David L. Johnson wrote:

On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 09:09:26 -0800, gds wrote:


As we are talking
about fatalities and not all accidents I think there is another big
contributer. Road speeds here are very high. Most arterials in Tucson
tolerate speeds of ~50 mph. The high speed on dry, straight roads may or
may not result in more accidents but I'd think that once an accident
happens that the chance of a fatality is higher because of the speed
(and because average vehicle size out here is also pretty big).


Well, I don't think that adds up. For one thing, in lots of states what
speeds are "tolerate"d are well in excess of the posted limits, and it is
the excess that makes it dangerous. Someone driving 50mph on a typical
Western artery, straight and level with wide, multiple lanes, and wide
shoulders is far less dangerous to cyclists than someone driving the same
speed on a narrow road typical of Eastern cities, with no shoulder, cars
parked all over the place, with dips and curves that date back to the 18th
century when the road was "designed".

Vehicle sizes out here are pretty big, too. Imagine a Hummer trying to
pass a group of cyclists on a narrow street packed with traffic. Driver
gets ****ed off when he is delayed 5 seconds and guns it. It takes that
tank a while to build up speed, but he keeps at it, blowing by the
cyclists with inches of clearance since the damn thing is so wide it
hardly fits in the lane. I don't have to imagine it; it happened to me
and the group I was with on Saturday. Not uncommon.


David,

I generally agree with your point, but your Hummer example doesn't quite
fit either. When a driver does what you describe (it happens on my group
rides all the time too), it sucks and is risky, but the driver is
calculating and aware of the situation. This is not the typical fatality
situation. A fatality typically occurs when the motorist has no time to
react or makes an egregious mistake, unless of course it is an assault.

Wayne