NYTIMES article: Cars and Bikes Can Mix

[mimitabby]

Cars and Bikes Can Mix, When the Rules of the Road Are Clear
By JANE E. BRODY
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/he...tml?ref=health
A journalist who regularly bicycled to work in Washington was killed when he rode headlong into the door of a truck as the driver opened it.

A physician riding with his wife on an off-road path in New York was killed when a tow truck turned, crossed the path and struck him.

I was lucky. In 2005, I was knocked down by a car that passed me, then cut me off as the driver turned into a parking spot. I landed on one of my newly replaced knees, and was so concerned about it that I failed to notice a dislocated finger. But what scared me most was the fact that the driver didn’t see me on the ground behind her car and would have backed over me if bystanders hadn’t alerted her to the accident.

These are a few of the hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries suffered by cyclists each year from crashes with motor vehicles. Most of these accidents could be prevented if cyclists and drivers would learn to “share the road,” as a nationwide campaign urges.

Further injuries and deaths result from cyclists who ride illegally on the sidewalk and mow down pedestrians. Even recreational paths can be a hazard. A Minneapolis woman enjoying a lakeside walk was killed when she was struck by a cyclist riding on the same path, prompting the city to divide the lanes for cyclists and pedestrians.

There is some good news. Thanks to the proliferation of designated bike paths and the growing use of helmets, deaths among bicyclists have declined to around 600 a year from about 800. Still, 600 is 600 too many, as are the approximately 46,000 annual injuries that cyclists suffer in crashes with motor vehicles....

more at

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/he...tml?ref=health

[mimitabby]

hmmm. NYCity laws are different from Seattle laws!

[VeloVT]

Just read this over lunch in the print edition and logged on to post it -- you beat me to it!!!

I was very pleased to see this in "the paper of record"... maybe it will change some attitudes. Somehow I wonder if the people who yell "get out of the road" actually take the time to read the Science section though (that's where the article was located in the print paper).

[mimitabby]

i doubt too many of the real jerks read this; but i'll bet some of the ones
who were uncertain, now knowing the laws and having read the article will be more careful.
we hate the jerks, but they're not the only ones running over bikes!

[Geonz]

It'll be interesting to see the response that article generates - prob'ly the usual spread of " thank you" and "get those bikes outta here." Good to see it OUt there! Cycling nudges towards mainstream... I'm six days without a car myself

[Jolt]

i doubt too many of the real jerks read this; but i'll bet some of the ones
who were uncertain, now knowing the laws and having read the article will be more careful.
we hate the jerks, but they're not the only ones running over bikes!

Well said. In fact, probably most of the accidents are with drivers who are just plain ignorant (or inattentive), not trying to be jerks. Articles like this are helpful for the ignorant people (both drivers and cyclists--it seems like most of the other cyclists I see here in town are not following the rules of the road).