Very, very sad news. To think this could happen to someone with the experience to take the best precautions makes it especially hard to accept.

It's too bad that safety of non-automobile traffic isn't taken more seriously in this part of the world. In August of last year, my husband and I spent a week in Germany and we were really impressed with their whole transportation system. Although we've always heard plenty of jokes about the "crazy" drivers on the Autobahn, we found them to be very skilled and very serious. They have a slow, a moderate and a fast lane and everyone keeps right except when passing. There are lots of bike paths in Germany but in any shared space, cars yield to bicycles and pedestrians, bicycles yield to pedestrians, etc. It's efficient, organized and safe. It would be a good example to follow here.

Yes, we cyclists do need to be careful, and accidents will still happen. But it sure would help to see some penalties against the bigger "bully" traffic that doesn't take the safety of the smaller & more vulnerable traffic seriously.

Deb