Riding a bicycle in traffic

In article ,
"Edward Dolan" wrote:

"Steven M. O'Neill" wrote in message
...
Edward Dolan wrote:
NYC, drunken drivers are the one thing that I fear the most when I
am on the road with motor vehicles. I am death on them. Hells
Bells, I drink myself but I would NEVER drive after having a few
drinks.

That might be a counterproductive fear. Here's a study that found
that during a 3-year period (1995-1998), driving while intoxicated
was a factor in only 4% of NYC bicyclist fatalities.
[...]

I can tell you from personal experience that there are plenty of
drunken drivers on the roads here in rural Minnesota. You simply
would not believe some of the accidents we have around here due to
drunken drivers just plain running right over cyclists.

I don't recall any offhand, but we do have a lot of intoxicated drivers
in Minnesota. And an amazing amount of broken beer and liquor bottles
on Twin Cities roads on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

"Tim McNamara" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Edward Dolan" wrote:

"Steven M. O'Neill" wrote in message
...
Edward Dolan wrote:
NYC, drunken drivers are the one thing that I fear the most when I
am on the road with motor vehicles. I am death on them. Hells
Bells, I drink myself but I would NEVER drive after having a few
drinks.

That might be a counterproductive fear. Here's a study that found
that during a 3-year period (1995-1998), driving while intoxicated
was a factor in only 4% of NYC bicyclist fatalities.
[...]

I can tell you from personal experience that there are plenty of
drunken drivers on the roads here in rural Minnesota. You simply
would not believe some of the accidents we have around here due to
drunken drivers just plain running right over cyclists.

I don't recall any offhand, but we do have a lot of intoxicated drivers
in Minnesota. And an amazing amount of broken beer and liquor bottles
on Twin Cities roads on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

The very worst accidents (motorized murder really) occur in the rural areas
of the state, not in the cities.

Here is a tale to wrap your mind around.

There was this guy who has just gotten a brand new super-duper motorcycle,
was out all night drinking, got back on his motorcycle and went speeding
down the highway in the dark. A dog wandered out on to the highway and he
hit the dog. They were picking up pieces of him and the dog for the rest of
the night well into the morning hours. They figured he must have been going
at least 120 miles per hour when he hit the dog. Hey, just another day here
on the high prairie of southern Minnesota.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

Just more proof of my theory that cyclists don't need to have laws enforced
against them. Physics is a far crueler enforcer. You want to run red
lights, and other bonehead moves? Go ahead, your funeral.


"NYC XYZ" wrote in message
oups.com...

Janet wrote:


Drunk bicyclists can be a danger to themselves. Many years ago, someone
I knew was stopped at a red light (in her car) and was run into by a
bicycle. Seems the bicyclist was out bar-hopping and didn't want to
drive (ok, that part is a smart move), but he got so drunk he rode right
into the side of her car (put a nice dent it in). He ended up with a
trip to the emergency room.

Janet


Wow, that's kind of funny, actually. (Ahem.) I hope he paid for the
damage, as well as fined and whatnot.

I never understood the beer thing at the end of a bike ride (or kayak
trip, for that matter). I never understood alcohol to begin with,
actually. What the hell kind of celebration is that, taking gulps and
gulps of Nyquil???

Interestingly, James Dean in an interview with Gig Young said:

"Drive safely, the life you save may be your own!"

One week later he died in a one-car crash on September 30, 1955 in his
Porsche 550 Spyder while his passenger, Rolf Wütherich survived but
later crashed fatally in Germany in 1981.

Jobst Brandt

On 24 Sep 2006 22:38:15 GMT, wrote:

Interestingly, James Dean in an interview with Gig Young said:

"Drive safely, the life you save may be your own!"

One week later he died in a one-car crash on September 30, 1955 in his
Porsche 550 Spyder while his passenger, Rolf Wütherich survived but
later crashed fatally in Germany in 1981.

Jobst Brandt

I thought he hit another car, IIRC.

