There is a thread on another message board. Someone had posted because they witnessed the aftermath of a cyclist being hit by a vehicle (truck towing trailer). This is in a beach/tourist area. The person posting is on vacation there right now. Now this situation is a combination of things and from what she said I would say the fault is on both the cyclist and the driver. Basically a cyclist is riding a beach cruiser on the very busy 4 lane road with a turning lane. This road has the nickname of the 5 lanes of death, because of all the car accidents and serious injuries that have occurred (and yes many deaths). Basically this is a road you do not attempt to cross without a traffic light to start with. Basically cyclist is on beach cruiser going straight and driver is making a left hand turn NOT at a traffic light. Truthfully making a left hand turn on this road not at a traffic light is difficult at best, esp during the main busy season. It's hard enough in Sept when we visit and it's not as busy then. Then you get the people responding that no one should be riding on any road that is busy, and the ones who don't think any bike belongs on any road. The best part is the NC laws are posted in this thread (by another cyclist, not me) and they seem to think the laws don't apply because bikes belong off the road. UGH!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for the rant, just had to vent where I knew people would understand. I'm also waiting to hear back from these people about my question of how else do you get to the store other than riding on busy roads. (I need to get my biking stamina up a bit more before I attempt the 2-3 mile ride to the drug store, but that is a goal of mine. I've been inactive for way too many years and am now paying the price of trying to get more active again and seeing how badly by stamina has suffered over the years).