Seattle lost a cyclist Friday

[indysteel]

How sad. I love that cyclists take the blame as a group for something that was clearly the fault of an inattentive driver. We can't win.

[hulagirl]

Poop. And Seattle is very bike friendly (compared to Hawaii). I feel so much safer riding there. Alas the kid was either drunk, high, on his cell phone or all of the above. Hope he gets it for manslaughter.

[Eden]

Those three things have actually been eliminated as causes - the driver wasn't impaired nor was he texting/talking on a phone. I can't imagine what he was doing though.... though the road is winding the section on which the cyclist was hit is not a sharp bend, it is uphill and has a pretty wide shoulder.... There are very, very few published details, which leads me to think that there may have been no witnesses.

[smilingcat]

An 18 YO.
Not too experienced in driving. Not enough time behind the wheel.

If the road, as you say, is bit winding but not terribly so, then he may have been paying attention and his gaze locked onto the cyclist.

Your car/bike do tend to go in the direction of your gaze and he may inadvertently drove the car into the cyclist then proceeded to smash into a utility pole.

But this is all conjecture and nothing will not bring back the cyclist. My condolence to the families who are affected by this tragedy.

There are obviously few nefarious reason for the cyclist's death. I just wish none of them are true.

I also wish the judicial system and police to treat all people the same way. Cyclists have have the same right as anyone else to "life and liberty".

Do maintain situational awareness at all times. Be safe, and ride safe!

[badger]

I drive along a long stretch of flat road that I share with traffic. I was so unnerved by all the trucks and speeding cars coming up from behind that I got a mirror. It's probably not going to save me if a car/truck was coming right up to hit me, but at least I can feel better that I can see behind me to see what's happening in general.

I know it's tragic that a cyclist lost his life, but I also feel bad for the driver; he has his whole life ahead of him knowing that he's killed someone due to inattention.

[Eden]

We've unfortunately had another death, this Thursday. This time it was a hit and run. It was in a heavily trafficked area, so this time exactly what happened is well known and was 100% the fault of the driver. S/he was turning left across traffic and failed to look for the cyclist who was in the bike lane. Apparently the SUV pretty much dove through a gap in traffic to make his/her left and hit the gas so hard they squealed the tires. The cyclist who was crossing the intersection didn't have a chance. The driver then chose to run, making it all the worse.

(and creepily I left a store about 2 blocks away about 5 min before this accident happened.... I'm feeling a little Johnny on the spot...)

[Groundhog]

And a third Puget Sound cyclist was hit Thursday and died Friday, with a fourth hit Friday morning (another hit/run). The one that died was not wearing a helmet (and was 70 years old) but still. The hit/run is expected to live. Three dead in two weeks. Yikes!