And again, but….

[Bruce K]

A local cycling fatality …

A 16 year old was riding against traffic when he was hit/collided a truck (pickup?)

Local police officer witnessed the collision and gave first aid but the kid died at the hospital.

Driver stayed at the scene.

Details are sketchy and no charges yet.

BK

[Blue Jays]

Unfortunate news to hear.

[J.Higgins]

Ashamed to admit it, but I'm suffering from a little apathy here. Bike wrecks happen daily, and I'm happy it wasn't my kid who was killed, but I hold no sympathy for people who ride against traffic or press the boundaries of other civic responsibilities. Combine this sort of behavior with distracted drivers, aggressive jackwads behind the wheel, and the chemically-impaired, and you have a recipe for disaster.

I truly feel that this sort of thing could be all but eliminated if it was more consistently taught in our schools. In the USA, we get what... one compulsory civics class, and they wait until high school to teach it? Civics should be taught and reinforced in every grade from kindergarten on up. If they did this, more Americans would grow up feeling pride in citizenship and how to comport themselves in a manner that would be be safe for everyone.

Last winter, I saw a teenaged girl riding a bike on an icy, frozen road, against traffic, no hands, texting with one hand and smoking a cigarette with the other. Mad skills, but still...

[makoti]

A week ago, I was riding and a young woman (20s) came riding towards me on the wrong side of the road, wearing headphones. As she got closer, I pointed to the other side of the road and said "Wrong side". She looked surprised and said "Are you sure? I thought it was this side". Yes, other side.
A kid in my neighborhood was going down the wrong side of the street, his brother behind him on the correct side. First one yells "Get over here! You're on the wrong side!". I yelled No, he's not, you are! I think it did some good, because a few days later, they were both on the correct side.
It amazes me that this idea of riding against traffic still exists. It is so clearly wrong if you think about it even for a minute.

[rallizes]

"Ashamed to admit it, but I'm suffering from a little apathy here"

16 year olds don't know what the hell they are doing. I didn't for sure.

I hope I don't ever become apathetic to teenagers, or anyone really, dying because of a, perhaps, momentary lack of judgment.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by Blue Jays

Unfortunate news to hear.

Yes, please stop posting these or make a non-descript sticky..

“Dearly Departed”

It’s a bit off putting when scrolling over breakfast and headed out for a ride.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by rallizes

"Ashamed to admit it, but I'm suffering from a little apathy here"

16 year olds don't know what the hell they are doing. I didn't for sure.

I hope I don't ever become apathetic to teenagers, or anyone really, dying because of a, perhaps, momentary lack of judgment.

Can't say I agree. I knew early in elementary school what side of the road to ride my bike on, the law, hand signals, and such. It's called parenting.

By 16, at least where and when I grew up, you were a man and doing a man's work.

Kids these days seem to develop the social media, gaming skills but not true life skills all too often.

[Velocipede]

I have a retail store now and our town does a bike to school month in May that a shop a town over started. He does it for publicity but doesn't do **** in the way of helping the kids or teaching them the proper rules of the road. I was going to this year but couldn't with the whole surgery thing. Want to do something this fall cause I see kids on their phones, riding in the middle of the road, wrong side of the road. Headphones. Forks on backwards, helmets on wrong. Drives me nuts! And we have a Safety Town program that supposedly teaches this but clearly no one pays attention in it.

[54ny77]

Dare I ask was he staring at phone while riding bike?

I see that sooooo often these days, on road, on trails, etc. And it's not just kids. It's sheer insanity.

Regardless, sad situation. Condolences to all.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by makoti

It amazes me that this idea of riding against traffic still exists. It is so clearly wrong if you think about it even for a minute.

It's not so hard to believe. Pedestrians are taught to walk against traffic. And most Americans think of bicycles not as vehicles but as "pedestrians on wheels" - how many people have you met that think bikes should stay on the sidewalk? So it is not surprising that many think that both pedestrians and cyclists should travel against traffic.

[J.Higgins]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

By 16, at least where and when I grew up, you were a man and doing a man's work.

Same here.

Working and paying taxes since I was 13 (1972).

Dating and driving by 16.

Drinking age was 18.

By 18, I was married and in the USAF.

Must be my age, but I have ZT for people who, through lack of knowledge or outright belligerence, fail to comply and be courteous.

[J.Higgins]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

It's not so hard to believe. Pedestrians are taught to walk against traffic. And most Americans think of bicycles not as vehicles but as "pedestrians on wheels" - how many people have you met that think bikes should stay on the sidewalk? So it is not surprising that many think that both pedestrians and cyclists should travel against traffic.

Like I said. More civics studies needed in schools.

[Rusty Luggs]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

It's not so hard to believe. Pedestrians are taught to walk against traffic. And most Americans think of bicycles not as vehicles but as "pedestrians on wheels" - how many people have you met that think bikes should stay on the sidewalk? So it is not surprising that many think that both pedestrians and cyclists should travel against traffic.

There's nothing universal about pedestrians actually practicing walking against traffic. In my area a significant number of pedestrians from all age groups walk on the road in the same direction as traffic.

Even on this forum, folks have posted in past threads that they believe riding against traffic is safer.

[Bruce K]

Knowing the area, the shoulders disappear in this area.

Even riding with traffic things occasionally get tight.

I would bet there was no helmet.

It would have only taken a minor bobble to put this young man into the oncoming lane and if the pickup driver had oncoming traffic he would have no way to even attempt to avoid the head on.

Given it was witnessed by LEO and there are no charges (or talk of charges) this might just be a sad accident.

I guess my thought was, as others have said, we need better education for kids and adults alike to make safer roads.

BK

[Peter P.]

Originally Posted by rallizes

"Ashamed to admit it, but I'm suffering from a little apathy here"

16 year olds don't know what the hell they are doing. I didn't for sure.

I hope I don't ever become apathetic to teenagers, or anyone really, dying because of a, perhaps, momentary lack of judgment.

I'm inclined to agree with J. Higgins. Parents don't teach children this common sense; the schools don't teach it (picking up the parents' slack here), and the 16 year old should be old enough to exercise their own common sense. At this point, they're at the mercy of luck and Darwinism.

Originally Posted by jamesdak

Can't say I agree. I knew early in elementary school what side of the road to ride my bike on, the law, hand signals, and such. It's called parenting.

By 16, at least where and when I grew up, you were a man and doing a man's work.

Kids these days seem to develop the social media, gaming skills but not true life skills all too often.

I agree here, too. In elementary school, we had a bicycle rodeo, promoted by the local police department, which taught rules of the road and basic riding skills. I too, was working as a youth, starting with a paper route in 6th grade on through high school graduation. I didn't realize it then, but it taught me a lot of life skills and people skills.

[QUOTE=54ny77;2964364]Dare I ask was he staring at phone while riding bike?

I see that sooooo often these days, on road, on trails, etc. And it's not just kids. It's sheer insanity.QUOTE]

I'm seeing an awful lot of this behavior as well. You can put phone addiction up there with cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, and caffeine, and it's killing us as a society.