bw77
07-24-2008, 05:50 AM
The police finally gave out some information about the driver who killed a touring cyclist in Colorado earlier this month. Turns out it was a 14 year old driving an SUV.
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2008/07/24/news/doc4887efd934863615674811.txt
------------------------------------------------------------
Sharing the road: Death underscores safety needs
By Katharhynn Heidelberg
Daily Press Senior Writer
MONTROSE — The first motorist to pass bicyclist Dave Tomlinson on Highway 550 obeyed the law by sharing the road. The driver gave him, according to court documents, “wide berth” as it passed his bike.
The next vehicle, an SUV, didn’t. According to the state patrol, the first driver saw that SUV strike Tomlinson. The veteran Illinois cyclist died at the age of 56.
Now, his acquaintances and state officials say they want the public to pay more attention when driving.
“I’d like to see it get more press, so people know what’s going on out there,” Tom Fortmann of Lexington, Mass. said Wednesday.
Fortmann was traveling with the same bike tour as Tomlinson. The group set out from Boulder July 4, and was pedaling through Montrose to Ridgway on July 10 when, authorities say, an unlicensed teenage driver struck Tomlinson from behind near Colona.
According to Ouray County court records, the teen, who will be 15 next month, fled the scene. His vehicle, a Ford Explorer, was spotted later by an off-duty dispatcher at a Montrose retail store.
According to his arrest affidavit, the dispatcher saw the youth discard burning material from the SUV. The burning items were collected by a Montrose County Sheriff’s deputy and determined to be fake residency cards, the affidavit said.
The juvenile reportedly told the deputy he hit Tomlinson and drove away because he was scared. The affidavit said he later changed his story to claim another car, a gold-colored Honda, struck Tomlinson and threw him onto the Explorer’s hood.
The crash scene investigator from the Colorado State Patrol wrote in the affidavit that the second story matched neither witness statements nor the physical evidence.
The juvenile has been charged with several offenses, including the felony-3 offense of leaving the scene of an accident. The level of that charge mean his court records are releasable to the public under Colorado law.
Fortmann was riding ahead of Tomlinson and only found out about the crash after reaching Ridgway.
“It was devastating,” he said. “Everyone was extremely upset.”
The tour group decided to continue the trip, though some members left, including Tomlinson’s best friend, who went to help the Tomlinson family.
“One of the things he told us was there was no question in his mind that Dave would want everyone to go on, so most of us did,” Fortmann said.
“But it was a different tour after that.”
Tomlinson’s death is statistically rare; according to Dave Grunig, executive director for Bicycle Colorado, bicycle crashes account for less than 2 percent of all traffic fatalities.
But the tragedy underscores the need for all road users to be aware.
“Whether driving or biking, you should be paying 100 percent attention to what’s going on on the road,” Grunig said. “That’s your primary and only job.”
Under state law, a bike is considered a vehicle — with all the same rights and responsibilities, said Betsy Jacobsen of the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Program.
“Motorists are supposed to recognize a bicyclist the same way they would recognize another vehicle. That doesn’t always happen,” she said. “We have a lot of good drivers and good bicyclists. Then there’s a handful in both (groups) that think they own the road.”
Fortmann said that in general, Colorado is better than other places for common road courtesy, but there are still many drivers who make it clear they don’t want bikes on the roads.
“It’s clear there’s more than a handful who think bicyclists should not be out on the road with cars. That’s plain false. The traffic laws say they have the same rights,” he said.
Tomlinson was a skilled and safety-conscious biker, Fortmann said. “There’s no question at all about that. He would have been particularly careful on that section of road. This is not a case of some neophyte going out and doing something stupid.”
Grunig said bikes have the same legal access to roadways as cars.
“I want people to understand what the law is,” he said. “The important reminder we give to motorists is when they pass a bicyclist, is to give them space, not speed.”
He said cyclists also have roadway responsibilities, but the motoring public should remember they’re people — neighbors, friends and tourists who pump an estimated $1.2 billion into the state’s economy. “Bicyclists do not have airbags or crumple zones. Just take a second and be safe.”
———
Tips for sharing the road:
Motorists
Reduce speed; leave at least 3 feet between car and cyclist; wait a few seconds if there aren’t 3 feet to pass; scan, then turn
Bicyclists
Practice the side-by-side rule, riding no more than two abreast and moving to single-file if traffic is impeded; ride predictably by scanning the road, anticipating hazards and communicating moves to others; signal first
Source: Bicycle Colorado
Additional information
• Colorado Department of Transportation’s “Don’t be A Roadhog” campaign; see
http://www.dot.state.co.us/travelinfo/sharetheroad/
• Bicycle Colorado, at http://bicyclecolorado.org. Information and instructions on purchasing “share the road” license plates.
