Bicyclist killed by SUV

....
The Salt Lake City woman was wearing a helmet and brightly colored clothing and
was riding at the right side of the road when she was hit from behind by a SUV,
whose driver said she did not see the cyclist.
....

http://kutv.com/utah/UT--BicycleFata...rces_news_html

"Ben Kaufman" wrote in message
...
...
The Salt Lake City woman was wearing a helmet and brightly colored
clothing and
was riding at the right side of the road when she was hit from behind by a
SUV,
whose driver said she did not see the cyclist.
...

http://kutv.com/utah/UT--BicycleFata...rces_news_html

That is a real shame. Class A misdimeanor, punshable by up to 1 year in
jail.
Humans aren't worth much anymore.
I am surprised the authorities didn't try and put the blame on the cyclist.
Here in Texas, it seems, everyone does hit and runs. I'll probably be found
one day dead, on the side of the road because of some scumbag that
ran me down, using that tired excuse that 'they didn't see me". If they ever
catch the scumbag.
I have thought about attaching a minicam to the back of my bike to record
everything behind me, so maybe if I am lucky, it'll record the scumbag who
runs me down and takes off. Maybe two minicams, front and back would even be
better. They are getting cheaper nowadays.

I am trying to figure out a way to bike commute once a week from Grapevine
Texas to Addision Texas (Friday casual day), but there is about 8 to 9 miles
of roads that aren't all that safe for cyclists, if I do it. Granted it is
only 26 miles one way by car, which is probably more like 30-32 miles by
bike, but those two-three road stretches aren't very good at all, plus there
aren't any sidewalks either.

Ben Kaufman wrote:
...
The Salt Lake City woman was wearing a helmet and brightly colored
clothing and was riding at the right side of the road when she was
hit from behind by a SUV, whose driver said she did not see the
cyclist. ...

http://kutv.com/utah/UT--BicycleFata...rces_news_html

Check the driver's cell phone records for the time of the accident. On the
phone, maybe?

A mile, tomorrow, for the fallen. Tragic. Tragic.

"Neil Brooks" wrote in message
m...
Ben Kaufman wrote:
...
The Salt Lake City woman was wearing a helmet and brightly colored
clothing and was riding at the right side of the road when she was
hit from behind by a SUV, whose driver said she did not see the
cyclist. ...

http://kutv.com/utah/UT--BicycleFata...rces_news_html

Check the driver's cell phone records for the time of the accident. On
the
phone, maybe?

A mile, tomorrow, for the fallen. Tragic. Tragic.


I was hit and nearly killed just over 2 years ago by a teenage driver who
was talking on a cell phone. They were on-coming and made a left turn right
into me. Hit me head on.

For the life of me, I can't understand why we let teenagers drive AT ALL.
But the ultimate stupidity is that we let them drive and talk on cell
phones.

For the life of me, I can't understand why we let anyone drive and talk on
cell phones AT ALL. But the ultimate stupidity is that we let TEENAGERS
drive and talk on cell phones.

I know this thread isn't about that. Sorry. My condolensces to the slain
cyclist and her family.

Bob C.

In article ,
Ben Kaufman writes:
...
The Salt Lake City woman was wearing a helmet and brightly colored clothing and
was riding at the right side of the road when she was hit from behind by a SUV,
whose driver said she did not see the cyclist.
...

http://kutv.com/utah/UT--BicycleFata...rces_news_html

"Bicyclists and members of Johnson's family held a rally at the
Capitol Wednesday in support of legislation that would require
motorists passing bicycles to give them a three-foot clearance,
except where the roadway is too narrow."

While such a law /should/ be enacted, it won't be worth
a mound of lima beans if it isn't enforced. I can see
legalistic arguments around the ability of drivers or
witnesses to discern the difference between 35 and 37
inches. Just slapping another arcane law in the books
won't affect the mayhem. As for "where the roadway is
too narrow," that's when cyclists should be free to
take the lane.

Drivers who take lives so lackadaisically must be held
accountable, made to assume responsibility, and face
consequences according to the gravity and severity of
their actions. Or else this kind of tragedy will just
continue. And such killer drivers should be automatically
banned from driving for life, just for starters.

