Bicyclist killed in Norfolk

A horrible accident claimed the life of a bicyclist in Norfolk
Thursday morning.

The bicyclist has been identified as 46-year-old Michael T. Holmes of
Norfolk.

Police spokesperson Chris Amos says Holmes was on a bike was traveling
southbound in the 8700 block of Tidewater Drive around 6 a.m. when a
Nissan Pickup truck traveling in the same direction hit him.

He was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

Police say Holmes was not wearing a helmet.

"You can ride in the roadway a couple of feet from the curbline with
the flow of traffic is what the law says you can do and you must do,"
said Amos.

Bill Hart with the Virginia Bicycling Federation says this accident
was preventable, "There's no reason why he shouldn't have seen him.
Bike lanes are needed there. Bike lanes are needed all over. I think
the person should have seen him. You have to use care. You have to pay
attention when the cyclist is in front of you."

Speed and alcohol were not factors in the accident.

Investigators will pass their findings on to the Commonwealth's
Attorney. At that point, it will be determined if charges will be
filed.

On Sun, 7 Jun 2009 07:51:50 -0700 (PDT), Anton Berlin
wrote:

Bill Hart with the Virginia Bicycling Federation says this accident
was preventable, "There's no reason why he shouldn't have seen him.
Bike lanes are needed there. Bike lanes are needed all over. I think
the person should have seen him. You have to use care. You have to pay
attention when the cyclist is in front of you."

Bike lanes improve visibility? Hell, I don't notice the lanes in areas
where I sat through the SHA committee meetings on putting them in, and
they have no impact on seeing the rider on the bike.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

wrote in message
...
On Sun, 7 Jun 2009 07:51:50 -0700 (PDT), Anton Berlin
wrote:

Bill Hart with the Virginia Bicycling Federation says this accident
was preventable, "There's no reason why he shouldn't have seen him.
Bike lanes are needed there. Bike lanes are needed all over. I think
the person should have seen him. You have to use care. You have to pay
attention when the cyclist is in front of you."

Bike lanes improve visibility? Hell, I don't notice the lanes in areas
where I sat through the SHA committee meetings on putting them in, and
they have no impact on seeing the rider on the bike.

Some bicycling friends of mine lived back in Virginia for a couple of years.
They said that most of the roads have no shoulders and that cyclists were
stuck riding in the car lanes. Since it wasn't safe to pass most places the
cyclists would take the whole lane. And this would cause motorist anger and
them passing in unsafe locations and cutting as close to the cyclists as
possible to "show them".

Dans le message de ,
Tom Kunich cyclintom@yahoo. com a réfléchi, et puis a déclaré :
wrote in message
...
On Sun, 7 Jun 2009 07:51:50 -0700 (PDT), Anton Berlin
wrote:

Bill Hart with the Virginia Bicycling Federation says this accident
was preventable, "There's no reason why he shouldn't have seen him.
Bike lanes are needed there. Bike lanes are needed all over. I think
the person should have seen him. You have to use care. You have to
pay attention when the cyclist is in front of you."

Bike lanes improve visibility? Hell, I don't notice the lanes in
areas where I sat through the SHA committee meetings on putting them
in, and they have no impact on seeing the rider on the bike.

Some bicycling friends of mine lived back in Virginia for a couple of
years. They said that most of the roads have no shoulders and that
cyclists were stuck riding in the car lanes. Since it wasn't safe to
pass most places the cyclists would take the whole lane. And this
would cause motorist anger and them passing in unsafe locations and
cutting as close to the cyclists as possible to "show them".

Your friends were bozos.

On Mon, 8 Jun 2009 10:23:40 -0700, "Tom Kunich" cyclintom@yahoo. com
wrote:


Some bicycling friends of mine lived back in Virginia for a couple of years.
They said that most of the roads have no shoulders and that cyclists were
stuck riding in the car lanes. Since it wasn't safe to pass most places the
cyclists would take the whole lane. And this would cause motorist anger and
them passing in unsafe locations and cutting as close to the cyclists as
possible to "show them".

Yeah, but he parked the comments about bike lanes between the comments
about being seen. And pretty much if there isn't enough tarmac,
getting bike lanes takes a very long time - more tarmac, ROW issues,
and with busy, multilane roads everyone argues over the cement
conduits carrying the wires usually alongside that would have to be
moved to make way for the tarmac. Most bike lanes are put up where
they already have the roadway and only need to moved lanes down a foot
or so to make space for the 3 feet they give cyclists when they do the
next repainting. And the worst are where the most cyclists tend to be
- old roadway built when even the trucks were narrower and they used
narrower lanes and no real breakdown area.

So having lived the difference between the committee meetings where
people want to make changes, but live within budgets and
infrastructure constraints, and hysteria marketing as often used by
activists with no real marketing budget, this is hysteria marketing in
my opinion. Taking an opportunity to make a point that appears
relevant, but really isn't. Just my opinion...

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

"Anton Berlin" wrote in message
...
A horrible accident claimed the life of a bicyclist in Norfolk
Thursday morning.

The bicyclist has been identified as 46-year-old Michael T. Holmes of
Norfolk.

Police spokesperson Chris Amos says Holmes was on a bike was traveling
southbound in the 8700 block of Tidewater Drive around 6 a.m. when a
Nissan Pickup truck traveling in the same direction hit him.

He was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

Police say Holmes was not wearing a helmet.

"You can ride in the roadway a couple of feet from the curbline with
the flow of traffic is what the law says you can do and you must do,"
said Amos.

Bill Hart with the Virginia Bicycling Federation says this accident
was preventable, "There's no reason why he shouldn't have seen him.
Bike lanes are needed there. Bike lanes are needed all over. I think
the person should have seen him. You have to use care. You have to pay
attention when the cyclist is in front of you."

Speed and alcohol were not factors in the accident.

Investigators will pass their findings on to the Commonwealth's
Attorney. At that point, it will be determined if charges will be
filed.

In the next town over, a teenager was killed by a train - the teen was
walking home from work, which involved crossing train tracks, and was
wearing an iPod. Apparently he never heard the train coming.

I'd like to know what percentage of accidents involving bicyclists and
automobiles find the bicyclists wearing headphones - I hope the answer
is zero but I see plenty of people around here riding while listening to
music and, hell, I've seen pictures of Lance Armstrong doing it,
although I'm pretty sure he had a follow car close behind him some/most
of those times.

-S-