This is getting ridiculous! When are drivers going to WAKE UP?!

[emily_in_nc]

Reading all the accident posts in TE over the past few months has made me happy that I've decided to focus more on mountain biking over road riding. I love riding on the road, but I go back and forth about whether I feel it's safe enough for me to actually do. Although traffic is generally light around where I live (in the country), there are no shoulders and lots of big pickup trucks. Cyclists are generally not well-liked, from what I can tell.

I manage to bang myself up around half the time I head out on a mountain bike, but I've not come close to doing the damage that a close encounter with a car (or a dog, like my accident in 2005) could do.

I have never heard of the Gages, but what happened to them could happen to any of us. Unfortunately, all our careful riding and defensive tactics can only go so far towards preventing deadly accidents; if a motorist is clueless, careless, not paying attention, we can still get hit and seriously injured or killed through no fault of our own.

I go back and forth about whether that risk is worth taking or not. At the time I added my signature (below), I felt that it was. Tonight, I'm not so sure. There are a lot of other healthy activities I enjoy that do not involve this degree of risk.

What a horrible crash...I hope George will recover in time. My heart goes out to him and his family right now.

Emily

[7rider]

It *is* a horrible accident, there is no getting around that.
But, Emily, horrible accidents happen anywhere. Someone posted recently about a cyclist killed in Massachusetts, and the only likely culprit was a dead mouse on the scene.
You can't give up on road cycling because of this. It makes the cars "win" and only reinforces the notion that "bikes don't belong." Sure, I don't want to prove the point with the blood of cyclists, but retreating in fear is not the answer either.
My best to the Gages. A horrible accident and wish them both speedy recovery.

[Thistle]

This is so awful Running Mommy. I hope that they will be ok, and eventually be back on their bikes. That sounds like such a trite statement, but I just want them to recover and be ok.

It is truly awful.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sadly, I think we are going to see a continued rise in bikes getting hit by cars for perhaps one reason more than any other- cell phones. Drivers talking on cell phones are having more and more accidents now. Fatal car/motorcycle accidents are suddenly on a rapid rise after more than a decade of steady decline. Why? I'll give you one guess.
Here in NY state is is ILLEGAL to talk on a hand-held cell phone while driving. Yet the law seems to be totally ignored. One out of every 10 or so drivers I pass on the road is holding a cell phone to their ear while driving.
There have to be TOUGH new nationwide laws to stop this. People are getting distracted and people are getting killed. And if YOU talk on the phone while driving, PLEASE rethink it.

[ridethewind]

I agree on the cell phone issue, Lisa. In September in a town near where I live, a teenager driving her car struck and killed a young man who was riding his bicycle. She was downloading ringtones and changing lanes when she hit him. The coroner ruled the death a homicide. The teen was charged with improper lane usage.

[light_sabe_r]

Sadly, I think we are going to see a continued rise in bikes getting hit by cars for perhaps one reason more than any other- cell phones. Drivers talking on cell phones are having more and more accidents now. Fatal car/motorcycle accidents are suddenly on a rapid rise after more than a decade of steady decline. Why? I'll give you one guess.
Here in NY state is is ILLEGAL to talk on a hand-held cell phone while driving. Yet the law seems to be totally ignored. One out of every 10 or so drivers I pass on the road is holding a cell phone to their ear while driving.
There have to be TOUGH new nationwide laws to stop this. People are getting distracted and people are getting killed. And if YOU talk on the phone while driving, PLEASE rethink it.

Australia introduced these laws a few years back...

Hasn't really stopped anybody. The police will ask you for your phone and check it when you're in an accident (they checked mine when I was in a 4 car bumper to bumper in 2004 to make sure I wasn't talking on it at the time... The only call I had made after 4pm was to 000 when the car had crashed)

Those good kind souls who have stopped using your phone since the law was introduced. I salute you!

I'm also glad we must have third party Keely. ^_^ Of course that means the Rego bill is expensive but it's so worth it.

Poor George. At least he has motor function and touch sensation.

I hope the bastard that hit him pays for his teeth!!! >_< (on top of the rest of the medical costs)

[spokewench]

Hi Runny Mommy:

I want on AZ Cycling website this morning and saw the report that the Gage's had been hit and injured. I'm horrified! I'm sorry to say that I really don't think people in cars are going to learn, but I think education is the key. However, there will always be those people who are willing to break the law, or don't give a D - - - about anything, even their own lives. We need to teach our children courtesy, obligation, and accountability in all things and that includes driving. Hopefully, they will grow up and spread the word!

We also, as a country, need to get over the belief that driving a car is a GOD given right and that if you hit something in a car it is always called an "ACCIDENT". When we hit something because of inattentiveness, breaking the law, drunkeness, etc., IT IS NOT AN ACCIDENT!

We have had a lot of people hit by cars in my small community of Flagstaff in the last couple of years. Some fairly minor, some much more major (very similar to Mr. Gage) and one young man who was killed. The young man who was killed was just really starting out in life, was just about to get his master degree, his wife was pregnant, etc. and he was hit by a drunk driver (who had multiple drunk driving convictions before he struck and killed Matt). This happened just after my friends became board members for our local club of which Matt had been a member and racer.

These kinds of things strike hard and make so many people talk about not riding the road any more. But, I don't think we can let this happen, we have to persevere and be careful.

I'm sure that many more people are killed in vehicular/vehicular collisions than ever are killed or maimed in bike/vehicle collisions.

Somehow we need to make people aware that driving poorly and causing accidents is not acceptable. That it is not an ACCIDENT. That is a major killer in our country just like Cancer or heart problems and that we need to deal with this problem in our society aggressively!

I am praying for Mr. Gage - it sounds like he is lucky to be alive and I am wishing him the fastest recovery that his serious injuries will allow

[Geonz]

THe ringtone-downloader in question *should* have already had her license revoked because of previous infractions (all having happened in the space of about 15 months). Seems the paperwork got lost along the way. Illinois doesn't have a particularly good record when it comes to making sure the drivers are qualified to be on the road

[Keely]

What an awful accident. It scares me to hear about these accidents, but it won't stop me riding. I think the more cyclist gettig out there on the road the more likely it is that drivers will finally become aware of the need to be more careful, because they're more likely to know someone who is a cyclist and/or has been hit by a careless driver.

My partner was supposed to go on a hill ride about 2-3 weeks ago but couldn't make it because of work. The next day we found out that the four guys who had gone for the ride were all taken out by a young female driver when she lost control in the rain. Two guys are back on their bikes now, but one has a brain injury and the doctor's aren't sure what exactly is wrong with him and the other guy had a serious gash on his leg.

I'm just glad that it's compulsoy to have third party insurance here in Australia, it's included in your car registration.

Keely