Maybe such drivers should also be compelled to pay for
advertising/media blitzes about the rights of cyclists, in
the jurisdictions in which they offended. And while they're
at it, maybe they should be compelled to appear in TV adverts
where they admit to disregarding the rights of the cyclists
(or pedestrians) they killed, and explain the hard
consequences they're undergoing.


regards,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

It's weird, but it does seem like lives don't mean much.. at least not
strangers lives.
I was crossing the street with my friend going from the main university
campus to the art building, where I have to cross a street well known for
it's international semi truck traffic. We were crossing at the pedestrian
crosswalk, and a truck came screaming through the intersection to make a
right hand turn, we were nearly hit.. All I could do was throw my arms up in
a "WTF?" sort of manner.. the driver looked at us and continued to
mcdonalds.

Like, he almost killed 2 students on the way to class.. and thought nothing
of it. WTF indeed.

Mike
http://mikebeauchamp.com

"Tom Keats" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Ben Kaufman writes:
...
The Salt Lake City woman was wearing a helmet and brightly colored
clothing and
was riding at the right side of the road when she was hit from behind by
a SUV,
whose driver said she did not see the cyclist.
...

http://kutv.com/utah/UT--BicycleFata...rces_news_html

"Bicyclists and members of Johnson's family held a rally at the
Capitol Wednesday in support of legislation that would require
motorists passing bicycles to give them a three-foot clearance,
except where the roadway is too narrow."

While such a law /should/ be enacted, it won't be worth
a mound of lima beans if it isn't enforced. I can see
legalistic arguments around the ability of drivers or
witnesses to discern the difference between 35 and 37
inches. Just slapping another arcane law in the books
won't affect the mayhem. As for "where the roadway is
too narrow," that's when cyclists should be free to
take the lane.

Drivers who take lives so lackadaisically must be held
accountable, made to assume responsibility, and face
consequences according to the gravity and severity of
their actions. Or else this kind of tragedy will just
continue. And such killer drivers should be automatically
banned from driving for life, just for starters.

Maybe such drivers should also be compelled to pay for
advertising/media blitzes about the rights of cyclists, in
the jurisdictions in which they offended. And while they're
at it, maybe they should be compelled to appear in TV adverts
where they admit to disregarding the rights of the cyclists
(or pedestrians) they killed, and explain the hard
consequences they're undergoing.


regards,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

In article ,
says...

"Bicyclists and members of Johnson's family held a rally at the
Capitol Wednesday in support of legislation that would require
motorists passing bicycles to give them a three-foot clearance,
except where the roadway is too narrow."

While such a law /should/ be enacted, it won't be worth
a mound of lima beans if it isn't enforced. I can see
legalistic arguments around the ability of drivers or
witnesses to discern the difference between 35 and 37
inches.

The purpose of the law isn't to rigidly enforce 36-inch clearance, it's
to eliminate the common defense that the cyclist swerved a foot to the
left and therefore caused the accident. If the law requires 36-inch
clearance and you hit a cyclist while overtaking when your car is only
three feet from the curb, you are by definition guilty of not leaving 36
inches of clearance.

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Books for Bicycle Mechanics and Tinkerers:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/bikebooks.html

On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 22:37:10 -0500 in rec.bicycles.misc, Ben
Kaufman wrote:

The Salt Lake City woman was wearing a helmet and brightly colored clothing and
was riding at the right side of the road when she was hit from behind by a SUV,
whose driver said she did not see the cyclist.

yeah, that's what they always say. i've had folks pull
alongside, look directly at me, and then do right turn in front
of me and tell me that they didn't see me.

was she on a cell phone?

In article ,
Joshua Putnam writes:

The purpose of the law isn't to rigidly enforce 36-inch clearance, it's
to eliminate the common defense that the cyclist swerved a foot to the
left and therefore caused the accident.

Okay, that deals with after-the-fact. I submit We need to
focus on more before-the-fact stuff to keep people from
getting killed.

And if the penalty for not respecting a 36-inch passing
clearance is small, or if the law is unenforcable (or
perhaps worse: unknown), what's the use?


regards,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Tom Keats" wrote:

"Bicyclists and members of Johnson's family held a rally at the
Capitol Wednesday in support of legislation that would require
motorists passing bicycles to give them a three-foot clearance,
except where the roadway is too narrow."

I object to that last phrase, "except where the roadway is too narrow."

If the road is too narrow to pass safely, the motorist should wait until he
can pass safely (and the cyclist should "take the lane" to prevent the
motorist from trying to pass to closely).

Art Harris