Two Bicyclist Gets Hit By Car on Chicken Bridge Road Today

[belle]

Used to be a game called "Airplane", where you'd be in a car (4-door was ideal), and you'd see someone on a bike, and.. You get the idea. Well, maybe not a game, but times have changed.

not so much. criminal and reckless behavior is still liable.

[randy]

Not funny but funny in a sick, boy prank way.  My son used to ride to and from High School with some kids. One would fling his door open to scare bike riders in Carrboro.  Thankfully never hurt anyone.

that's sounds kind of mean thing to do.

[A.FOMVS]

Another incident...?

Raleigh cyclist says she was hit by car intentionally
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3138484/
Katie McKeithan said she was pedaling along Old US 1 in Chatham County Saturday afternoon when a car struck her.  She suffered cuts and bruises to her arms, shoulders and legs.
McKeithan also said she believes the car the hit her was a charcoal-gray Chrysler 300M with a license plate that began with the letters 'X Y T.'
If you have any information that can help authorities find the people who hit McKeithan, call the Raleigh Police Department’s Detective Division at 919-890-3555 or Crime Stoppers at 919-226-CRIME.

[piper_chuck]

The biggest hazard in Chatham County is probably deer--I saw at least 20 on Jones Ferry the other night.  Wonder if the cyclists ever hit them? 

I cam close to hitting one on my ride last night.  Fortunately, yelling at the stupid thing brought it out of its stupor and caused it to get off the road.

[natvrabit]

Piper, did the deer yell back at you?  "What are you (stupid) riding around out here in the dark"? Ran up on a biker on Jack B. road one night with a tiny blinky light on the rear and about as bright as a firefly (well, we called them lightning bugs growing up). Jeebers, scared me and them to death. If I rode at night I'd have some road flares or sparklers strapped on the ride. I'd be looking like 4th of July going down the road.

[piper_chuck]

We learned that if we were riding in a bunch to ride single file.

We learned that by riding single file a car could safely pass us. 

<snip>

What is up with the FEW bikers that just don't seem to understand the fact that they can get quite dead by not following the traffic laws?

While it is true that riding in a single file may be preferred, many of the roads in Chatham County are too narrow to allow a car to safely pass a bike when there is oncoming traffic.  I've lost track of the number of impatient drivers who just have to pass me when there is an oncoming car even when there have been no other oncoming cars for the last several minute and there are no additional oncoming cars.  Where's the fire that causes these people to have so little regard for other people's safety?  I agree that when a few bikes are riding together, they should get in a single file line and move to the right, but if they can see oncoming traffic, it's very likely they will take a defensive position in the lane to try to prevent some type A driver from trying to squeeze past them when they shouldn't. 

[piper_chuck]

Piper, did the deer yell back at you?  "What are you (stupid) riding around out here in the dark"? Ran up on a biker on Jack B. road one night with a tiny blinky light on the rear and about as bright as a firefly (well, we called them lightning bugs growing up). Jeebers, scared me and them to death. If I rode at night I'd have some road flares or sparklers strapped on the ride. I'd be looking like 4th of July going down the road.

Last time I checked sunset was somewhere around 8:30.  I saw the deer at about 7.  I didn't realize that was considered "dark".    Sorry for confusing you by saying "night".  I should have been more specific and said "early evening", or just "yesterday".

[piper_chuck]

I don't like being in the match off on these country roads in my vehicle and the dump trucks flying. NOOOO way would I want to greet one on a bike! I am a very defensive and careful driver (mainly because I pay enough in insurance thank ya' to cause an accident), but I have come around a blind curve going the speed limit and run up on a flock of bikes that dang near made me turn myself inside out to not hit them.

If you are going around blind curves at a speed that exceeds your ability to safely react to something in the road then you are driving recklessly.  Speed limits are the maximum one is supposed to drive.  All drivers are required to maintain a safe speed for the conditions.  Quite often, a safe speed is somewhat less than the speed limit.  Slow down and save a few lives. 

[SeeingAllSides]

I don't like being in the match off on these country roads in my vehicle and the dump trucks flying. NOOOO way would I want to greet one on a bike! I am a very defensive and careful driver (mainly because I pay enough in insurance thank ya' to cause an accident), but I have come around a blind curve going the speed limit and run up on a flock of bikes that dang near made me turn myself inside out to not hit them.

If you are going around blind curves at a speed that exceeds your ability to safely react to something in the road then you are driving recklessly.  Speed limits are the maximum one is supposed to drive.  All drivers are required to maintain a safe speed for the conditions.  Quite often, a safe speed is somewhat less than the speed limit.  Slow down and save a few lives. 

