ravenmore

We had a cyclist killed on Monday. This morning another female cyclist was hit by an 18 wheeler pulling out of a parking lot. She's alive but she was STAR-flighted to Brackenridge. Brack has the only Level 1 trama center in the area I think, and its certainly not the closest hospital to the accident. Not a very good sign.

I'll post a link here in a sec. Geez - what the hecks going on around here?

ravenmore

https://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=4789627

merlinextraligh

the treated and released part sounds encouraging.

furiousferret

I hate seeing these posts. I really do.

ravenmore

Sorry - the "treated and released" part wasn't there when I posted. That's a very recent update. Good news indeed.

cbip

Geez - what the hecks going on around here?

Whats going on around here is as--oles that drive like s--t and dont give a damn about you or me. Hell how many have a drivers license let alone insurance. Of course I see many thoughtfull drivers every time I ride and some that should be taken out and shot. The best thing I can think of is to ride in a group so at least your more visable but that wont help if no ones paying attention.

ravenmore

I normally don't post these but sheesh - twice in 3 days on roads I ride daily? Tends to make you a bit paranoid...

mike974

The problem is that far too many motorists view, and treat, cyclists as obstacles, rather than as co-equal inhabitants and occupants of the road.

Fortunately, I live in an area (DC metro) that I would describe as generally "cyclist friendly." However, I grew up and cut my cycling teeth in a rural area where cyclists were a far less common sight, and treated with attitudes ranging from ignorance to outright contempt (I lost count of how many items were thrown at me from cars).

HAMMER MAN

Tends to make you paranoid.........yes it does.
My twin brother was hit by an 83 year old lady that was not paying attention to her driving her answer...{I did not see him}
she crossed two lanes of traffic and wham, hit him on the side of his hip and bike.
go figure!!
She did receive two citations.
My brother was OK, quite bruised and a little skiddish now riding on the road.
He did get a brand new Guru Carbon Titanio out of this accident.
Not worth the pucker factor though.

thad

Some of the comments by readers on the page set up by the Statesman yesterday were unreal. Only today has it been reported that they woman who died did everything right. Early reports almost all made it seem like it was her fault for just "being in a dangerous area".

ravenmore

Hey Thad - do you have a link to the Statesman page you were talking about? Missed that.

Here's the youg lady who was killed on Monday. Someone on TXbra.org posted it. Makes more of a point to put a face with a statistic. A shame.... sounds like she was an experienced cyclist too.

TheDTrain

It's shame how the ignorance of people on the road is so high.

I still have family members (some who drive and some who don't) tell me to make sure I stay on sidewalk everytime I ride. Then they get absolutely shocked when I tell them I ride on the road like I'm supposed to.

Tsk tsk.

mellowdave

I get so tired of the "Dangerous Area" BS when I got hit on 360 last fall, I had quite a few people tell me it was my fault. This really, really gets me fired up. I dont want to make a bunch of flippant (but true ) statments about the road being for us too, but it never ceases to amaze me how a car driver will get SOOO PISSSSSSED about the tiniest delay. I guess its akin to plane rage, people just lose their minds when they are out in traffic. Several of my friends called me when Gay was hit on Monday since I was off, they assumed I was out riding and were very worried that it might have been me. I cant imagine how her family and friends feel right now. And the bastard just drove away. The guy who stopped must have been terrified, and I've been in that intersection SOOO many times, in fact just the night before. Drivers there are very aggressive as that light has a tendancy to back up, so either they are pissed that they are getting passed by a bicycle, or they dont want to get "Held up" by us. I have been honked at and given dirty looks there many times, and I do everything I can to give the cars all the room they need.

