Without proper bike lanes, bicyclists die
Photo: Tom Reel/San Antonio Express News Folks, that is a photograph of seven year old Kylie Bruehler. She is at a funeral service to bury her parents, both of whom were killed last week when a driver veered onto the shoulder and drove his pickup truck into them.They were riding together on a tandem.The local news reports that “investigators say there are no charges on the driver. They believe this was an accident and that somehow the driver lost control of his truck.” Texas’s governor recently vetoed a law that would mandate a safe passing distance for cyclists, saying it was unnecessary.
Link
EMAIL
Stumble
Tweet
link:
| « Previous Blog Action Day 2009: Climate change | Next » We're winning: Fossil fuel use in big decline |
Comments(4)
Posted By Gorax - Fri, Oct 16 2009 at 4:06 PM ESTLost control of his truck?
If the driver lost control of his truck, the accident probably would have happened anyway, bike lanes or not. About him being responsible...Even if no charges are laid, I bet he'll be feeling guilty for the rest of his life.
If you ask me, there should simply be no laws banning bicycles from sidewalks.
Posted By Shea Gunther - Fri, Oct 16 2009 at 5:30 PM EST.
This is a proper bike lane- http://is.gd/4mX8m A physically separated bike lane means that if a car or truck swerves, it doesn't plow into someone on a bike. A three feet wide lane separated by a stripe of paint next to a car lane isn't a safe and sane bike lane.
And bikes don't belong on sidewalks, that's for people walking. Our roads and pathways need to have proportional space for cars, bikes, and walkers.
Posted By Gorax - Sun, Oct 18 2009 at 2:46 PM EST.
Ah, ok. I see what you mean by a proper bike lane now (although I'm a bit skeptical that those barriers would stop a car or truck well enough to save someone's life :P) But yeah, definitely better than the little paint stripe on the side of the road.
Proper bike lanes would definitely help, but in some cases/areas it's just not practical to make them. For example, what about areas where the road can't be widened anymore? I think it would be wrong for the government to tear down.... More
Without proper bike lanes, bicyclists die
The headline should read, "Out of control motorist kills bicyclists." Was he under the influence? Speeding? Sleep deprived? Texting? If it was anything other than a mechanical malfunction such steering failure or blown tire or something totally beyond his control interferring with him (i.e.knocked out by passenger) he should be prosecuted. Every legal authority in Texas should reflect that what this sad case is saying is motorists in Texas are allowed to drive over and kill anyone not in a.... More