Yet another cyclist killed

[gone]

Like I'm certain everyone here does, I see the all too frequent posts about cyclists being killed. I don't know them but nonetheless I empathize with them and their families, reflect on my own riding & life and am deeply affected for a period of time. But it passes, life goes on and I continue riding.

I saw this post on FB this morning.

Although the cyclist in question isn't identified in the article I've since learned who it is. He and his wife are friends. In all honesty I have to say they weren't close friends but I've known them for a long time (16 years). I'd see them at rides and we'd chat for a while. Had dinner at RAGBRAI one year. You know, kind of the typical friendships you make with people that you see on rides over a period of years.

They're both active (she does tri's, he does ultra events) and giving people (they've crewed RAAM and RAW several times). Parents and grandparents. Good people.

Just devastated today.

[madsciencenow]

Sincerely sorry to hear about your friend. Thoughts and prayers for his family.


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[old_fat_and_slow]

Too many distractions available to drivers these days. Maybe autonomous cars will help to reduce these tragedies some day.

[pjbaz]

My condolences.

It's getting so bad. I rode the other day and spent a LONG part of the ride thinking of friends who've gone too early, including those killed on the bike.

Such a damn shame ...

[verticaldoug]

My friends son had a range rover pull out in front of him on a training ride two weeks ago. He was airlifted to the hospital. Broken neck, pelvis, collar bone, multiple facial injuries, head trauma. He is on the long road to recovery.

[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by old_fat_and_slow

Too many distractions available to drivers these days. Maybe autonomous cars will help to reduce these tragedies some day.

I really hope you are right about self-driving cars.


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[zambenini]

Sorry to hear this for you and your friends' family. What a shame.

I drove 10 or 12 miles from Chapel Hill back to Durham today and every driver that I distinctly noticed (there were some drivers I did not look at, obviously) had a cell phone in hand. About half were actively looking but every single person that I noticed had one in his/her grip.

[Clean39T]

I am sorry for your loss, and feel for the hole that's left in the hearts of the family and friends.

I've been vocal on here about how freaked out I've been lately at times on my bike - near misses and all that - but I'm really trying not to let my life be lived in fear.

I stumbled on this the other day:

http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com...onal-fear.html

"So the next time you prepare for a bike ride and a nagging little thought that you might get hit enters your head, ask yourself, would I have these same thoughts of death and doom, as I walk down a flight of steps, or that I might choke while I am tucking into a nice juicy steak in a restaurant?

I refuse to let irrational fear stop me from doing what I love, that is to ride my bike on the road. I don’t take chances, and I choose the safest routes, and I ride defensively. I also look at statistics and I like my odds of survival."





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[m4rk540]

Condolences.

After reading about cycling fatalities or having a close call, I begin to question my choice of hobby. But then in the first few minutes of a ride, as I feel the wind in my face, I remind myself that there are more pedestrian fatalities in the US and I'm never scared of walking anywhere. Then I try to avoid falling or crashing due to user error. We control what we can.

[tylercheung]

My condolences on your friend. And it is sobering that any one of us could be next. I think we have to prioritize what we want as a society.

We have decided, consciously or unconsciously, as a society, (or perhaps the automotive and oil industries have decided for us) to prioritize efficiency and ease and convenience. Safety is really an afterthought, and we have 4 ton hunks of metal easily piloted by distracted drivers hurtling down streets, previously considered safe for children to play without fear. Immense highways cut their way through neighborhoods. 3000 people die per year in my state, and however many thousands nationwide, and we just accept this. And we think it is OK for people to drive hours to commute from home to work.

I think that perhaps, the ideas in that recently-posted New Yorker article on the Dutch way, bears some consideration for the public at large.


That we even have to choose with grim faces which roads are "Safe" to ride, or to even ride at all, shouldn't be acceptable.

[tombtfslpk]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

I am sorry for your loss, and feel for the hole that's left in the hearts of the family and friends.

I've been vocal on here about how freaked out I've been lately at times on my bike - near misses and all that - but I'm really trying not to let my life be lived in fear.

I stumbled on this the other day:

http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com...onal-fear.html

"So the next time you prepare for a bike ride and a nagging little thought that you might get hit enters your head, ask yourself, would I have these same thoughts of death and doom, as I walk down a flight of steps, or that I might choke while I am tucking into a nice juicy steak in a restaurant?

I refuse to let irrational fear stop me from doing what I love, that is to ride my bike on the road. I don’t take chances, and I choose the safest routes, and I ride defensively. I also look at statistics and I like my odds of survival."





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While I see and understand the philosophy of random doom, I personally wouldn't describe the chance of being hit by a motor vehicle as an irrational fear. Fearing a collision while riding on the road seems like a Very Rational Fear. Drivers attempt to avoid squirrels, yet our presence brings out almost universal animosity.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by tombtfslpk

While I see and understand the philosophy of random doom, I personally wouldn't describe the chance of being hit by a motor vehicle as an irrational fear. Fearing a collision while riding on the road seems like a Very Rational Fear. Drivers attempt to avoid squirrels, yet our presence brings out almost universal animosity.

exactly this, not to mention there are concrete evidence of people being more distracted than they were previously. Of course, not all distracted driving leads to vehicular battery (that what they truly are, not mere "accidents"), but the risk certainly rises

And I chafe whenever someone mentions: do you guys decide to stop driving to work because driving is dangerous.

The answer to which should be: driving to work ensures that there's food on the table and is a necessary risk (unless one could work from home fulltime); cycling is a leisure activity that does not rise to the same level as the way provision of sustenance rises on the scale of needs.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by m4rk540

Condolences.

After reading about cycling fatalities or having a close call, I begin to question my choice of hobby. But then in the first few minutes of a ride, as I feel the wind in my face, I remind myself that there are more pedestrian fatalities in the US and I'm never scared of walking anywhere. Then I try to avoid falling or crashing due to user error. We control what we can.

I refuse to let irrational fear stop me from doing what I love, that is to ride my bike on the road. I don’t take chances, and I choose the safest routes, and I ride defensively. I also look at statistics and I like my odds of survival."

What they said..you can 'what if' yourself out of anything..I think the 'irrational' part because the chances of getting hit or killed on a bike by a car is very,very small. You CAN get so afraid as to stop but in practical terms, the chances are small. The chances of being in a car accident much larger.

Very sorry to hear about your friend tho..very sorry.

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by zambenini

Sorry to hear this for you and your friends' family. What a shame.

I drove 10 or 12 miles from Chapel Hill back to Durham today and every driver that I distinctly noticed (there were some drivers I did not look at, obviously) had a cell phone in hand. About half were actively looking but every single person that I noticed had one in his/her grip.

Ya. Even an elderly man that went left on red and nearly got me this week. Florida plate, had to be 90 plus and he was so bent over he was seeing the road through the steering wheel. He was jabbering at somebody on his phone So sorry about your friend. Ride defensively.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by soulspinner

Ya. Even an elderly man that went left on red and nearly got me this week. Florida plate, had to be 90 plus and he was so bent over he was seeing the road through the steering wheel. He was jabbering at somebody on his phone So sorry about your friend. Ride defensively.

Amazingly, as you get older, you take fewer driver's license exams...backwards, IMHO

-.68 of a century driver