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2008/07/24/news/doc4887efd934863615674811.txt
------------------------------------------------------------
Sharing the road: Death underscores safety needs
By Katharhynn Heidelberg
Daily Press Senior Writer
MONTROSE — The first motorist to pass bicyclist Dave Tomlinson on Highway 550 obeyed the law by sharing the road. The driver gave him, according to court documents, “wide berth” as it passed his bike.
The next vehicle, an SUV, didn’t. According to the state patrol, the first driver saw that SUV strike Tomlinson. The veteran Illinois cyclist died at the age of 56.
Now, his acquaintances and state officials say they want the public to pay more attention when driving.
“I’d like to see it get more press, so people know what’s going on out there,” Tom Fortmann of Lexington, Mass. said Wednesday.
Fortmann was traveling with the same bike tour as Tomlinson. The group set out from Boulder July 4, and was pedaling through Montrose to Ridgway on July 10 when, authorities say, an unlicensed teenage driver struck Tomlinson from behind near Colona.
According to Ouray County court records, the teen, who will be 15 next month, fled the scene. His vehicle, a Ford Explorer, was spotted later by an off-duty dispatcher at a Montrose retail store.
According to his arrest affidavit, the dispatcher saw the youth discard burning material from the SUV. The burning items were collected by a Montrose County Sheriff’s deputy and determined to be fake residency cards, the affidavit said.
The juvenile reportedly told the deputy he hit Tomlinson and drove away because he was scared. The affidavit said he later changed his story to claim another car, a gold-colored Honda, struck Tomlinson and threw him onto the Explorer’s hood.
The crash scene investigator from the Colorado State Patrol wrote in the affidavit that the second story matched neither witness statements nor the physical evidence.
The juvenile has been charged with several offenses, including the felony-3 offense of leaving the scene of an accident. The level of that charge mean his court records are releasable to the public under Colorado law.
Fortmann was riding ahead of Tomlinson and only found out about the crash after reaching Ridgway.
“It was devastating,” he said. “Everyone was extremely upset.”
The tour group decided to continue the trip, though some members left, including Tomlinson’s best friend, who went to help the Tomlinson family.
“One of the things he told us was there was no question in his mind that Dave would want everyone to go on, so most of us did,” Fortmann said.
“But it was a different tour after that.”
Tomlinson’s death is statistically rare; according to Dave Grunig, executive director for Bicycle Colorado, bicycle crashes account for less than 2 percent of all traffic fatalities.
But the tragedy underscores the need for all road users to be aware.
“Whether driving or biking, you should be paying 100 percent attention to what’s going on on the road,” Grunig said. “That’s your primary and only job.”
Under state law, a bike is considered a vehicle — with all the same rights and responsibilities, said Betsy Jacobsen of the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Program.
“Motorists are supposed to recognize a bicyclist the same way they would recognize another vehicle. That doesn’t always happen,” she said. “We have a lot of good drivers and good bicyclists. Then there’s a handful in both (groups) that think they own the road.”
Fortmann said that in general, Colorado is better than other places for common road courtesy, but there are still many drivers who make it clear they don’t want bikes on the roads.
“It’s clear there’s more than a handful who think bicyclists should not be out on the road with cars. That’s plain false. The traffic laws say they have the same rights,” he said.
Tomlinson was a skilled and safety-conscious biker, Fortmann said. “There’s no question at all about that. He would have been particularly careful on that section of road. This is not a case of some neophyte going out and doing something stupid.”
Grunig said bikes have the same legal access to roadways as cars.
“I want people to understand what the law is,” he said. “The important reminder we give to motorists is when they pass a bicyclist, is to give them space, not speed.”
He said cyclists also have roadway responsibilities, but the motoring public should remember they’re people — neighbors, friends and tourists who pump an estimated $1.2 billion into the state’s economy. “Bicyclists do not have airbags or crumple zones. Just take a second and be safe.”
———
Tips for sharing the road:
Motorists
Reduce speed; leave at least 3 feet between car and cyclist; wait a few seconds if there aren’t 3 feet to pass; scan, then turn
Bicyclists
Practice the side-by-side rule, riding no more than two abreast and moving to single-file if traffic is impeded; ride predictably by scanning the road, anticipating hazards and communicating moves to others; signal first
Source: Bicycle Colorado
Additional information
• Colorado Department of Transportation’s “Don’t be A Roadhog” campaign; see
http://www.dot.state.co.us/travelinfo/sharetheroad/
• Bicycle Colorado, at http://bicyclecolorado.org. Information and instructions on purchasing “share the road” license plates.