• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

Tricia

The Velvet Hammer
Admin
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
Posts
27,297
Location
Reno
@Alba Adventures posted a link to this on FB and I can't help but think that I've been seeing far too many of these kinds of stories this year.
Bicyclist fatally struck by red light running car

Earlier this summer a good friend of @Rudi Riet was killed by a driver.
Just two of many stories like this that I've seen this summer.

I have no statistics on this, just posting from a gut response to this story, but I feel like I'm seeing more of this.
Maybe its my circle of friends who report it is expanding or maybe its being reported more. I don't know but its sad.

How do we make it stop?
 

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
Instructor
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,303
Wow, talk about wrong time, wrong place. That poor guy had no chance at all.
 

Josh Matta

Skiing the powder
Pass Pulled
Joined
Dec 21, 2015
Posts
4,123
stop riding on the roads....

Honestly there is no way to prevent distracted driving/ and or people going far above the speed limit in populated areas. Its making me even question gravel road riding, I was nearly hit the other day on straight section road with good line of sight when someone was just driving more in my lane than their lane looking down at their phone.
 

slowrider

Trencher
Skier
Joined
Dec 17, 2015
Posts
4,534
I was a professional driver nearly 40 yrs and respected everyones right of way. But i would never ride a bicycle around traffic. Way too many bad drivers. Condolences to those riders.
 

scott43

So much better than a pro
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
13,549
Location
Great White North
How do we make it stop?
Don't ride on the road. I rode motorcycles for years..mistakes are fatal..and it's not always your mistake. The wildcards were tough to think about..red light runners (which you can mitigate somewhat by looking both ways before proceeding through an intersection)..out of control cars..road conditions.. It's just one of the elevated risks of using a roadway where there are cars and trucks. Roll the dice..
 

cantunamunch

Meh
Skier
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
Posts
21,897
Location
Behavioral sink
Earlier this summer a good friend of @Rudi Riet was killed by a driver.
Just two of many stories like this that I've seen this summer.

I assume this is in memory of Dave Salovesh. The community here has been losing members for a long time and this year is another dreadful un-exception. Tom Hollowell, Dave S., Tom Palermo, Ed Irmler ... my memory is too full of ghost bike names.
 
Thread Starter
TS
Tricia

Tricia

The Velvet Hammer
Admin
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
Posts
27,297
Location
Reno
Common sense would tell me that people who drive where there are regular commuters on bikes would be more keen on bikes being present.
The serious or fatal incidents that I've read about lately have been in areas like NY and DC, which blows my theory away :(
 

cantunamunch

Meh
Skier
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
Posts
21,897
Location
Behavioral sink
Common sense would tell me that people who drive where there are regular commuters on bikes would be more keen on bikes being present.
The serious or fatal incidents that I've read about lately have been in areas like NY and DC, which blows my theory away :(

The way to end it is complete culpability. "Didn't see him" = admission of guilt. And if it takes driverless cars to do it, yes please.
 

Josh Matta

Skiing the powder
Pass Pulled
Joined
Dec 21, 2015
Posts
4,123
Common sense would tell me that people who drive where there are regular commuters on bikes would be more keen on bikes being present.
The serious or fatal incidents that I've read about lately have been in areas like NY and DC, which blows my theory away :(

The person was speeding and not paying attention..... this was nt about giving a bike enough room IMO.....
 

AmyPJ

Skiing the powder
SkiTalk Tester
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
7,835
Location
Ogden, UT
There's a reason I've stuck to MTB. I'll take my chances with moose and rattle snakes and rocks...
How very sad that he was killed by a motorist. Maybe distracted driving penalties need to be much stiffer?
 

neonorchid

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Posts
6,686
Location
Mid-Atlantic
https://www.phillyvoice.com/bike-la...lphia-spruce-pine-streets-resurfacing-paving/

01_072519_BikeLaneSwitch_Carroll.2e16d0ba.fill-735x490.jpg


"Cyclists ride in the bike lane along Pine Street in Center City, July 25, 2019. For safety purposes, the bike lanes along Pine and Spruce Streets are currently being switched from the right-hand travel lane, which they has been for years, to the left-hand lane."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/nyregion/nyc-bike-safety-deaths.html

"After 17 Cyclists Die, New York City Makes $58.4 Million Plan
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plans will include more protected lanes and more police enforcement at high-crash intersections."

https://www.citylab.com/transportat...ail&utm_term=0_227afee7f3-fc2549cccc-90910731
 

scott43

So much better than a pro
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
13,549
Location
Great White North
There's a reason I've stuck to MTB. I'll take my chances with moose and rattle snakes and rocks...
How very sad that he was killed by a motorist. Maybe distracted driving penalties need to be much stiffer?
I'm not sure stiffer penalties will work really. I mean they might. Accidents happen and unfortunately bikes and motorcycles get squished. It's a question..does the punishment change based on the outcome? If you make an unsafe left turn and hit a car, minor injuries, 3 points, insurance goes up. If you hit a motorcycle and kill the rider, does the punishment change? Dunno...

Anyway..Vision Zero? Dunno if that's going to get traction necessarily..
 

Scruffy

Making fresh tracks
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Posts
2,429
Location
Upstate NY
This is a real crying shame! My friend lost his fiancée ( young successful beautiful athletic woman ) to a distracted driver while on a road ride. I've had other friends get hit and injured. I've more or less stopped riding on the road these days. I'll only do selected routes I know are not that busy with motor vehicles.
 

Josh Matta

Skiing the powder
Pass Pulled
Joined
Dec 21, 2015
Posts
4,123
There's a reason I've stuck to MTB. I'll take my chances with moose and rattle snakes and rocks...
How very sad that he was killed by a motorist. Maybe distracted driving penalties need to be much stiffer?

I say make it stiffer while vehicle is actually in motion and less so while vehicle in stopped......

As always the things in Vermont distracted driving carries only 2 points below suspension and MANY people still do it.

Maybe distracted drivers lose their ability to use their smart phone for a week......honestly it would be better punishment than any fine.
 

EricG

Lost somewhere!
Skier
Joined
Sep 16, 2018
Posts
1,331
Location
VT
Maybe distracted drivers lose their ability to use their smart phone for a week......honestly it would be better punishment than any fine.

Yes. Aren’t we a hands free state anyways?

I almost got rear ended (in my car, not bike) after seeing you guys Sunday as I was waiting to merge on 15. Not like that road has a lot of traffic, he was on his phone.
 

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
Instructor
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,303
The real problem IMHO is that all too often people are not charged in these crimes. It's viewed as just an accident. It's viewed as the cyclist has put himself in harm's way and shit happens. Some of us are even doing it in this thread. You can't just accept it and concede.
 

Sponsor

Staff online

Top