I can say this, and I mean it with all of my heart ( some of you who know me know this is sincere) ... I hope the guy that hit Gay and drove off lays awake at night shaking in fear, and wracked with guilt for many many weeks. I hope he has the sweats every time he sees a bicycle, or a police car. I hope he has many "episodes" that humiliate him, and I hope he suffers until finally it consumes him and he takes his own life in a very painful manner. I want to tell him that he killed her. He deprived those around her of her company forever over nothing. There are no words to express the way I feel about this. ANd then, he didnt have the balls to face up to what he did. I hope he is cowering in his house, trying his best to hide the damage to his car, slowly decending into paranoia.

squeegy200

I find that a good majority of drivers are plain incompetent. How many people have you read about that do the same to oncoming trains? EVEN WHEN THE GUARD RAILS ARE DOWN! I see people cut off large semi trucks in the same manner that they cut off cyclists. Everything is an obstacle to them, cars, trucks, trains, bikes, pedestrians. --its not just cyclists. Unfortunately, when we encounter these drivers on our bikes --WE LOOSE!

squeegy200

My good friend was hit recently by a motorist who made a left turn in front of oncoming traffic. My friend was on a motorcycle travelling in the opposite direction. She pulled out in front of him and he hit the side of her vehicle.

The motorist in the car insisted that it was his fault and badgered him while he lay on the street. "why did you run MY green light!"

When the police arrived on scene, he wrote up the report and they took my friend away in an ambulance. Insurance was cut and dry and the police report as well as insurace report stated the motorist was in clear violation and was totally at fault. The report said 100% her fault.

Her insurance paid full retail value of his motorcycle, paid for all value of modifications he did to the motorcycle, paid all medical expenses and physical therapy, paid the difference of his income and disability for 10 weeks, paid for emergency response, and paid all attorneys fees associated with the case.

How does someone who is that ignorant drive a car and insist its someone else's fault when witnesses, police, and her own insurance company clearly believe she is at fault?

thad

https://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte..._loop_360.html

Hopefully that works.

Comatose51

Is there a cyclist advocacy or lobbying group? Or maybe a cyclist legal fund? If we can afford our bikes, we can certainly afford to chip in for legal protection. I've never been big on government but there's too many idiots to wait for them to know better.

I wouldn't mind seeing a legal fund that will hire detectives to hunt down people who hit and run and then hire lawyers to sue them to hell and back. There are so many accidents where they just hit and run. If they had stopped, they could have rendered aid and the person might have lived. If they had been more careful, none of it would have happened. What do they save in the end? A precious few seconds or minutes which most of them will ultimately waste watching TV anyways?

Immy

well no offense or anything, 1 austin has pretty bad traffic and how did she not see the 18wheeler because their pretty big. But I am happy she is recovering and hopefully be able to get back on the road.

killsoft

I'm not willing to ride 360 now.

Godspeed to Kay. She was a friend of a friend, though we
never met.

KS

ravenmore

The 18 wheeler pulled out of a parking lot and hit her. Reports indicate there were skid marks from the bike from trying to stop before she was hit. I was almost hit by a bus in a similar fashion. I was riding down a street, the bus was at a stop sign on my right of an intersection I was going through. Bus had a stop sign, and I didn't. I thought I made eye contact with the driver to boot, but right as I was about to go in front of the bus she accelerated into the intersection. I avoided being pancaked by turning HARD to the right, my body smacking/scraping the side of the bus a bit as it couldn't be avoided entirely.

I can totally see how this happened.

thad

Have you never been riding down the road, made eye contact with a car pulling out and they look right through you and pull out anyway? That's what happened. What was she supposed to do, stop for every car pulling out onto the road even though she has the right of way? Jeez. I guess since Austin has "pretty bad traffic" we should all just stop riding.

oilman_15106

A cement truck almost got me last week. Even had 2 lanes to work with and just too lazy to go around.

Sorry to hear about the crashes but it will happen. When gas hits $4 a gallon we will have the roads to ourselves.

thomspins

It all boils down to people being considerate and caring. Let's face it we're not a "vehicle" out on the road.. i don't expect people to treat me as one fully; but human decency should cause most people to employ some patience and kindness!

I'm convinced 90% of the population aren't caring and considerate though... they are too caught up being selfish and lookin' out for number one...

The bad drivers always being in a rush, squeezing between me and oncoming traffic, to avoid waiting 5 seconds for the road ahead to clear... that's what infuriates me. Most people don't even stop to take a second to realize there are 24 hours in a day, is 5 seconds here and there really going to make that much of a difference?