cdale56

Last night I stopped by the place (Rte 1 in Charlestown, RI) where a bicyclist was struck and killed last week. He was killed instantly by an SUV that veered onto the shoulder. The shoulder is wide, 6-8 feet.

.
I had never been to such a roadside memorial before and in unexpected sorrow for a man I never knew-and as cars zipped by- I began to wonder what is going on here? This was the third bicyclist killed by a vehicle within about ten miles of my home in about the last year . The second on Rte 1 in Charlestown.

What is going on?

. Is this an epidemic? The list is getting dangerous: a fellow commuter at my work place was seriously injured last year when he was struck by a car and required surgeries and a prolonged rehabilitation. Another coworker was pushed off the road by a car and injured herself. Another serious injury on Block Island last week. I just got back from MD/PA where rider on the Civil War Century was hit and is with serious injuries.

What is going on here?

Are bicycle riders becoming even more vulnerable on the roads? Are we suddenly at higher risk? Are drivers of vehicles becoming even more intolerant of the bicyclist? Are drivers getting more of the NASCAR mentality? In this world where every thing has become so easy, is automobile safely taken for granted and is any regard for margin of error forgotten or ignored? Is technology affecting drivers, with cell phone use, text massaging and whatever else people do when driving?

Where is the outrage?

Have these three deaths been ignored? What can be done to increase our safety on the roadways?

.Could that have been me back there? Could it be me tonight? The next ride? Could it be you?

Frank's death was a horrific act, the effects of which I can only begin to imagine, A waste of life. needless and I can't write words describing a sad loss like this. But his death should not be in vain.

Air

It's really sad, there are quite a few memorials here in NYC (one for someone I knew) and it gives me pause every time I pass a ghost bike. Put the energy towards your local bike advocacy group, write letters, make calls. Unfortunately it will probably take more to die before things happen but if there is no voice then no one in gov't will care.

Metaluna

Whenever I'm in my car, it's scary to watch other drivers and realize how much trouble some people have piloting their vehicle in a straight line. I'm not talking about people who are clearly DUI and weaving all over the place, but just the kind of lazy, inattentive drifting that drives me nuts. These people aren't necessarily speeding. In fact, more often they're just kind of wandering along, not really paying attention to anything but their cell phone or otherwise daydreaming. And they often drift far onto the shoulder or over the centerline. Unfortunately it's often the larger vehicles that do this because they take up more road in the first place so there's less margin for error, plus they are harder to handle even if you are paying attention.

Unfortunately most people seem to view driving as a secondary activity. It's not a skill to be practiced and refined throughout your life, but just something you sort of have to do to get to work or the mall, and after you get your license it's not something you need to think much about anymore. The cell phone is much more important.

scotch

Most definitely YES to all your questions. I think there's real disdain and hostility of cyclists, based on a misconception that we're all a bunch of liberal, upper-class, over-educated yuppies who wear spandex and ride $5,000 bikes. This combined with drivers who are distracted by cell phones - and those who suffer from what seems to be an epidemic of rage in this country - are causing all of these totally senseless, awful deaths. It's makes me so sad and angry when I hear about these deaths.

C Law

I think about this all the time too when I'm driving. It's pretty scary. following someone who repeatedly drifts 5 feet into the shoulder around a turn or even on a straightaway.

Bacciagalupe

What's "going on" is the same stuff that has always gone on. There is no 100% safe mode of transport.

More importantly, to my knowledge there is no massive upswing in bicycle- or automobile-related fatalities. Years of statistical evidence is required to determine any increases or decreases, let alone detect any meaningful trends; anecdotal evidence and speculation is utterly worthless in this regard.


Most likely, "get more cyclists on the road," and make sure those cyclists know basic safety (e.g. "avoid wrong-way cycling," "use lights at night" etc). The Advocacy & Safety subforum is thataway ----> by the way.


Sadly, it is possible. Of course, you could also trip and fall into a subway, get into a car accident, have a brick fall on your head when walking past a construction site, have a coronary, what have you....



And to continue my heartless cold-fishism, I actually can't stand the "ghost bikes" and other roadside memorials. IMO they are tacky eyesores that, if they must be tolerated, ought to be removed within a reasonable time frame. If we had to mark every location of a pedestrian, cyclist or driver death in NYC with a memorial, we'd all be crowded off the sidewalks....

billew

The scary part of this one is the rider was hit by the drivers side of the SUV and he was on the shoulder.
There is something wrong when I get cut off by cars with bike racks.

GuitarWizard

I always hate to hear about senseless deaths....

