Comments on: Young Woman Cyclist Killed

By: Red

Red — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:17 +0000

I am glad you weren’t hurt worse. And I must say that you have fortitude to continue riding your bike to work.

There does seem to be a lot to the incident. And though you were riding a bike in the crosswalk, you also say he rolled through a red light.

What is your city?

It can be tough being a cyclist.

I wish you safe continued riding.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

By: Rhonda

Rhonda — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:23:06 +0000

Great post! I live in a very cyclist-unfriendly city and choose to bike downtown instead of paying insane gas prices, dealing with traffic and paying for parking. I was in a crosswalk with a green light and thought I had made contact with the person approaching the intersection. It turns out that he was looking at the angle just above my head to see if he was going to get a turning arrow. As I started across the street, I noticed he was still approaching and turned to look at him. He was looking back to see if there was traffic coming. I knew if he saw a clear lane, then I was hit. I was going uphill and could not have gotten out of the way in time. He saw a bus approaching and chose to beat the bus. He hit me and I landed about eight feet away, into the lane the bus was in.
The police told him and I that if he chose to pay for my bike, that would be nice of him, but because I was on my bike in that crosswalk, then he certainly didn’t have to. He rolled through the red light, and I was crossing in a crosswalk, and yet it turns out they pinned the blame on me.
He has decided not to pay for the repairs to my bike, and I am also now fighting over an ambulance bill. It turns out it would have been cheaper just to drive to work after all. I still ride, but I drive half the way to avoid some of the more dangerous intersections.
If you are on your two feet or driving a motor vehicle, it seems you have all the rights. Cyclists are dispensible. It’s very frustrating!

By: spokesNspin » Blog Archive » Would That We Could Copenhagenize

spokesNspin » Blog Archive » Would That We Could Copenhagenize — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:04:21 +0000

[...] don’t know all the details around the recent deadly accident here in D.C. but doing something similar would help prevent this type of [...]

By: MekhisMom

MekhisMom — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:51:04 +0000

That is such a tragic accident. We were taught early about bicycle safety when I was a child and even took bicycle safety tests at safety town (an area in a neighborhood park that promoted bicycle and pedestrian safety). I am visiting your blog by way of Camp Carrie.

By: judy haley (coffeejitters)

judy haley (coffeejitters) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:55:42 +0000

thank you for this post.

I think a lot of bicyclists are not aware of the fact that they are silent and if they are jumping out on to the road from a blind corner - they are also invisible.

So many cyclists jump out in front of drivers on the street where I live from behind a very tall bush. I’ve seen a lot of accidents where bicycles jump onto the road and the driver swerves to avoid and then ends up hitting a light pole or the gutter instead, meanwhile the cyclist is flipping the driver off. The city went so far as to install stop signs with flashing red lights on the bike path but the cyclists still refuse to stop, slow down, or make their presence known before entering the road.

Not all bicyclists are like this. The vast majority are actually safe riders but unfortunately the few that are unsafe are causing a lot of accidents and several cyclists have been hurt and one killed here. Its just so sad that a little common sense and courtesy and playing by the rules of the road could have avoided those tragedies.

By: Candid Carrie

Candid Carrie — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:08:58 +0000

When my kids became aware of the hand signals for bikers, they started doing them in the house, too. Every time time rounded a corner in the house, they had their hand up or down. It was good practice, but it drove me crazy when they didn’t use the slow signal and I’d smack right into them in the hall!

Good point apout the iPod. Unplug yourself, car or bike!

By: charlene

charlene — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:10:20 +0000

Oh, that is very sad. I’ll be sure to have Charlie read this post.

By: Red

Red — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:09:03 +0000

I believe that urban cycling is actually safer than riding in the suburbs. But as I said, you need to be watchful and aware of the potential dangers. Your problem is that you are cycling to work is more of a suburb. We should take a look at the possible routes for you to ride to work.

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:05:12 +0000

This is my eternal debate, do I try to bike to work? I would only do it once or twice a week and my commute is only about nine miles one way. But it would be dealing with some busy intersections which is somewhat scary. How am I supposed to save on gas? There aren’t any logical bus routes going my direction and I’ve already tried to get a carpool going at work w/little luck. I’m sick of stressing about gas prices but there doesn’t seem to be much I can do about it.

By: RBK

RBK — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:30:09 +0000

A very helpful post indeed. It seems defensive driving which is my mantra in car-driving applies hundredfold in this case and further confirms my fear and resolution to never even think of bike-commuting especially in cities like DC…

I am beginning to actually appreciate Metro even more despite all the daily annoyances. I cannot even begin to fathom the grief of this young woman’s parents and family and my heart goes out to them!