All you bicyclists out there, please be careful:

[jread]

A friend of ours was killed while riding her bike along a road in west Austin on Monday by a hit-and-run driver. She was training for a charity ride when a trailer clipped her, knocking her off her bike, then she was runover by another car. The car fled the scene and did not stop (the van pulling the trailer did stop, though).

It is just unbelievable that she's gone but it's finally starting to set in. It has especially been hard on my fiancee because this lady used to be her boss and was still her coworker after transferring positions.

Please be extra careful out there everyone

News story for those interested: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/19cyclist.html

 

[CrackRabbit]

:|
I hope the person that hit her and ran dies a horrible painful death.

I hope your fiancee can move on

 

[OdiN]

Well...not the cars fault that ran her over it sounds...tragic, but she fell due to the car in front of that one.

Also...why was she biking on a highway? That's crazy!

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
:|
I hope the person that hit her and ran dies a horrible painful death.

I hope your fiancee can move on

Read the article....the van towing the trailer clipped her, which caused her to fall, then the second car ran her over. Probably not much they could have done in that situation. They shouldn't have run though.

 

[Xyclone]

 

[Ronstang]

That is terribly sad. I just can't comprehend the riding on loop 360 though. I know that road very well and it is not something I would ride a bike on. I'm not even sure of the legality of riding a bike on that type of road.

 

[l Xes l]

tough lesson learned not to ride bike on road..

 

[CrackRabbit]

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
:|
I hope the person that hit her and ran dies a horrible painful death.

I hope your fiancee can move on

Read the article....the van towing the trailer clipped her, which caused her to fall, then the second car ran her over. Probably not much they could have done in that situation. They shouldn't have run though.

I did read the article, and yes there was nothing that could of been done. But by not stopping not only did the person that ran over her commit several crimes, he/she proved they are the lowest scum of the earth and I shouldn't have to breathe the same air they do.

 

[Kanalua]

I'll second that....in the last three years my father has been:
1. Car pulls out of beach driveway (Makapu`u) and doesn't see my Dad on his bicycle. Surprisingly, the guy pulls out and the car doens't hit my dad. But my Dad rams full speed into the tail of the surfboard sticking out the back of his vehicle. Messes my dad up pretty good (he had some speed coming down that hill above Makapu`u). But he excapes with cuts to his face and some brusing.

2. Pulls into parking lot at Townhouse complex. TOwnhouse association dues are supposed to pay for mold removal from parking lot (Haiku area in Kaneohe, VERY damp area). Bike slips out from underneath my dad because of moss. Dad breaks leg.

3. Coming down the makai side of Diamond Head. Dad hits a newly formed pothole right around sunset time. Breaks hip.

4.. Recently been having problems with roadrage idiots in their cars.

 

[fustercluck]

Bike riding is F'n dangerous. I would never ride anywhere near traffic myself is possible, i'd avoid it as much as i could. Even when i'm driving it makes me nervous if there's a lot of bikers around.

 

[Patt]

... I prefer trail riding so I don't have to be near any cars/trucks/vans/trailers ... sad news though

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: jacktackle
Bike riding is F'n dangerous. I would never ride anywhere near traffic myself is possible, i'd avoid it as much as i could. Even when i'm driving it makes me nervous if there's a lot of bikers around.

:thumbsup:

Bikes + cars don't mix. If the bicyclists follow traffic laws, they hold up traffic and will get seriously injured if hit. If they don't follow traffic laws, they are a nuisance and a danger to themselves & other motorists.

Unless there's a bike lane on the road, I say stay off it or live with the risks.

Cops are ticketing jay walkers and motorists for not stopping properly when a person it near a crosswalk roll, I wonder what the possibilities are for ticketing bicyclists & drivers who don't follow the law when near bicyclists?

 

[bigrash]

damn sorry to hear that.

I have to be more careful when I ride. I realize i take so many risks when I ride, specially in nyc, but I never really think about it.

 

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: l Xes l
tough lesson learned not to ride bike on road..

And where the F*** do you expect people to ride?

 

[purbeast0]

Sorry to hear that, but I will have to say that if it's a highway like the highways here around the DC Metro area, that woman was not very bright to be riding a bike on one of those roads anyways.

 

[NuclearNed]

"If cyclists would stay on the sidewalk, there wouldn't be a problem."


j/k - I'm a cyclist myself, but someone had to be the first idiot to say it.


I have a buddy who has been hit by cars twice. Once was pretty serious - his hand was crushed and I think he broke his hip and/or leg. But he got off lucky - they guy on the bike behind him was also hit and nearly had his arm severed at the shoulder. He was in a coma for a long time, but eventually recovered. And to top it off, the van that hit them didn't stop. The perpetrator was never caught.

 

[PingSpike]

That sucks, but I thought you weren't suppose to ride on the highway.

Wonder why the person that ran her over ran though, it doesn't even sound like it was their fault. Might have been some dumbass that paniced, or some one with a warrent out for their arrest or something.

 

[Safeway]

I'm in Austin, and I heard about this on the news. Tragic.

 

[xospec1alk]

Originally posted by: bigrash
damn sorry to hear that.

I have to be more careful when I ride. I realize i take so many risks when I ride, specially in nyc, but I never really think about it.

I try my best not to bike on the roads...if i ride in the city, i take the shortest routes to the east river, or west side bike lanes and ride along there...

Last weekend i went up 3rd ave to central park...at 6am it was empty...but coming back down at 11am traffic was horrible, so i said eff it, and i walked my bike back home.

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: l Xes l
tough lesson learned not to ride bike on road..

Yay! Blame the victim!!! :roll:

Please...Tough lesson learned, don't drive like an idiot. There is no good reason to ever hit a cyclist on the road. If you see someone standing in the middle of the road for whatever reason, does that make it OK to run that person over? No. Grow-up.

I heard more than one Austin area cyclist was hit recently. Sad to hear it all.

Edit: And the whole "cyclist hold-up traffic" argument is so old and tired. GET A #%!@ING CLUE, TRAFFIC HOLDS-UP TRAFFIC. Honestly, WTF? One little bike is causing more traffic problems than the zillions of cars out there? Go say it out loud and smack yourself upside the head when you hear how stupid it sounds.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: l Xes l
tough lesson learned not to ride bike on road..

 

[DivideBYZero]

Popcorn - Check
Lawnchair - Check

I'm in for the long haul.

 

[Aharami]

 

[jread]

Thanks to those who expressed kind words.

To the others, I really didn't want to get into a debate about how "dumb it is" to ride on highways. This particular highway has very wide shoulders and is popular for long distance cyclists (such as Lance Armstrong) since it is in the hills and has very challenging inclines.

The main point, though, is that a friend was killed while riding and I just hope that the other cyclists out there will be more careful.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
That is terribly sad. I just can't comprehend the riding on loop 360 though. I know that road very well and it is not something I would ride a bike on. I'm not even sure of the legality of riding a bike on that type of road.

I don't understand when I see cyclists on 360 and I didn't understand when I saw this story on the news. It makes no sense to me why someone would want to ride on a highway shoulder-- it's hot, it's bright, it's noisy. It's INHOSPITABLE. Not only are there plenty of safe places to ride but there are plenty of pleasant AND safe places to ride.

This is a very tragic story, but common sense should tell you not to ride on a shoulder that in some places disappears, forcing you onto the highway, which is ILLEGAL.

The problem is roadies think the tight pants make them invincible. The woman could have gotten off her bike when the shoulder ended and walked in the grass, but she assumed motorists would change lanes to not hit her-- and like motorcyclists know, drivers aren't all that smart, and it only takes one soccer mom talking on her cell phone to kill you.