So get this... the guy is riding his bike on the southbound shoulder in the southbound direction on a 50mph road (one lane in each direction). A motorist going northbound crosses the center line, crosses the southbound lane, and enters the southbound shoulder in the path of the oncoming bicyclist. The bicyclist died. The news reported that the bicyclist was wearing a helmet. The news reported that alcohol was not a factor. The driver was rumored to be "distracted".

Heres the link...

https://www.thebaynet.com/news/index....story_ID/13988

This is the second tragic death by automobile this week in this area. In the second instance, a young girl was properly stopped in her lane waiting for on-coming traffic to clear so that she could turn left. She was rearended at high speed by a driver who was rumored to be "distracted".

For what it is worth.

My id on this site is JoeSoMD... but my friends know me as Road Kill. Yikes.

"distracted" often means using a cellphone or texting......I've seen folks reading books, shaving (with a battery powered shaver I presume), putting on makeup....while passing me at over 70 mph on an interstate. Once recently in my car, I was in a non-injury accident with someone who was on a cellphone and overcompensated a bend in the road and didn't see me.....his insurance accepted responsibility for the accident. I'll get off my soap box now.

That's horrible. We had an accident here in Toronto earlier this week. A girl in her late 20's early 30's was struck by a car...tossed her 20 feet.. in the air. No helmet and now is in hospital with massive head, neck and spine injuries...

It's a shame we don't have higher fines.

Rumoured by whom? Not by anything stated in that article.
While I have tremendous disdain for the "distracted driving" defense, the situation presented in the article doesn't sound like that's the case. The driver not only crossed the opposing lane of traffic and struck someone, they continued off the shoulder (on the wrong side of the road) and hit a tree.
If alcohol truly wasn't a factor, this sounds like someone who either fell asleep at the wheel or has a medical condition (diabetes, epilepsy, etc.) which caused the loss of control.

Jeez. Did you see the pics in the artical? Judging by the bike's condition it doesn't look like the guy had much of a chance. Poor guy.

THis will continue until 'distracted' driving, receives penalties like 'drunk' driving. But in my mind even those penalties are not harsh enough.

Actually, it is surprising that MADD haven't latched onto distracted driving, since their main purpose has at least somewhat been acheived.

How exactly would you prove a case of "distracted driving"?

A more likely scenario for a sober but distracted motorist (IMHO) would be that he drifted right, dropped his wheels off the pavement, over-corrected and crossed into oncoming lanes and off the road.

Our societies caviler acceptance of reckless behavior allows such tragedies to continue. There is no longer any sense of shame for a collision while operating a motor vehicle.

A motor vehicle operating license is too easily obtained, and too hard to revoke. Every year in Texas you have to submit your car for inspection lest it be polluting outside of accepted limits, and to prove it is in safe operating condition. Would that the operators had to prove competence as often!

A better, more enforcible law already on the books, would be "reckless driving". An example from Texas law:

Sec. 545.401. RECKLESS DRIVING.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person drives a vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.

So that behavior is already a crime, but it is not enforced.

I attribute this to "autoism bias". Most of our society doesn't want to consider distracted driving a crime because they don't want to admit to their own reckless behavior. A "There but for the grace of God go I" syndrome.

We seek a hardware fix for a software problem. Crumple zones and anti-lock brakes instead of responsible behaviors. Moving crash hazards further from the roadway rather than expecting motorists to steer away from them. Putting rumble strips on the pavement rather than expecting and enforcing laws to maintain your presence within the lane.

As tragic as this is...I really don't see it as a car vs bike issue. That driver could just as easily have taken out a family in a mini-van. Right place...wrong time, unfortunately. Could have been anyone in any vehicle. Does not make it right, however.

The times that most of these electronic devices are used are recorded and discoverable.

But agree with Chip, enforce the reckless driving and other laws. I think every single time a car hits something -anything- a ticket at a minimum should be written. And a lot of wanton endagerment charges could easily be brought against motorists.

yeah those pics were kinda eerie

It is very scary to think about this type of thing happening to any of us. I hope that people wise up and stop using cell phones/eating/drinking/dressing/reading while driving. One thing I think states should pursue or at least insurance companies to seek the phone records of the people involved in the accident, if found that the phone was in use during the time of the crash, then they are more liable for the accident.

It amazing that people don't realize that they could go to prison for something like this - they have killed a person, someone that was a father/husband/brother to someone, now they won't be around any more due to someone that was "distracted". This "distracted" could put them in the clink for several years and really, it needs to start happening, but with the over populated prisons/jails, it won't happen.

I think the murderers should be required to make PSA's talking about how it ruined their life to kill someone so recklessly and how they are tormented every moment by the experience.

Those would be powerful TV commercials. People relate better to the living than the dead.

You hit and injure someone you should either prove that an un-preventable mechanical malfunction caused it, or go to jail.

Your inability to control your car is a serious issue and should be treated as such.

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BTW, the comment about MADD having served their purpose. I beg to differ. The penalties being handed out for drunk driving are laughable.

You're assuming a lot there. If most of these people cared about other people they wouldn't behave as they do.

I realize as cyclists we're more sensitive to this, but the state has the onus of proving guilt.

I do agree with you about MADD though.

Well the laws and courts don't share your views. "Accidents" happen. There are numerous reasons beside un-preventable mechical reasons for accidents to occur.

The opposite - I'm assuming they only care about themselves. That's why I'm recommending PSAs that describe how killing another person will ruin their own lives. It should be easy to communicate that even the most hardened person will be mentally, emotionally and spiritually tortured by careless taking another life. Like a 20 sec version of "Crime and Punishment"...

Numerous reasons? Name five, other than:

- improperly maintained equipment
- improperly trained driver
- failure of the driver to handle their car properly given the present situations

The only one I can think of is some type of unavoidable outside influence
- a deer runs through your windshield


Ice, rain, sharp turn, kid was screaming, none of those are acceptable reasons for me.

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Obviously the public doesn't agree with me. That's obvious from their inability to use a word other than "accident" to describe a car crash - that is almost exclusively caused by a failure to operate the vehicle in a competent manner.

Didn't catch all the details in the story, but in last night's expanded coverage of the Tour, they told the story of Tyler Ferrar's dad, which seemed eerily similar to this one. At least in that case, Tyler's dad was paralyzed from the neck down as opposed to being killed, but same situation if I heard correctly - a truck crossed from the opposite lane and hit him while he was on his commute...

That's the point I have a problem with. I don't believe that most people will lose a minute's sleep, much less qualify as "tortured". Thus, the PSA would be making them a liar in addition to a murderer.

Go find one of these tortured souls and ask them if they have made any attempt to improve their driving skills, such as attending a non-mandated class, since the incident. You know, because they might want to prevent it from happening again? Good luck finding one.

I hope I'm right and not you, but in truth I have no idea. Disturbing.

The little or total lack of respect of operating a motor vehicle by many motorists can be attributed to lax charges/sentences doled out by the judicial system. Unless you kill the daughter of a local LEO while riding as a passenger in a car,(as in a local ongoing trial) the defendant motorist can expect little more than a misdemeanor charge for killing someone with a motor vehicle.