Breaking News - 2 struck by dumptruck, 1 killed on Eastlake

[sgtiger]

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_090707WAB_eastlake_dump_truck_bicycle_TP.afffaf76.html

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/330786_bicyclist07ww.html

Already feeling a little down today. Now this.:confused: :( Please stay safe.

[teigyr]

I saw that. A co-worker remarked that it "must be a crazy courier or something"...meaning the cyclists fault. I know the area a bit and it isn't downtown...it's the route I go for OW swimming. There's that bike lane there. I keep looking for more info. Very very sad and very scary. Been a lot of it lately, you know?

[Running Mommy]

Did you notice the responses?? Very interesting...
So sad for the families of the cyclists. It just makes me count my blessings everytime I make it home from a ride and can walke through the door to greet my family.

[teigyr]

Wow, I'm impressed by the responses. Initially I didn't see any then I didn't look again because usually the responses scare me.

In that area there is a very well-marked bike lane. The riders I've seen aren't generally "cyclists" (not to go into the debate about what defines a cyclist), they look more like college age kids and adults in jeans getting from point A to point B in a socially responsible way.

I feel like such a wuss sometimes for preferring the MUT but cars scare me. I've been yelled at when I'm over as far as I can be. My only bike/car accidents (in California) were when cars turned in front of me or into me.

This story makes me very sad.

[salsabike]

God, what an awful story and shock. People on the Cascade Bicycle Club message board are saying it's a very dangerous intersection.

What awful news.

[Trek420]

Did you notice the responses?? Very interesting...
So sad for the families of the cyclists. It just makes me count my blessings everytime I make it home from a ride and can walke through the door to greet my family.

You mean reader responses? I don't read them, don't want to, I talk to the general public all day, there are waaaaay too many morons out there.:(

I was disturbed but the photo of the bike and the tarp for this reason. While I don't think they've announced the name of the rider who died they might as well have. The photographer probably does not think that we sometimes recognize by bike before you see the rider.

The family surely would instantly recognize it.

It sounds like the driver is very remorseful and it's sad for him too. Stuff can happen anytime, I broke my leg carrying a block of cheddar cheese across the kitchen but let's be careful out there.

I was just in Seattle, I was impressed by the generally low key respectful drivers (much more so than here anyway) and the skill of the cyclists I saw.

[teigyr]

I hadn't seen the tarp, I was looking at the Komo site. King5 is shameful sometimes, they really go for sensationalistic news. I kind of view them as the People Magazine of the news sites.

That is just so wrong. That bike could be easily recognized. I only hope the relatives were notified before that came out.

[KnottedYet]

Shame on King5.

[Zen]

It's disgustingly heartless when news organizations show that type of image and let Joe Moron pontificate on what happened/who was at fault.

That's not responsible journalism. What kind of person wants a camera operator job so badly they lack any moral compass?

[teigyr]

It's disgustingly heartless when news organizations show that type of image and let Joe Moron pontificate on what happened/who was at fault.

That's not responsible journalism. What kind of person wants a camera operator job so badly they lack any moral compass?

What do you think the media is? Not to be jaded but I've seen time and time again where the media reports of hysteria and they pass judgment. I'd blame them but I'd also seen (too many times to count :D ) what the average person wants to watch and read. The public LIKES that stuff. The media caters to what the public wants.

I work in an industry that if whenever something happens, before knowing the truth, the media shows up thinking they are doing their viewers a "service". The "service" includes showing only one side of thing before all the facts are even known. It's sad because very rarely are we shown something thoughtfully written showing both sides of the situation.

And my co-worker who leaped to conclusion so quickly did hear, from me, what it is like out there. Yeah, the cyclist could've been doing something wrong (sounds like not though) but plenty of law-abiding ones are hit all the time.

[Susan126]

That is one of the biggest bike car accidents. When a cyclist wants to continue through an intersection and a vehicle wants to turn right. That is why I am sooooooooo cautious when biking through an intersection. I normally will get just behind a vehicle and continue straight then once through pull over again to the right. I also look back at any car behind me and try . . . I say try to make eye contact and pedal through. I try to make my intentions as obvious as I can.

How sad. So young. I thank God every time I finish a ride safe, for me, Joe, and my daughter.

Oh and watch out for people text messaging while driving. Scary!!!!! I read a story where a young man hit a 63 year old bicyclist while he was texting a friend. The driver was only 17 and had his license for only 4 months! Sad! He swerved right while texting and hit the bicyclist at 60 mph!

[sgtiger]

A ghostbike was placed in Brice Lewis's memory. Read more about him from his uncle here (scroll down to the comments section):
http://seattle.metblogs.com/archives/2007/09/a_tragic_inters.phtml

[Eden]

So sad - I was one of the commentors on Cascade about how dangerous that intersection is. The cyclist, having just moved here may not have even been aware of what was around that corner when he came down the hill and into the very dangerous bike lane, he was just doing as he was supposed to and following the lane. I can see how it would be very easy for the cyclist to be going too fast to stop and for the truck driver to have not seen him, even if he did look first.
Maybe this will prompt the city to look a little more carefully about how they design bike lanes and traffic flow, so they are not putting cyclists and drivers in these precarious situations in the first place. I am in total agreement that the intersection needs a dedicated right hand turn lane with either the bike lane ending, so having cyclists take the lane throught that section, or moving the bike lane to the left of the right hand turn lane.

[TsPoet]

I just read the King link, which I think has been updated because it includes the cyclist's name. It also includes this quote

"He made an emergency right hand turn as sharp as he could to avoid the dump truck, but he was going way too fast. Shouldn't have been trying to pass a dump truck on the right hand side on the curb to begin with," said witness Doug Edwards.

!!! - I'm not from Seattle, but am I right in understanding that the cyclist was in a bike lane and not "trying to pass on the right" - if so, this guy needs educated and the article should never have quoted him without pointing that out! this is scary, if I understand the situation right.
I, too, have had trouble with cars passing me, then making sharp right turns in front of me - I never thought of it as this guy obviously does - like I'm trying to pass on the right and the car has the right to cut me off.