[SDCBC] Joggers in the Bike Lane - WTF

[John Eldon]

Let's pursue a legal thought experiment: 

Ms. Soto was in the bike lane, but bicycling instead of jogging. Same time, same evidently somnolent motorist, same outcome. Now all of us suddenly concur that the motorist is 100% responsible for her death. Why should we be so much easier on the real-world motorist simply because the victim happened to be jogging instead of cycling?

A motorist's prime directive is to avoid collisions and to "stay between the lines." Had Ms. Soto been walking or jogging in the main travel lane, I would readily accept the contributory negligence argument, but she was reportedly using what is legally supposed to be a safe haven for nonmotorized road users.

By the way, I do not think the city should be held responsible under either scenario -- to me, this is a crystal-clear case of motorist negligence. The road is not inherently dangerous, and neither is the act of jogging or cycling in the bike lane, but certain motorist behaviors clearly are.

Abulifia <abulifia1 at cox.net> wrote: I have to believe that running westbound on the eastbound side of the 
parkway distracted with an iPod most likely had something to do with 
it.  That particular section of Bake Parkway and North Pointe Drive in 
Lake Forest is always bad.   And at 6a.m. on a Sunday, it's no 
different.  I don't have the State Vehicle Code section at the moment, 
but regardless of personal opinions on the level of softness the street 
provides vs the sidewalk, the law is the law, and the Handbook clearly 
states joggers don't belong in the bike lane.  And you can bet the farm 
that the law will factor mightily into any lawsuits filed by Ms. Soto's 
heirs.  The city of Lake Forest will not just forgive that she was in 
the wrong and was killed as a result.  The driver may have been 
negligent, but she shouldn't have been running in the bike lane and that 
makes her comparatively negligent.  Translation = very little settlement 
money.

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