[SDCBC] Fwd: ghost bike

[JonIsaacs at aol.com]

Serge:  Some good thoughts.   Here's a few thoughts of  my own:
 
- As Kathy said, this is senseless tragedy, someone has died, now  apparently 
as the result of their foolishness.  I think we all see people  on bicycles 
who do these sorts of things, truthfully,  I am surprised that  there are not 
more such accidents.
 
- As you say, I think there is a sometimes a tendency to sometimes  jump to 
the conclusion that the motorist is at fault.   Personally I  have the opposite 
initial reaction simply because I see so many people riding  bicycles that 
seriously disobey the basic rules of the road.  Overriding my  skepticism is my 
concern that the silent cyclist needs an advocate to speak  up.  ( (thanks 
Kathy)
 
- I agree that accidents like this point to the fact that we are in control  
of our own fate.  But we also need to be careful not to let such a tragedy  
lull us into to overconfidence, it is easy to think:  "I don't ride like  that 
so I needn't be concerned, that couldn't have been me out  there."   This is a 
good time to reflect upon what is to learned here  and in general consider 
what each of us might do to improve our own riding  skills.
 
- Indeed, at the appropriate moment, approaching Trader Joe's as well as  
other employers is a good idea. 
 
Jon 
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 7/23/2008 12:14:54 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
serge at issakov.org writes:

Thanks  for looking into this for us, Kathy.  Not surprising, frankly.

It  seems to me that whenever there is a bike-car crash, especially a
fatality,  there is a cynical inclination within the cycling community
to blame the  motorist unless and until evidence to the contrary is
found.  I think  this inclination contributes to obscuring how much
influence we cyclists  have over our own safety in traffic.  Much of
that kind of cynicism is  expressed even on lists like this one.  If
the motorists waiting for  the red left arrow to turn green before they
proceeded were not there to  witness the cyclist running it in front of
oncoming traffic, many cyclists  would probably be inclined to assume
the cyclist did nothing wrong, legally  turned left, and something like
the motorist was inattentive and ran a red  light.

I'm not saying that bike-car crashes in which the cyclist was  in
compliance with the rules of the road never happen, it's just  that
they seem to account for a very, very small percentage of all of  the
crashes that I ever hear or read about, especially when you  include
following traffic cycling best practices as part of following  the
rules of the road.

By following traffic cycling best practices I  mean consistently
staying out of door zones by riding five feet away from  parked cars,
moving away from the curb at intersection/junction  approaches,
habitually controlling lanes when they are too narrow to be  safely
shared, etc.  These are in addition to the basics like riding  on the
right side of the road, using lights at night, obeying  traffic
controls, yielding to overtaking traffic before moving  laterally,
paying attention, etc.

Judging by how they behave in  traffic (and what they say on internet
forums), most cyclists don't seem to  understand and fully appreciate
how much knowing and following the rules of  the road protects them.
This lack of knowledge and appreciation seems to me  to be the mother
of all these awful tragedies.

On a more positive  note, perhaps employers like Trader Joe's can be
approached to pay for and  offer traffic cycling courses to their
employees who already commute by  bike, or are interested in doing so.

Serge

-- 
NOTE: Any  opinions expressed above are mine and not necessarily shared
by any  organization in which I am involved.



On Tue, Jul 22, 2008 at  10:17 PM, Kathy Keehan <execdir at sdcbc.org> wrote:
> I talked with  the police today. There were witnesses who saw the bicyclist
> ride up  on the right side of the motorists waiting in the left turn pocket,
>  then cut across the front of them and went into the intersection against  
the
> red arrow. I didn't find out from the police if the bicyclist had  lights,
> but I don't think it would have mattered - his bike light  would have been
> lost in the headlights of the traffic stopped in the  left turn pocket.
> So sad, and so senseless.
>  Kathy
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