In theory, you're correct.  Again, a legal point you can win from a hospital bed...

However, a slow moving farm tractor or a disabled vehicle or other such occupied vehicular obstacle that anyone might otherwise expect to come upon from behind while doing the speed limit still offers the parties to a potential collision some form of buffer from bodily impact.

A person on a slow moving bicycle has no such buffer.  I am still quite amazed that anyone would even gamble with their life in such a situation...but then again I don't have a need to prove a point to the world about it and it certainly won't be the cause of my ultimate demise to worry about!

Carry on!

[natvrabit]

I don't speed, because i don't need the added tab to insurance with a ticket for doing so. But when you are going 45 and round a blind curve with someone going 15 or so...it can get testy. I am respectful of bikers (but also expect they use good sense and safe practices themselves), i use to bike myself.
As far as "dark", you didn't specify time. I just said I ran up on a biker in the pitch dark, that scared the jeebers out of me mostly and to try to make some aware a 1 watt bulb just MAY not catch an eye in time in a curve.
As for deer, why in the heck can't they learn to read those deer crossing signs and stick with it, then we'd all know where to look out for them

[doorman]

Guessin' the deer need crosswalks painted on the road. I'll call the D.O.T. in the mornin'!!

[natvrabit]

Well shut my mouth..DOT may do a study and determine another stop light needs to be installed if the deer are not paying attention to the posted signs.

[randy]

yall lost me with the deer thing?

[natvrabit]

Doorman, considering that Chath is an up and coming place to be and we need to become competitive with the surrounding counties, would it be more appropriate when you contact DOT in the morning regarding the deer crossing to ask for crossover bridges over major corridors vs. simple painted crosswalks?  Ok, I am going to the silly far side here and going to go to bed now!

[piper_chuck]

I don't like being in the match off on these country roads in my vehicle and the dump trucks flying. NOOOO way would I want to greet one on a bike! I am a very defensive and careful driver (mainly because I pay enough in insurance thank ya' to cause an accident), but I have come around a blind curve going the speed limit and run up on a flock of bikes that dang near made me turn myself inside out to not hit them.

If you are going around blind curves at a speed that exceeds your ability to safely react to something in the road then you are driving recklessly.  Speed limits are the maximum one is supposed to drive.  All drivers are required to maintain a safe speed for the conditions.  Quite often, a safe speed is somewhat less than the speed limit.  Slow down and save a few lives. 

In theory, you're correct.  Again, a legal point you can win from a hospital bed...

However, a slow moving farm tractor or a disabled vehicle or other such occupied vehicular obstacle that anyone might otherwise expect to come upon from behind while doing the speed limit still offers the parties to a potential collision some form of buffer from bodily impact.

A person on a slow moving bicycle has no such buffer.  I am still quite amazed that anyone would even gamble with their life in such a situation...but then again I don't have a need to prove a point to the world about it and it certainly won't be the cause of my ultimate demise to worry about!

Carry on!

And I'm still quite amazed at how easy it is for some people to ignore the real problem, reckless driving.  It seems that car drivers will do anything they can to get cyclists off the road, including intentionally running them off the road and in one of the cases, actually hitting them with their car.  Rather than focus on educating drivers to be more careful, you're more interested in telling cyclists they don't belong on the road.

According to your reasoning, a person shouldn't do anything that might include the slightest bit of risk.  So, let's analyze that philosophy a bit...

Somewhere around 100 people die in car deaths each day.  This sounds pretty darn risky to me.  Following your example, I should stay home because driving a car is too risky.

NC has a high number of lightning deaths.  Since it's so risky, I better stay inside when there's any threat of a thunder storm.

There could be some crazy hunter in the woods.  I better stop taking my daughter for walks.

There are lots of communicable diseases going around.  OMG, one of my kids could catch one and die!  I better tell my wife to stop taking them to the mall, end their play dates, and begin home schooling them to reduce the chances of getting some bad disease.

The point I made several posts back is that some people drive way too fast for the conditions.  More and more people are treating the roads like a closed race track.  As is all too common in discussions about cars hitting cyclists, you are trying to perpetuate the view held by many cagers that bikes don't belong on the road.  The vast majority of these accidents is the fault of the car, not the cyclist.  The problem is inattentive and reckless driving by people who are distracted, or in too much of a hurry.  Rather than telling cyclists we shouldn't use the roads, wouldn't it be better to focus on making the roads safer for everyone by working to convince car drivers that they should slow down and pay more attention to driving?

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