Bike Safety - Everyone Stay Smart

[Jim O'Bryan]

LO Bike Writer Erika Durham's bike as I photographed it in the morning. 2 hours
later, it was lying in the middle of West 25th St. With Erika face down and out cold.


Yesterday I had the misfortune of watching a bicyclist get hit by a car. The girl was riding
south on West 25th, when a car looking for a parking space dove in without looking, and
without turn signals, not that the signal would have mattered. She was already next to and
almost past the car. It was terribly unfortunate for all.

As I got up to help the person hurt I realized it was one of the writers for the Lakewood
Observer. She was out cold, and made the call to the police, Terry from the Bier Market
was a great help as was Jean, Nickie Antonio's partner/spouse. The Cleveland police were
there very quickly, and in the end a couple broken teeth, a lot of bruises and pain, but
nothing broken. Whew.

The driver of the car was a real nice guy, who was completely shaken and a mess as we
talked to the police, and we both compared notes on the accident. He accepted full responsibility
and pulled me aside later to once again tell me how sorry he was, and how bad he felt,
and he once again promised that everything would be right in the end. The police cited
him, and I went off to Metro Hospital. Where she got great care and was released.

But the point of this story is. Had everyone taken a breath, looked in the mirrors before
turning. None of this would happen. It took me back to the last time I rode my motorcycle
home from work. The distance is 28 blocks. I was almost hit 3 times, but people just not
looking for motorcycles, or riders. Not evil, or drunk, or out of it. Three very coherent
people just trying to beat the pattern and get on Detroit.

Riders, bikers, walkers, cars, buses, skate boarders, whatever. WE ALL HAVE RIGHTS ON
PUBLIC STREETS. Take a second, and look around. Take a moment, and look both ways,
Learn to let people into traffic, we are all not really in the hurry we believe we are in. We
can all use and our lives improved by taking a breath, and letting someone in, looking
around.

Yesterday could have turned out far worse than it did. In the end, I got to spend the
afternoon with one of my favorite writers, meet her family.



.

[Will Brown]

I'm glad she was not seriously injured, but I'm not clear on just how the accident happened. For much of W25, there is a driving lane and a parking lane; sometimes two driving lanes and a parking lane. Which was the situation? Which lane was the auto in? And which lane was the cyclist in?

[Jim O'Bryan]

I'm glad she was not seriously injured, but I'm not clear on just how the accident happened. For much of W25, there is a driving lane and a parking lane; sometimes two driving lanes and a parking lane. Which was the situation? Which lane was the auto in? And which lane was the cyclist in?

Will

While this is a valid point the law will go the other direction.

The drive was in the center of the lane, as was I. The car in front of me was far left, perhaps thinking of going
around the rider. We were all going about 6 miles an hour. The rider was coming up
between, the cars and the parked cars. Certainly, a place that could use a bike lane.

With that said, the driver's right front fender hit the rear wheel of the bike near the back of the wheel. you
can tell by the color of the paint and the chip on the BMW. So the rider was in front of the car that hit her. It
turned the bike which threw her over the handle bars. The police talked with all witnesses and there were
many and sighted the driver. In this day and age of no fault accidents being near 80% I have to think, there
is precedent on this.

Certainly we could demand bikers to be in the same lanes as cars, but this would be a night mare on Detroit,
W25th, etc. If she had been on a motorcycle or scooter, she would be wrong, from what I remember of
my two wheel test, on a bike, not so sure.

But I see what you are thinking.

.

[Will Brown]

Assuming the driver received a citation, rather than an accident report, that is still not a conviction, but it may not be worth contesting as the insurance companies will hash it out.

But it sounds like the cyclist was passing on the right, which is not proper. I know we have some avid bicyclists here who often complain about how auto drivers mistreat them, and I agree that they have the same rights and obligations as auto drivers, but those who observe those rights and obligations are few; most cyclists act foolishly, passing when they shouldn't, cutting in and out of traffic and the sidewalk, and ignore the hard fact that they are very vulnerable and difficult to see. Had this person stayed in the lane and not tried to squeeze by the cars, this accident would not have happened.

Drivers in this part of the country, and of course elsewhere, are very competitive and aggressive, and we don't see much civility. We could all benefit from being more polite and less aggressive, but in this atmosphere the cyclist should be especially careful to avoid putting themselves at risk.

[michael gill]

Thanks for looking out for an injured person, Jim.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Thanks for looking out for an injured person, Jim.

I know you would do the same, and I hope we all would.


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[sharon kinsella]

This was by the market I'm assuming as Jean came out. That area is such a mess. So sorry this young woman got hurt, what a shame. There isn't much room for anyone driving or cycling there.

[Christina McCallum]

Ditto what Mike said, Jim.

When Brendan was hit at Clarence a few weeks ago, I did appreciate that the driver plus another driver got out to make sure he was okay.

What I really appreciated was that another Garfield student, whom B thought was an 8th grader, stopped and got off his own bike to walk with Brendan to the school property. That was great. I wish I knew his name because I would tell his parents the good thing he did.