The way people in RI drive though, I'm surprised there isn't more of it. Seriously, the worst drivers I have seen on average in the country.....and I've been around a bit. I think I've gotten a bit numbed by it since I started working in Cranston in May of '06, and finally had the balls to start riding my motorcycle to work this past summer.

Schwinn-Chan

Just talked with my professor about this accident... Horrible horrible how he died. Allegedly, the woman driving the SUV was messing with her cell phone when she struck the bicyclist at 55+mph. The details of the resulting impact on his body are even more gruesome. I just hope he didn't feel any pain when he died.

It just gives me knots in my stomach when I think of how this can happen, especially on this road when the shoulders are wide enough for riders. I'll always have this thought in the back of my head when I drive along that road now

alanfleisig

If I'm a liberal, upper-class, over-educated yuppie who wears spandex and rides a $5000 bike - does that make it okay to run me off the road?

Air

I don't know - driving on the highway, seeing a memorial and realizing that someone died there gives me pause and keeps me a bit more alert. Granted, that may be for my own safety but I do like seeing them - if they've stopped one driver from taking a turn without looking first or a stopping one tow truck from blowing a light into the impound lot than it's done it's job.

Johnny Tsunami

I have little doubt that the driver of the truck was on her cell phone. One of the most common sights on the road today is a woman driving an SUV while talking on her cell phone.
There is a ton of money in the cell phone industry and getting states to ban cell phones use while driving will not happen until someone famous dies because of it.
Studies show that even the hands free phones are not moch better, but I for one would go for that as a start.

For our part, we can all agree to put our cell phones in the glove box when we drive.

Me? I do not have one and do not want one!

MTBLover

^^^ I don't doubt that either. Personally, I think all motor vehicles should be equipped with a device to jam cell phone signals as long as the ignition is on. There's absolutely no reason to talk on a cell phone while a motor vehicle is running. If one needs to use a cell phone on the road, then pull over.

Johnny Tsunami

Based on the number of people I see with CELL PHONES, there is no doubt in my mind that the major common denominator in these fatalities is the cell phone driver. People do not have their mind on the road. They have their hot cup of coffee in one hand, cell phone in the other, driving while holding onto the wheel with their knees....and I am not exagherating.
I once saw a woman driving her car, talking on her cell phone with her computer opened on her lab and a cup of coffee in her other hand. She was driving 70 miles per hour on Route 93 approaching the Mass Pike exit. I was driving a big truck and had a clear view of it.
It is more uncommon to see a woman in an SUV who is NOT on a cell phone.
So long as it is "rich white guys" on bikes getting killed, no on is going to give a crap about this. And the cell phone lobby is too powerful to oppose on this. The public is convinced that cell phones make them safer - with no regard to the safety of others. The money being made by the cell phone companies is enormous. I doubt we stand a chance.
A friend of mine lost his wife in an accident where a girl on a cell phone T-boned their car in an intersection.
Sadly, it will have to get worse before it gets better.

cdale56

Article form the Providence Journal:

AG: No charges in cycle accident

01:00 AM EST on Friday, December 14, 2007

A criminal charge against a Westerly woman who fatally struck a Warwick man riding his bicycle in Charlestown will be dropped next week, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said yesterday.

Michael J. Healey, a spokesman for the department, said the decision to drop the charge was reached after a Nov. 8 conference with the victim’s family.

“We just have to go to court and file a (48A) dismissal,” Healey said.

Charlestown police also cited Pamela J. Hurst, 59, of 17 Danielle Ave., for operating in the breakdown lane, lane roadway violations, and “due care by driver,” said Charlestown Lt. Jack Shippee.

Asked yesterday for reaction to the decision to drop the charges, Shippee said curtly, “We haven’t been notified.”

Hurst had been originally charged by Charlestown police with driving to endanger/death resulting. Upon further investigation, the state dropped the criminal charge, finding that Hurst’s conduct was not criminal, Healey said.

The bicyclist, Frank J. Cabral, 41, of 90 Sheffield St., Warwick, was pronounced dead at the scene. The police at the time said that Cabral was staying at a cottage on Matunuck Beach Road and had decided to go for a ride.

Lori M. DiBiasio, identified in a Journal obituary as Cabral’s life partner, filed a civil lawsuit against Hurst in Washington County Superior Court on Oct. 11.

The suit is pending.

According to Charlestown Police and the Attorney General’s Office, Hurst was driving south on Route 1 on Sept. 4 at about 4 p.m., returning to her Westerly home, when the accident occurred.

Police said she was traveling at about 60 miles an hour. The posted speed limit in the area is 50 miles an hour.

According to an accident reconstructionist, Hurst changed lanes to pass two vehicles.

