another bicycle mishap-newspaper article

[beccaB]

Just one comment-if a person is driving an RV without looking in their mirrors as a big truck driver would, they should have their license revoked! Of course I'm preaching to the choir here! Maybe there should be special liscensing requirements for RV drivers just as there are for commercial drivers.



Pitching in: Passer-by stops to assist bicyclist who wrecked along road
by Joanie Hauglie | Jackson Citizen Patriot
Sunday August 02, 2009, 11:00 PM

What started out as a routine bike ride last month wound up to be anything but for John Waller of Ann Arbor.

Waller was biking July 5 on Race Road in Jackson County. The route is one he has traveled dozens of times.

But this ride would be different.

About 2 p.m., as he was southbound, a recreational vehicle passed Waller too closely, sending him and his bike tumbling into a ditch.

The RV driver didn't stop, but Joel Prairie of Jackson did.

"Though not seriously injured, I was in no condition to continue riding and was a long way from both my home and my car," Waller said.

Prairie not only took Waller and his bike back to his car in Chelsea, he also offered to drive him and his car home to Ann Arbor.

Fortunately, Waller's injuries turned out to be mostly bruises, scrapes, sore muscles ... and a case of poison ivy.

The 66-year-old Delphi Corp. retiree says "abundant vegetation" where he went off the road helped cushion his fall. It also saved him from plunging into a pond.

But his biggest helper that day was a passer-by.

"Joel was great. He stuck around and was very concerned about my welfare," Waller said. "He stuffed my dirty bicycle in his car and took me right to my car."

[Tri Girl]

I'm glad that man is OK and that a passer by stopped to help him. You get to see the bad and good in people one right after the other.

Just yesterday on my 65 mile ride, a HUGE RV passed me (the giant motorcoach kind). It was pulling an enclosed trailer with their car, presumably. I was on a 4 lane road and he could have gotten totally over into the other lane, but I guess that was too much trouble. He might have given me a 2 foot clearance. Scared the peepers out of me. Grrrrr... stupid drivers.

[witeowl]

Wow, that Good Samaritan really went a few steps beyond.

About RV licensing: There is a special endorsement needed for an RV above a certain size, but I don't think the bar is set low enough. My father's RV requires no endorsement and I'm scared sh*tless any time I have to drive it. I'm blind, I'm lumbering, and I feel like I'm spread out all over two lanes. I avoid driving it like I'd avoid kissing someone with the plague. (Somewhat ironically in this light, I had to get a special endorsement for my motorcycle... with an actual riding skills test... and the person I'm most likely to kill on a bike is myself.)

[bmccasland]

Would someone please explain to me that you need a commercial license to drive a bus, but don't to drive an RV built on the same chassis? I used to have a chauffer's license, and most of it had to do with awareness of the size of the vehicle you're driving and placement on the road. As I recall, the license exam didn't ask any questions about passenger safety - it was all on vehicle safety.


Gold stars on the crown of the Good Sam who stopped to help the cyclist. There are good people out there.

[KathiCville]

Phew, glad the cyclist is OK! Kudos to the Good Samaritan who stopped to help him......I don't encounter many RV's on the roads where I live, but I do sometimes share the road with really lonnnggggg horse trailers from area farms. I slow down and hold my breath until they're totally past me!

The worst offenders in terms of road space are pick-ups driven by guys who are just itchin' to show who's boss---either by giving cyclists the least amount of space possible or accelerating past with a roar and cloud of exhaust smoke!

[beccaB]

Would someone please explain to me that you need a commercial license to drive a bus, but don't to drive an RV built on the same chassis? I used to have a chauffer's license, and most of it had to do with awareness of the size of the vehicle you're driving and placement on the road. As I recall, the license exam didn't ask any questions about passenger safety - it was all on vehicle safety.


Gold stars on the crown of the Good Sam who stopped to help the cyclist. There are good people out there.

That's EXACTLY my thought! I have a commercial drivers' license with air brake, passenger, and school bus endorsements. The training was HARD. Most people are probably not a natural at it. I certainly wasn't.
I was driving my school bus on a hilly road and came upon two cyclists who waved me around them. I did not go until I knew I had the whole other lane available with complete visibility. I could just imagine the worst scenario of sucking them under my bus if I passed to closely!

[andtckrtoo]

ITA agree as well. I had to haul a UHaul towing a trailer with a Jeep Cherokee on it across country. It wasn't until I hit the East Coast that I started to get the feel for it, and I can drive any car out there without thinking about it (used to sell 'em, so I had to drive many different ones). I would never voluntarily drive a huge RV without some kind of lessons.