yea, cycling can be dangerous

[ThePrez]

...when riding on roads with unaware drivers


Wednesday, April 18, 2006

Every day, hundreds of Austin cyclists flock to Loop 360, where they can ride rolling hills, wide shoulders and long stretches of pavement without stopping.

Tuesday, news that a cyclist died while riding the roadway jolted the city's biking community.

The accident drew particular attention because it took place at midday, on a roadway considered one of the premier training routes in the city, and it involved an experienced rider. It happened during the height of cycling season in Central Texas, just a week before roughly 13,000 cyclists will roll into the city as they finish the MS 150 Bike Tour from Houston to Austin on Sunday.

Traffic along Loop 360 has swelled in recent years, along with the city's population. So has the popularity of cycling in a city that is home to seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and dozens of charity bike rides, including Armstrong's annual Ride for the Roses.

Laurent Brochard Simmons-Posey was killed by a hit-and-run driver Monday while on a training ride on Loop 360 near Bee Cave Road. It was the first fatal bicycle accident in Austin this year and the fourth in the past two years. Austin police recorded one fatal bicycle accident in 2003-04.

Tuesday, cyclists posted notes on popular cycling Web sites such as bikemojo.com and cycling groups passed around e-mails about the accident.

"Like most everyone else, we're saddened by this crash and fatality," said Scott Korcz, president of the Austin Cycling Association.

Local triathlete Tracy Nelson, who leads a training program for the Danskin Women's Triathlon, called the accident a wake-up call.

"Increased safety is on everyone's minds right now," she said.

Leaders in the cycling community urged bikers and motorists alike to watch out for one another on Loop 360 and other area roads. With so much car and bike traffic, they said, awareness on both sides is crucial.

"Out here on a Saturday morning, this looks like the Tour de France," says Don Winslow, editor of News Photographer Magazine, who lives in the Lost Creek neighborhood near Loop 360.

"Loop 360 is not for novices," said Preston Tyree, executive director of Street Cycling, a local driver's education program for bicyclists. "We don't recommend a beginning rider go out there and ride it. It's a great route, with wide shoulders and a lot of good asphalt — but those crossing points are dangerous."

Vehicles on Loop 360 typically travel at 60 or 70 mph, often exiting at a high rate of speed. With a 45-mph or more differential between a cyclist and motorist, the biker's chance of survival in a collision is slim.

Cyclists who do ride on roads like Loop 360, where cars are making high-speed exits, should make themselves as visible to motorists as possible as they cross exit lanes, said Tyree, who is also vice president of the League of American Bicyclists, a national cycling advocacy group.

Before crossing an exit lane, a cyclist should look over her or his left shoulder and watch for a gap in traffic. He or she should signal with an outstretched left arm, moving into the through lane before the exit lane peels off.

"Move out, take your position in the lane early on so motorists can see you," Tyree said.

Cyclists should avoid following the exit lane, then cutting suddenly in front of exiting traffic to reach the through lane.

"That's the kind of thing that can get you killed," Tyree said. "Cars don't expect you to do that."

Motorists don't always understand what cyclists are doing, so cyclists have to make their intentions clear, Tyree said.

"Nobody goes out to run over a cyclist," Tyree says. "Get out there and get visible.

"One of the big ones is cyclists don't like to stop," he added. "I tell people when it gets too hairy, stop, get off the bike and wait for a break in traffic. That's so hard for cyclists to do, but that's the safest way to do it."
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Wednesday, April 19, 2006

A 49-year-old Cedar Park woman riding a bicycle collided with an 18-wheeled truck in Cedar Park around 8:45 a.m. today but will be treated and released from Brackenridge Hospital, officials said.

Police said Bridget Holliday was biking west in the 3800 block of FM 1431, also called Whitestone Boulevard in that area, when she hit the back axle of the truck after it pulled out of a driveway and was turning east.

Holliday was airlifted to Brackenridge unconscious and with apparent head injuries, police said. Hospital officials said shortly before noon today that she would be treated and released.

Investigators said Holliday was wearing protective head gear and was riding legally on the roadway. She left tire skid marks in front of the truck from trying to stop, police said. No citations against the truck driver had been issued but police said the accident was still being investigated.

[FitAlex]

Why you should always stay right of the yellow line in a road race:

A 24 year-old first-year racer was killed Saturday when a passing truck struck her while competing in the Proctor Cycling Classic in Brimfield, Illinois near Peoria. Beth Kobeszka (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) from Chicago was competing in the women's category 4 road race when she was reportedly bumped into the path of the truck pulling a horse trailer.

Witnesses of the accident reported that riders had crossed the middle yellow line as the pack of about 25 to 30 crested a small hill four miles from the race finish along Brimfield-Jubilee road. The truck was headed in the opposite direction legally as the race was operating under the 'yellow line rule.' The police report said that Kobeszka was bumped into the path of the truck by another racer.

"There had been some girls passing on the left several times and the lead car came back to tell people about the yellow line rule," Katie Haft (Morris Trucking Velo), who was racing in the event, told Cyclingnews. "We came up the crest of the hill and I don't know if people were passing or if they were bumped if while a truck pulling a trailer was coming the other direction."

"I just saw people getting tangled and one woman fell into the side of the trailer and it rolled over her," Haft said.

"A few on the front kept going but a lot of people stopped. People were really unsure of what to do. I stopped for a while and the follow car in back stopped but there was probably nothing I could do."

Kobeszka was transported to a local hospital with multiple injuries and was pronounced dead later the same day.

The police report said that the truck was driven by Thomas S. Milligan, 48, of Quincy, Illinois and that he stopped immediately after the collision.

"Our prayers and thoughts are with the family of the young lady," Milligan told the Peoria Journal Star from his home Sunday. "I've got two daughters and I can't even imagine what they're going through. It was a tragic thing. It's just a shock."

No charges are expected in the case, according to police.

Kobeszka was new to the XXX team but was a part of its women's development squad, headed by Randy Warren, which focused on racing. "She graduated from Northwestern University and was a runner there," said Warren. "She was was relatively new, joining the team this year, but was pretty gung-ho about racing. She was part of the women's development program which means signing agreement to race, and she won the Cobb Park criterium last weekend."

The already scheduled July 2 team meeting has been transformed into a forum for team-mates to deal with the tragedy. "One of our members is also a chaplain and will lead us in grief counseling," said Warren. "We are working with her mum to decide where to have a memorial fund set up. The funeral will be this week."

Warren also said that the team's August criterium in Chicago might also serve as a memorial. "We are thinking of naming the women's race after her."

More information about the memorial can be found on the team's web site: www.xxxracing.org. Cyclingnews extends its condolences to the family and friends

[ThePrez]

ya, read that this morning, that sucks.  That's why you should always obey the yellow line rule.  I see it broken all the time.

[cyclingmo]

Damn, that sucks. 

[andrew.]

Memorial Park Picnic Loop Crash-- be careful guys

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110221-posts-meant-to-help,-might-endanger-you

[ALF]

this one too.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/26977878/detail.html

[Mshengu]

Memorial Park Picnic Loop Crash-- be careful guys

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110221-posts-meant-to-help,-might-endanger-you

I was at the park when that reporter was there, now I see why there were orange markings on the ground.