a factor. Witnesses said she appeared not to be using a cell phone at the time of the incident. If she is found to be negligent and at fault, there is a strong possibility she could lose her license and go to prison for at least a year.

idcruiserman

Same here on the life insurance policy. The wife will be living high on the hog while trying to raise 3 kids on her own.

Even if the tie rod is broken, that doesn't preclude her from using the brakes.

twobikes

Assume for the moment the tie rod did break. It is easy to say someone "should have," "could have" used the brakes. But, in an emergency situation, people panic, freeze up, and do not think. Even if someone would have the presence of mind to use the brakes, with a broken tie rod control would be erratic, and someone who used brakes might quickly decide it was a bad idea, afterall. The simple point is, we do not know exactly what happened and ought to reserve judgment until the facts are in.

Sammyboy

Thing is, if she's approaching a junction with a red light, she should've been braking anyway. Tie rod breaks? Ok, but still with the braking.

csr

"The right wheels of the Hummer jumped the curb, but the left wheels were still on the road."

I'd like to think that this made a funny noise that one could have turned around to observe. I don't try to blame the cyclist, but every time I hear of an accident I think, if it had been me, how could I have avoided it.

In the follow-up news item, there is talk of moving cyclists 'away from busy roads'. Great. Away from all the destinations then. A ride in the park, to keep me safe.

littlewaywelt

I saw a video of an H2 attempting to drive something any Jeep would handle. The H2's tie rod snapped like a twig. I don't think that system is connected to the brakes or horn, though.

If she is found to be at fault, I highly doubt she'll end up with anything more than probation. I'm sure the judge and sa/da will feel that she'll be punished enough having to live with the result of her actions.

Sawtooth

I am guessing that if there was any sort of mechanical failure, we might have heard about it from the media. The fact that there is no statement from the driver leads me to believe that she has no good excuse and is not saying anything to avoid incriminating herself.

I am not one to call out that she should be crucified, but I am betting she was text messaging, reading, applying makeup, picking trash up off the floor, or otherwise just not paying attention. Heck, maybe she just could not see out of her ginormous vehicle.

twobikes

If a tie rod were to be broken, one front wheel is free to turn any angle it chooses. The vehicle is not likely to go in any kind of straight or controlled direction. It only gets worse when you apply braking. If the rear brakes could be applied without the front brakes, that might be somewhat helpful.

The woman was 100 feet from the intersection when she lost control. The speed limit on the road approaching the intersection where the incident happened is reported to be 45 mph. That means a vehicle at that speed travels almost 4,000 feet in one minute, or 66 feet in one second. Normal reaction time for getting your foot from the gas pedal to the brake pedal is around a second and a half. Yes, since the traffic light was red, the driver should have been slowing her vehicle already. But, if you did lose control at 45 mph 100 feet before an intersection, how far ahead of the intersection would you be able to apply the brakes?

I think it is entirely likely the driver was distracted and, therefore, negligent, but no one appointed me judge in this case. Be patient until all of the facts are known. It could turn out entirely different from what you think based on what you know now.

csr

Perhaps the problem is that the "Hummer" goes up the curb too easily. A normal car would not have ridden up on the curb and just kept going merrily as you please. Perhaps the Hummer is 'too much car'.

idcruiserman

H3 is just a regular old wagon. Nothing huge about it. Nothing has been said or written in the media that there was a mechanical failure. It would be obvious if the tie rod broke. We'll find out soon enough.

littlewaywelt

normal time to get the foot on the brake is not 1.5 but rather 0.5 seconds.

barring illness, I think this will be a typical case of panic, not paying attention, ending up riding the curb and failure to push hard enough on the brake pedal.

wharfrat

I have life insurance that has a benefactor that will make sure it goes to funding extremely harmful retaliatory projects in the event I get ran over by a piece of **** in an urban assault vehicle. FACT

acroy

you midwestern radical extremist you

PeteFromMke

Still no charges four days later.

"I would say there is frustration in the cycling community that drivers are not paying attention," said Jake Yundt, with George's Cycles on Fairview.

Mills wonders how community leaders can make the city truly bike friendly.


This is something we all need to deal with. I've had drivers yelling at me saying that I shouldn't be on the road. (In Milwaukee, it's against the law for bikers to ride on sidewalks.) I don't know if this situation could have been avoided. It's so sad. I'm sure the Hummer driver feels terrible, but that won't bring Sarah back, will it? So, how do we deal with educating drivers out there that the roads don't just belong to motorized vehicles? And what about stricter laws? I still too routinely see drivers totally ignore the bike lanes. There are some streets that I just competely avoid due to the blatant disregard drivers have for those lanes. Some law enforcement would be appreciated.

Rowlf

yeah, I've been looking for anything more on this tragic accident.

Maybe I'm just being impatient