Hit and Run- Bicycle vs Truck

[Rubber Cow]

This sucks,
As some of you may know, Knary and I are training for a 100 mile bicycle ride in September with Team In Training for the purpose of raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and to get my fat ass ...well, less fat.
One of our fellow riders was harassed and then struck by a pickup truck this past weekend on a rural two lane road near Hillsboro, OR. This comes a week after some asshat in a black Jeep CJ came dangerous close to me and another rider, yelled something at us and then took off. I was able to catch up to the pinhead and get his lic plate # and report it to the local sheriff.
Cindy had major reconstructive surgery to put her humerus back together on Monday. She'll recover but she could have easily been killed. Unfortunately no detailed information was available from Cindy's incident. Hopefully someone will come forward with something.
What the fuck is wrong with people?
Others have called me paranoid for riding armed....I'm not so sure I'm wrong about that anymore...
Here's the story:
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/storie....25c5289b.html

Cheers,
Jorge

Help me raise money for a worthy cause here

[dagwood]

not anotherone. jeez people.

shows, I guess, the true conflict of ignorance in a big but still rural city.

Stay safe out there Jorge.

[Trophy1298]

Sorry to hear about the incident. Some friends and I ride the Natchez Trace here in MS and have been harassed by idiots several times. I don't peddle armed but one of the guys who rides with me does. It is amazing how people will see how close they can get to you. We have even had them throw bottles at us, lucily their aim is equal their intelligence.

I have had this while riding the motorcycle as well. But you can catch them and get the tag or follow them to their next stop and "straighten it out."

Hope your friend recovers quickly and someone who knows the moron (b/c you know he is braggin to his moron buddies about it) comes forward.

[GSgal]

Please give Cindy our collective well-wishes. This is a terrible incident. I'm glad you're okay, Jorge - ride safely...

[AngryScot]

Nothing good can come of stupid actions like that, I say reply in kind and shoot first!

who rides a pedal bike anyway! geez we have motors people!

grrrrrrrr

[Curmudgeon]

I use to ride bicycles a lot more than motorcycles, but too many close calls has put me off bicycles. When somebody questions my sanity for riding a motorcycles, I just say "Ya, but I'm not crazy enough to ride a bicycle on the street." Then the ensuing silence as they try to think of a comeback, and most times they got nothin.

Patrick

[Rubber Cow]

Originally Posted by AngryScot

Nothing good can come of stupid actions like that, I say reply in kind and shoot first!

who rides a pedal bike anyway! geez we have motors people!

grrrrrrrr

Hi Garry!
Christ...there goes the neighborhood...

[SteveAZ]

I got clobbered by a car while bicycling as a youngster. I rarely ride on the street and even when I'm riding local roads, I stay on the sidewalk. I don't want to get clobbered again.


Ideally, while I think bicycles should be welcome on the streets for the most part (there is always that "ideal" that motorized pay road taxes and bicycles don't), I simply think that the reality of mixing vehicles with so distinctly different performance and size characteristics might not make much sense.

And while ideally it might seem that it should be the opposite, it would also seem that the onus is on the bicyclist to stay safe; simply because the reality is that they will suffer the greater bodily injury - by far...

[BikePilot]

That's crazy. A guy on the TL site reported that a young guy was killed on a bicycle by a hit and run driver in his local area (SoCal) last week. A girl in my econ class over the summer was hit by a cager in DC also while on her bicycle, but the cager stopped. I commuted by bicycle for quite a while and never had any major issues thank goodness.

[Rubber Cow]

Originally Posted by SteveAZ

And while ideally it might seem that it should be the opposite, it would also seem that the onus is on the bicyclist to stay safe; simply because the reality is that they will suffer the greater bodily injury - by far...

I agree that there will be a heavier price paid by the cyclist but these are rural two-lane roads. Should farm equipment be banned (assuming you're talking about restricting bicycle access) also? What about pedestrians? Would there be any difference or distinction in your proposed world between people commuting to work by bike and pleasure riders? What happens when oil hits $300 dollars a barrel and we're all riding?

The Oregon vehicle code is pretty clear. Bicycle riders have equal access on this type of road. Unfortunately, there are a great number of people driving who cant remember their favorite ice cream flavor let alone what they learned in the ten days of thier lives that was Driver's Ed. That or they just don't give a damn.

What's more disturbing to me is the number of malicious drivers that are willing to put other people at risk for their own sick pleasure. Their numbers seem to be growing.