R Brickston wrote:
On 24 Sep 2006 22:38:15 GMT, wrote:

Interestingly, James Dean in an interview with Gig Young said:

"Drive safely, the life you save may be your own!"

One week later he died in a one-car crash on September 30, 1955 in
his Porsche 550 Spyder while his passenger, Rolf Wütherich survived
but later crashed fatally in Germany in 1981.

Jobst Brandt

I thought he hit another car, IIRC.

http://members.aol.com/jaydeebee1/memorial.html

Rick Brickston writes:

Interestingly, James Dean in an interview with Gig Young said:

"Drive safely, the life you save may be your own!"

One week later he died in a one-car crash on September 30, 1955 in
his Porsche 550 Spyder while his passenger, Rolf Wütherich survived
but later crashed fatally in Germany in 1981.

I thought he hit another car, IIRC.

Almost. He approached a Y-intersection where an opposing car did not
recognize how fast the race car was approaching and crossed in front
of Dean. To avoid a head-on he swerved and rolled the car. I had the
opportunity to work with Rolf Wütherich at Porsche and hear the
account first hand. Rolf was an amazing character who had been with
racing at Porsche most of the time he worked there. A super smart
racing mechanic and a valuable asset to that part of the company.

Jobst Brandt

On 25 Sep 2006 01:14:34 GMT, wrote:

Rick Brickston writes:

Interestingly, James Dean in an interview with Gig Young said:

"Drive safely, the life you save may be your own!"

One week later he died in a one-car crash on September 30, 1955 in
his Porsche 550 Spyder while his passenger, Rolf Wütherich survived
but later crashed fatally in Germany in 1981.

I thought he hit another car, IIRC.

Almost. He approached a Y-intersection where an opposing car did not
recognize how fast the race car was approaching and crossed in front
of Dean. To avoid a head-on he swerved and rolled the car. I had the
opportunity to work with Rolf Wütherich at Porsche and hear the
account first hand. Rolf was an amazing character who had been with
racing at Porsche most of the time he worked there. A super smart
racing mechanic and a valuable asset to that part of the company.

Jobst Brandt

By all accounts I've just read, the driver of the other car, Donald
Turnupseed, says Dean collided into his:

http://www.jamesdeanindeath.com/images/accident-6.jpg

Also, Turnupseed had injuries for some reason and someone in the last
50 years would have had to review the official police accident report.

Bill Sornson writes:

Interestingly, James Dean in an interview with Gig Young said:

"Drive safely, the life you save may be your own!"

One week later he died in a one-car crash on September 30, 1955 in
his Porsche 550 Spyder while his passenger, Rolf Wütherich survived
but later crashed fatally in Germany in 1981.

I thought he hit another car, IIRC.

http://members.aol.com/jaydeebee1/memorial.html

that recount of the events says they collided while the story I got was
through evasive maneuvers Dean's car went end-over-end off the road.
Wütherich was throne out and Dean got smashed as the car rolled.

It makes little difference, the upshot is we lost a great man. I had
a similar incident approaching Garmisch in a silver Porsche, where an
oncoming car made a left turn on a Y-intersection causing me to divert
off-road into an adjoining wet grassy field, at the end of which was
an earthen railroad causeway. I was able to do a slalom turn onto the
embankment, jump the drainage ditch and land back on the road under
the RR bridge with only a minor dent in the right rocker panel.
Fortunately there was no other traffic.

It was a similar case where the oncoming car did not assess time and
motion of the approaching car.

Jobst Brandt

In article ,
wrote:

Interestingly, James Dean in an interview with Gig Young said:

"Drive safely, the life you save may be your own!"

Well, yes, but perhaps his words about a week later were more pertinent:

"He's got to see us"

I believe, in my driving test, "relying on others for safety" was an
8-point demerit.

One week later he died in a one-car crash on September 30, 1955 in his
Porsche 550 Spyder while his passenger, Rolf Wütherich survived but
later crashed fatally in Germany in 1981.

Jobst Brandt

So Jobst, is it true that the car, "Lil *******," went on to kill and
maim a string of others who came in contact with it?

'98 New Beetle, cursed by design,

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos