Another sad day

[Orin]

http://www.kirotv.com/news/14069935/detail.html

[Sandy]

The recent reported incidence of fatal bicycle accidents is remarkable, sad, and genuinely tragic. Hopefully, it is not a function of increased accidents but somehow an aberration. I have been very active on this forum since its inception and have never seen anything close to the number of reported fatalities that we have seen recently.

Please be SAFE out there all. Ride at your comfort level.


Sandy

[BumbleBeeDave]

The entire time the reporter is there, there are cyclists riding by. One after another after another. But I have this uncomfortable feeling the driver is going to claim he "didn't see them" and it will be written off as a "tragic accident" . . . the same as so many DUI wrecks were until enough people got outraged enough to do something about it.

BBD

[tbushnel]

I ride through that intersection every week day on my commute. I wondered what had happened to cause all of the back-up yesterday. Now, I almost wish I didn't know. I almost never ride in the bike lane going north because of the "right cross" risk.
I'll say a prayer for the young man and his family.
Ted.

[imp25rs]

I was driving by there on thursday and was amazed at how many bicyclists there were on that road. It is different reading about this when it is some place local.

I am always amazed at how many drivers in the Seattle area are just not paying attention to what they are doing. Over half are on their cell phones. On 405 yesterday I passed someone with one hand holding a cell phone and the other hand down his pants. He was using his elbow to steer. :no: When I was driving from Indianapolis to Greenville, SC a while ago, I hardly saw anyone on their cell phone.

[mike p]

Kill a cyclist and just say "I didn't see them" and in a week it all goes away.

Mike

[72gmc]

I was one of those cyclists riding by, perhaps in the news footage. This is a very busy road, and just out of the frame a very busy bridge for both bicyclists and cars.

At the risk of sounding like I'm blaming the victims--as a bike commuter in this city I see both drivers and cyclists at fault--I always try to remember that if you can't see their mirrors, they can't see you.

A shame.

[Orin]

I used to commute on that road a couple of times a week a few years back. That intersection is just south of the Burke Gilman trail and the University of Washington so there is a lot of bicycle traffic going to/from the trail which runs east-west and the University. I considered the road fairly safe due to the sheer number of bicycles using it.

Further south, the city really screwed up the northbound uphill section by putting in a median leaving no room for cars to pass, so I've tended to avoid the southern section when going northbound since.

Orin.

[Orin]

Update:

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_090707WAB_eastlake_dump_truck_bicycle_TP.afffaf 76.html

If the witness is correct, the cyclist tried to pass the truck on the inside.

Orin.

[GregL]

http://www.news10now.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=119197

[DarrenCT]

http://www.news10now.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=119197

wow

more of a reason to stick to the backroads.

ride safe fellas

-d.

[bironi]

It has been a few years, but I also rode this route. I suspect that the two young cyclists were coming off Capitol Hill at speed down Harvard Ave. E (according to the witness saying they were going too fast, and trying to pass the truck on the right). Often times cyclists don't want to sacrifice their momentum at the traffic light at the base of the hill, and will elect to run a yellow or red light heading north on Eastlake Ave toward the university. It is a possible that the truck was already proceeding north on Eastlake when the cyclist overtook it on the right without the driver noticing. I know from experience that a cyclist with some skill and daring can probably take the turn with the traffic light at around 35-40 mph, and the intersection of the accident is one block north after the traffic light. When the driver checked his mirrors, he may not have seen anything, but the next moment the cyclists may have been there. This is a much traveled cycling route between Down town and the University of Washington, and Capitol Hill and the U of W. It was often tempting for me to keep up my momentum on this descent, but the roads were a bit quieter 20 years ago.

Regardless, it is tragic that one young man is dead, and another in the hospital.

Byron

[imp25rs]

I was just sitting here watching the news and they were talking about another cyclist that was hit and killed in the Seattle area. This time by an older lady who said she couldn't see because of the setting sun so she pulled over to make a few adjustments.

Also heard the two cyclists from yesterday weren't wearing their helmets. The one who died was only 19.

[Ray]

It has been a few years, but I also rode this route. I suspect that the two young cyclists were coming off Capitol Hill at speed down Harvard Ave. E (according to the witness saying they were going too fast, and trying to pass the truck on the right). Often times cyclists don't want to sacrifice their momentum at the traffic light at the base of the hill, and will elect to run a yellow or red light heading north on Eastlake Ave toward the university. It is a possible that the truck was already proceeding north on Eastlake when the cyclist overtook it on the right without the driver noticing. I know from experience that a cyclist with some skill and daring can probably take the turn with the traffic light at around 35-40 mph, and the intersection of the accident is one block north after the traffic light. When the driver checked his mirrors, he may not have seen anything, but the next moment the cyclists may have been there. This is a much traveled cycling route between Down town and the University of Washington, and Capitol Hill and the U of W. It was often tempting for me to keep up my momentum on this descent, but the roads were a bit quieter 20 years ago.

I didn't ride when I lived in Seattle, but I can picture that hill off of Capital Hill and that stretch of road down by the bridge perfectly. And if it happened like that, which the reporting seems to suggest, its another reminder not to jump to conclusions about 'clueless drivers'. I think we've all been cut-off by cars that pass us and then turn right immediately in front of us, either not caring or, more likely, having no concept of the speed that a bicyclist is moving. It's one of the more terrifying cycling situations because, as a rider, there's practically nothing you can do to anticipate or prevent it. When it happens, it happens fast. Hearing the initial accounts of this crash, it would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is what happened here. But it doesn't sound like it was.

It sounds like the riders were hauling butt on the right past a line of slower traffic and rode into the truck as it was turning. Its sad, tragic, and terrible, but it might just have been their own damn faults. Cyclists passing slower traffic on the right when there are places for those cars to turn right are almost always asking for trouble and doing it at out-of-control speeds is almost insisting on trouble. I'll occasionally pass a line of stopped cars leading to an intersection if there are no driveways or curb-cuts but I always find someplace to take the lane before going through an intersection.

The truck driver sounds like he's traumatized just for being there and being involved and will probably feel horrible guilt for the rest of his life even if he did NOTHING wrong. Which sounds like a real possibility in this case. Yes, there are clueless and inconsiderate drivers out there - we've all had run-ins with them. But there are also plenty of idiot riders out there. We don't know exactly what happened, but it's another reminder not to always assume the driver's at fault and should be tossed in jail for his or her transgressions.

Edit - just read some of the comments after the article. Sounds like a very poor intersection design with a bike lane involved. If there's a bike lane, this shifts the presumption of guilt somewhat to the driver because if you're going to turn across another lane of traffic (which a bike lane technically is), you better be REAL sure nobody's coming. But it sounds like everyone passing through there who's seen it before should be extra diligent and cautious. Passing on the right may have been legal in this case, since there was a bike lane, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea, particularly when there's a lot of speed differential.

-Ray

[72gmc]

Your edit is correct, Ray. I found the witness' statement in Orin's linked story curious because there is a marked bike lane on the right. It has been there for years. It's on the right so that it feeds directly into the bridge lane for bikes on the other side of the intersection. But it sure isn't the invincibility barrier that some think it is.