“As she was merging back into the right travel lane, she got distracted and continued right into the breakdown lane,” Healey said, quoting the accident reconstructionist. “At this point she is traveling 50 to 60 miles per hour. She is traveling in the breakdown lane for approximately 100 feet.”

That would equate to driving on the breakdown lane for about a second, Healey said, noting that at 60 miles an hour a car travels approximately 90 feet per second.

Hurst told police she flipped down her sunvisor as she came up the hill before Kings Factory Road. The accident reconstructionist found that glare could be a factor given the time of day and location of the accident.

Medical records — which Hurst’s lawyer, Bob Mann, voluntarily turned over — showed no evidence of alcohol or drugs in her system, Healey said.

“The only evidence of negligence against Ms. Hurst is that she was traveling at 60 miles per hour and driving in the breakdown lane (but for a period of time lasting just more than one second),” Healey said. “We found that this, clearly, could not be considered ‘reckless conduct’ under Rhode Island case law.”

Reckless conduct, he said, would have to demonstrate “a heedless indifference to (her) actions.’ ”

Johnny Tsunami

Cell phone use is tracked by time of use and location.
I wonder of the lawsuit will ask for these records to be examined?

cdale56

There was a ride this past Saturday in memory of Frank. There were several hundred riders. His mother and wife sounded a horn to start the ride. It was very sad; it was a ride no one wanted to be at.


https://www.franksride.com/

ZG2NYC

Sorry, I find that is such a feeble defense to getting killed by a car. True, safety in anything we do is not 100% - we can die at home too! But I think when a car veers off the road, hits a pedestrian or a bicyclist, it should come as a surprise. We should be shocked and saddened by the event and not simply accept it like there is nothing we can do.

You may not be able to prove something criminally, but I would hope the civil suit would show the driver being responsible for the death.

wickedcold

I think this is the part that many people don't realize; not paying attention for just ONE SECOND cost somebody their life. People need to smarten the **** up and take driving seriously.

Many states have started cracking down on aggressive behavior on the road but it is not enough. They need to start pulling people over who are just plain driving ****ty. I would welcome a dramatic increase in traffic enforcement, but for some reason people get all ticked off when cops start doing their jobs in that regard.

Air

Couldn't agree more.

STFU? Hmm...I think I could use that on a few posts...

HC203

The problem comes down to an America that is totally dependent on the automobile, that coupled with a faster paced lifestyle. I for one always drive the speed limit and get a kick out of drivers just lining up behind me. Speed has a great deal to do with pedestrian deaths. The reaction time is reduced with speed.
I worry a lot about my safety, and often think how nice it would be to live in a place like Holland or Denmark, any European country where drivers are prosecuted for buzzing cyclists and in general where the act of cycling is part of the culture. Take a good look at America, our culture is vulgar, irresponsible, shallow, wasteful, etc etc.

FrankieV

One of the big problems today is that everyone feels that they must multi-task all through the day.
They listen to music, talk on their cell and glance down at the newspaper
....all while driving at 60 mph.
The furthest thing from their minds are pedestrians and cyclists.

As far as how they react to cyclists:
Before I started cycling I didn't realize the stress I'd put on a cyclist if I got too close to him/her.
My first day of serious cycling in traffic changed my style of driving immediately.
Some people are perceptive enough to realize this without having to go through that.
I must admit, I wasn't one of them.

It's not just people in cars either (although THEIR actions can be fatal).
Anyone who's done a city bike tour has seen the newbies cutting in and out of groups of people without warning.
Put them in a pair of clipless shoes and you'll see their cycling habits change drastically.

The more people we get out there pedaling, the more the public will HAVE to pay attention to us.
And I don't mean Critical Mass rides. In my opinion, these rides bring negative feelings towards cyclists.
NYC has made tremendous changes in order to help cyclists.
They still have a loooong way to go but nothing is easy in this complex city.

rumrunn6

All one can do is be visible. Despite looking like "Fred" I use a tall bike flag. I also use strobes front & rear.

Papa Tom

It's cell phones...and the arrogance that leads to drivers using them while they should be focused on the road.

moose67

If you follow the religious aspect the memorials are empty because the soul isn't there. I can not stand these types of memorials either. Most often they are placed in a dangerous or tricky section of road anyway. Drivers don't need any other distractions especially one that takes their eyes off the road. In some states it's against the law for memorials to be placed on public roads unless by the government (ie. DOT). These are memorials and should be removed. I feel very sorry for the families but they don't need to be there. My parents have one in front of their house where a soldier back from Iraq got careless on a motorcycle and hit a tree. He's not there but the memorial has seem to grow over the past six months.