Sixty Fiver

I rolled into the shop this afternoon and met our Society's president who was in the process of securing one of our trailers to his bike and what he was loading up made me shudder.

A ghost bike.

He informed me that a local rider / commuter was killed early this morning by a drunk driver and he and one of the guys are presently placing the bike at the site of the accident.

The details are still a little sketchy and all we know is that the fellow was 55 years old and was probably on his way to or from work and the driver was a 22 year old woman who was returning from a party, was quite certainly impaired, and will be charged accordingly.

Both the car and bicycle were travelling in the same direction and the information we have indicates that she pretty much ran him over. The roads are in good condition and should not have been a factor in the accident.

She did not try to flee the accident scene and attempted to offer assistance until the paramedics arrived but the man died from his injuries at the hospital.

I do not think I knew the fellow but until they release names I will not be sure of that.

My thoughts are going out to this families of this man and the young lady as she will have to live the rest of her life knowing her negligence caused the death of another human being.

This is the fourth cyclist that has been killed here this year and these account for nearly a quarter of the 18 vehicle related fatalities we have seen here this year.

donnamb 

linux_author

- i'm very sorry to read this and my heart goes out to *both* families... i don't know how i would feel had i killed someone as a driver in my 20s, but i can guess that the woman will carry that experience forever (especially considering she didn't flee the scene)...

- but my very heartfelt feelings go out to the family of deceased bicyclist - this will not be a happy time for his family...

:-(

tate65

My prayers go out to his family and friends.

DDYTDY

25 years ago I lost my license for one year (DUI) (Dumb kid). This is how I started commuting by bike. I could have been that driver with a 10 year jail mandatory jail sentence for vehicular homicide.

I never hurt anyone thank God. But I could have.

Driving after one drink is to many.

ken cummings

All y'all read the article on bike fatalities in my area in the January BICYCLING. Organize to have packs of cyclists show up at every hearing in this case with little bike pins on. In most places if the drunk stops and claims remorse they may walk free with little more then a fine, lost right to drive, and suspended jail time. When the Courts and the lawyers Know they are being watched every moment the driver is more likely to get what they deserve. They knowingly made themselves intoxicated after all.

I doubt the Sonoma County area is any more deadly then places with the same level of cycling. We've just gotten mad and we do not take it any more.

DoB

She'll be carrying a felony conviction forever too I suppose.

DDYTDY

+1
Drunk driving laws need to be severe even for first offenses including jail time.

Sixty Fiver

I have to make a correction...there have been 31 traffic fatalities in Edmonton and the full news article can be found here:

https://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmo...8/4714651.html

closetbiker

that seems like a lot for Edmonton for a year. Maybe it's an unusual spike?

BC pop is about 4 million and Albertas is 3?

I know in BC, the average total of deaths for cyclists in the whole province is 6.

If I remember right, for all of Alberta, motorist and passenger deaths number about 300 per year, pedestrians about 40 a year, motorcyclists about 10, and pedal cyclists number about 4 a year.

Could it be that those 4 deaths were for the whole province?

Also, to put things in a bit more perspective, I read this from the Alberta Bicycle Association.

In 1996, for every cyclist that died, 1436 Albertans died of cardiovascular disease, 77 motorists and 9 pedestrians died.

Considering that the article mentioned that it was likely that the problem was an intoxicated driver, maybe it's more of a societle problem. Doesn't matter if your walking, riding or driving. A drunk could get you.

Sixty Fiver

No... this is the 4th cycling fatality we have had this (bad) year.

closetbiker

Must be a bad year.

Chances are, it'll balance out with a good year, like in '98 when only 2 cyclists died in all of Alberta.

In BC, in 1990, there was only 1 death of a cyclist. In 1991, there were 14. The last 3 years, there were exactly 6 each year, the average over the last 20 years.

DavidW56

There have been two cyclist fatalities here in Metro Detroit in the past week. What they had in common: both were commuting from jobs very late at night.

https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...OL27/809260362
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...OL27/809300337
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2008810030362