[SteveAZ]

Originally Posted by Rubber Cow

I agree that there will be a heavier price paid by the cyclist but these are rural two-lane roads. Should farm equipment be banned (assuming you're talking about restricting bicycle access) also? What about pedestrians? Would there be any difference or distinction in your proposed world between people commuting to work by bike and pleasure riders? What happens when oil hits $300 dollars a barrel and we're all riding?

Utopian ideals would be a separate path for bicycles. But I understand we again run into realities.

As far as farm equipment, I doubt there are a lot of issues with farmers getting hurt by cagers. Some fer sure, but prolly not a lot. Pedestrians are also a different issue. It would be nice to see sidewalks (in urban areas) and large enough shoulders where there aren't sidewalks. But again, that's an ideal. If everyone is riding bicycles, then the whole metric changes. But presently, bicyclists are a small minority of vehicles on most roads and that *is* a reality. My apologies in advance, this will likely offend bicyclists and it's not meant to offend, it's just another reality that motorized vehicles *pay* for roads for the most part, not bicyclists.

Perhaps bicyclists could *pay* to have more separate paths built for their use? I dunno...

Originally Posted by Rubber Cow

The Oregon vehicle code is pretty clear. Bicycle riders have equal access on this type of road. Unfortunately, there are a great number of people driving who cant remember their favorite ice cream flavor let alone what they learned in the ten days of thier lives that was Driver's Ed. That or they just don't give a damn.

I always say that it would be nice if everyone drove liked they were taught in drivers ed from any perspective; bicyclist, fellow cager, moto rider, pedestrian... But unfortunately, that's another ideal and not reality.

Originally Posted by Rubber Cow

What's more disturbing to me is the number of malicious drivers that are willing to put other people at risk for their own sick pleasure. Their numbers seem to be growing.

I couldn't agree more. A very disturbing reality.

[i_4ce]

Originally Posted by SteveAZ

... it's just another reality that motorized vehicles *pay* for roads for the most part, not bicyclists.

Driver comes along and thinks "oh this bicyclist doesn't pay his road taxes, I think I'll throw a beer bottle at him"...

I have a mtn bike but I really hate riding it on the street. If I'm riding on the street then its on the sidewalk although it is illegal to ride bikes there. At least for pedestrians they walk on the left side so they can see on coming traffic and have a chance to get out of the way. Bikers are suppose to ride with traffic. Having my back turned to cars is just way to risky. You don't know if someone is a sleep, drunk, or just out to kill you.

As with motorcyclist, all they have to say is that they didn't see you and get off scott free.

[SteveAZ]

Originally Posted by i_4ce

Driver comes along and thinks "oh this bicyclist doesn't pay his road taxes, I think I'll throw a beer bottle at him"...
....

I think that's a bit of a stretch - I don't really think that is a thought process that most people would travel. I think someone throwing a beer bottle at a bicyclist likely has a different agenda. *I'm* certainly not trying to intimate that because a bicyclist doesn't pay road taxes he somehow deserves violence.

Perhaps though, just thinking out loud here, if bicyclists can organize and come up with a way to fund some separate paths here and there, particularly where there are problems.... Ah heck, I dunno.... It seems there are never any easy answers in the world of a realist, just in the worlds of idealogues....

[Asatrur]

"Perhaps bicyclists could *pay* to have more separate paths built for their use? I dunno..."
I am an avid bike commuter who also likes to ride MC's and I would be more than happy to pay a fee to have a bike only path, but no politician is going to back that, since they make good money off the oil burned in our cars, trucks, and MC's. More and more people are riding, walking, and taking mass transit to work. Eventually, we will get to the point that we cannot afford to drive anytime we want anymore and I welcome that day. Ride your bike, bus, and save the cash for the weekend rides when gas is 10.00 a gallon. It makes you relish those rides that much more. On the topic of drivers paying for most of the road, yes a portion of the gas tax pays for highways, but these are mainly state and federal highways. Where bikers tend to ride are city and county road which are paid for by a mix of property and sales taxes, so if you live and buy stuff in the area you ride, then you are paying a portion of the fees.
Remember size does not matter, because there will always be someone bigger.

[AngryScot]

Originally Posted by Rubber Cow

Hi Garry!
Christ...there goes the neighborhood...

Yup, I even dressed up for joining this site and changed my depends
no more slipping in my chair for a while.