Thursday, February 28, 2008

Orange County is Lame.... (OC Cyclists Not Included in Lameness)

I'm a poor investigative journalist. It turns out most of the articles I had quoted were from 2007. It's still bad though.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That really sucks. I'm trying to fight the same fight as you are out there in the sunshine. At least there hasn't been a bicycling death in while here. At least one that I've heard about. Keep up the fight.
Jeff

Jeff said...

I should have mentioned I'm in the snowy midwest, but still riding.
Bikesafer
Jeff

Unknown said...

Discounting the drunk driver the other 3 deaths are involving semi-trucks. In two of those cases it initially appears both the cyclist and truck were going the same way and the cyclist died when the truck made a right turn while in the other case the truck clipped the bike's bars. I'm not trying to make excuses for the truckers BUT in many cases a cyclist NEEDS to be able to predict a dangerous situation arising. Trucks can't make (and are not required to make) a right turn from the right edge of the road. Only as close to the right as PRACTICAL. If you've ever seen a truck and trailer turning --- they MUST move left to turn right safely in most situations. Unfortunately, many drivers and POSSIBLY some cyclists either interpret this as a way to get past the truck on the right or simply as the truck changing lanes to the left. There is also minimal visibility to the rear/sides when trucks turn. This is why many trailers have signs on the back reminding drivers of where they can and can't be seen in relation to the truck's driver. Again --- any traffic death is tragic. However --- cyclists, pedestrians, and motorcyclists need to ASSUME they are NOT seen and they MUST plan an escape. You MUST assume the cars around you are GOING to hit you. As is often said --- it doesn't matter if you're right if you're dead.