What would we learn if ghost bikers could talk?
Tallahassee Democrat - Tallahassee,FL
Published: Jun, 9 2008
Ghost bikes bother me. They remind me of a life destroyed needlessly. And every time a cyclist is injured or killed, at least one person comes up to me and blames "all those careless and law-breaking bicyclists." So I called some bike crash survivors to see if they were really careless and lawbreaking.
Ed Holt, owner of Sunshine Cycles, was nearing an intersection when a driver approaching from the opposite direction had her turn signal on and was slowing down. Hold legally continued into the intersection, but the driver made the left turn and hit him, breaking the car's headlight against his hand and shattering his leg. Holt said he was "thrown in the air like a helicopter."
Bob Carruthers, a past president of Capital City Cyclists, was cycling along a lonely canopy road with bright colors on. A 17-year-old driver with two friends in the car and music playing skidded his vehicle more than 100 feet, hitting Carruthers from behind. The driver, who said he didn't see Carruthers until it was too late, was charged with careless driving.
Dennis Scott, a top DOT bicycle expert, was hit by a driver making a left turn. His knee was permanently damaged. I asked if he could have done anything to avoid the accident. He said, "Have ESP."
Donald Winters, a bicycle commuter, was cycling in the Capital Northeast bicycle lane when a driver (charged with failure to yield) turned right and hit him, sending him to the hospital. Another time, he was crossing Mahan Drive in the crosswalk with his bicycle when a driver failed to stop. His bike was destroyed, and his helmet, which he was wearing, was crushed and is now on display at the Great American Bicycle Shop.
Pamela Jackson and two other cyclists were riding in daylight with safety lights flashing. On a straight road in their mirror they saw a fast-approaching car. They were single file and moved to the far right, but the driver (who was charged) hit all three cyclists, breaking the windshield while sending one cyclist into the air.
Eric Amundson, a local dentist and artist who made a memorial to two cyclists killed in Clay County, described their deaths. A group of six friends were cycling on Dec. 26, 1996, on a straight country road. A driver hit all six cyclists from behind, killing two of them. One was a state bicycle safety coordinator. The other was an experienced bicycle shop manager. The driver was not tested for alcohol, even though the driver had a similar incident in his past, according to Amundson.
And there are more stories like these.
I wish ghost bikers could talk and tell their side of how they were killed. When a cyclist survives, the driver is found at fault nearly three times as often. But when the cyclist dies, and can't tell his side of the story, he is blamed twice as often as the driver, who gets to tell his story.
If the ghost bikers had lived, they might have told us about a driver trying to beat the light or not using the turn signal or running a stop sign or talking on the cell phone or eating or reading the paper or changing lanes erratically.
The ghost biker might tell us he had to go through a red light because the traffic light doesn't turn green for cyclists. He might say he was riding on a dangerous sidewalk because it was even more dangerous to cross the six-lane highway.
Another might tell us he was riding in the street instead of the sidewalk because the street is recommended and because he'd already been hit twice riding on a sidewalk by drivers he thought were looking right at him at a sidewalk crossing.
Next time a cyclist or pedestrian gets killed by a dangerous driver I want to know the ghost biker's side of the story.
TPD Officer John Berens investigated a fatal accident and was able to show the car went into the bike lane. Being a motorcycle officer made Berens better able to tell us the ghost biker's side.
If more people cycled, we would not be borrowing money from the Chinese to buy oil from terrorists. We would have lower taxes, less obesity, lower health costs, more parks, fewer parking lots, friendlier neighborhoods, and maybe we'd be worried about global cooling instead of global warming. America would be better.
Published: Jun, 9 2008
Ghost bikes bother me. They remind me of a life destroyed needlessly. And every time a cyclist is injured or killed, at least one person comes up to me and blames "all those careless and law-breaking bicyclists." So I called some bike crash survivors to see if they were really careless and lawbreaking.
Ed Holt, owner of Sunshine Cycles, was nearing an intersection when a driver approaching from the opposite direction had her turn signal on and was slowing down. Hold legally continued into the intersection, but the driver made the left turn and hit him, breaking the car's headlight against his hand and shattering his leg. Holt said he was "thrown in the air like a helicopter."
Bob Carruthers, a past president of Capital City Cyclists, was cycling along a lonely canopy road with bright colors on. A 17-year-old driver with two friends in the car and music playing skidded his vehicle more than 100 feet, hitting Carruthers from behind. The driver, who said he didn't see Carruthers until it was too late, was charged with careless driving.
Dennis Scott, a top DOT bicycle expert, was hit by a driver making a left turn. His knee was permanently damaged. I asked if he could have done anything to avoid the accident. He said, "Have ESP."
Donald Winters, a bicycle commuter, was cycling in the Capital Northeast bicycle lane when a driver (charged with failure to yield) turned right and hit him, sending him to the hospital. Another time, he was crossing Mahan Drive in the crosswalk with his bicycle when a driver failed to stop. His bike was destroyed, and his helmet, which he was wearing, was crushed and is now on display at the Great American Bicycle Shop.
Pamela Jackson and two other cyclists were riding in daylight with safety lights flashing. On a straight road in their mirror they saw a fast-approaching car. They were single file and moved to the far right, but the driver (who was charged) hit all three cyclists, breaking the windshield while sending one cyclist into the air.
Eric Amundson, a local dentist and artist who made a memorial to two cyclists killed in Clay County, described their deaths. A group of six friends were cycling on Dec. 26, 1996, on a straight country road. A driver hit all six cyclists from behind, killing two of them. One was a state bicycle safety coordinator. The other was an experienced bicycle shop manager. The driver was not tested for alcohol, even though the driver had a similar incident in his past, according to Amundson.
And there are more stories like these.
I wish ghost bikers could talk and tell their side of how they were killed. When a cyclist survives, the driver is found at fault nearly three times as often. But when the cyclist dies, and can't tell his side of the story, he is blamed twice as often as the driver, who gets to tell his story.
If the ghost bikers had lived, they might have told us about a driver trying to beat the light or not using the turn signal or running a stop sign or talking on the cell phone or eating or reading the paper or changing lanes erratically.
The ghost biker might tell us he had to go through a red light because the traffic light doesn't turn green for cyclists. He might say he was riding on a dangerous sidewalk because it was even more dangerous to cross the six-lane highway.
Another might tell us he was riding in the street instead of the sidewalk because the street is recommended and because he'd already been hit twice riding on a sidewalk by drivers he thought were looking right at him at a sidewalk crossing.
Next time a cyclist or pedestrian gets killed by a dangerous driver I want to know the ghost biker's side of the story.
TPD Officer John Berens investigated a fatal accident and was able to show the car went into the bike lane. Being a motorcycle officer made Berens better able to tell us the ghost biker's side.
If more people cycled, we would not be borrowing money from the Chinese to buy oil from terrorists. We would have lower taxes, less obesity, lower health costs, more parks, fewer parking lots, friendlier neighborhoods, and maybe we'd be worried about global cooling instead of global warming. America would be better.