A good friend of mine, who delivers freerange eggs to our store every morning wind rain snow on his bicycle, was run over by a dumptruck yesterday.....
his leg was run over and broken by the front wheel the bike was ripped in two just behind the head tube....
his wife and him still delivered the eggs this morning, he was in good spirits, with his mangled bike in the back of their pickup, off to see insurance adjusters
this is the fourth time he has been hit in his life, he has flashers headlights and bright clothes, and always a helmet
i thought it might be a good reminder that the week before and after time change has a much higher rate of accidents
so be careful
not all stories end this well

Yep, It's riding season here in Boulder as well, started doing the work commute thing again, and already had my first close call, inattentive soccer mom.

I swear, sometimes I think motorcycles are safer.

Ferg

Caution is always a good policy...

It's always riding season here in Boulder

From the sounds of things he got lucky.

Gonna introduce my fiance to the world of cycling starting this weekend. Going in tomorrow to get the bikes fitted. See how it goes but I will try and avoid heavy traffic and stick with bike routes for the time being.

I started riding to work last week as well, on my new cheapo single-speed. Saves wear and tear on my nice bike

A recommendation I read a couple years ago was to ride as if everyone driving was either talking on their cell phone, sending text messages or drunk. (This was well before the recent push to get people to realize that texting is equivalent to driving drunk.)

Skip

New Guy

I agree, ride like they are out to get you, also I do a bunch a Mountain Road riding, I will ride out in the lane to prevent you from passing me on a blind corner, as I can HEAR the car coming down the Mtn in the other direction!

Ferg

Being a cyclist myself I try to be nice to other riders when I'm driving, but it doesn't stop me from giving the one finger solute to those middle of the road riders...

I am a bicycle commuter (haven't driven to work in over 5 years), and even in a "bicycle town" such as Davis, drivers never cease to amaze me with their poor behavior/decisions. It is particularly bad in front of elementary schools, where you'd expect soccer moms to be extra vigilant/safe.

Ride on!

Let me clarify it a bit more... I ride Flagstaff, 4mile, or Magnolia almost every day at lunch. I don't ride in the middle, but if I glance over the shoulder and see a rapidly approaching car from behind and I can see or hear a car coming the other direction, I'll put my hand out and move left if it's safe as to say wait. To many drivers will just plain pass blind in the mountains. To those that don't know these roads, they are very tight, steep grade Mtn roads, no visibility around corners ect.

I obey all traffic laws and nothing frustrates me more than other cyclists who blow stops, blast though crosswalks, and generally don't give F(*& about traffic laws.

One thing I liked in Melbourne Florida area was the bike paths. If I wanted to, I could ride a bike 7 or more miles to work along a bike path with minimal car issues.

Down there, riding a motorcycle is a death sentence because you never know when some 85 year old semi-blind lady will not notice you and run you over.

On the other side of the coin, many bike riders ignore the fact that they have to obey the same laws as a car.

Running a stop sign in front of a car may get you run over- in a car legal manner.

I'm with you on that, Flagstaff is not an easy lunch time ride. I'm not going to lie, I always drive up flagstaff to get to Walker Ranch

We should ride at lunch, me and Rod D another member ride at least once a week.

Ferg

You are probably right. We suspect that when you include kids and the fact that we know - far and away, most bicycle accidents are not reported, motorcycles are probably safer.

Someone brought up bike trails. I would have to check CDC stats for 'bike lanes' but dedicated bicycle only trails such as the one we have in Sacramento (33 miles long from Folsom to Discovery Park) are statistically less safe than street riding. This is particularly true of multi-use trails where walker/runners and others share the trail. I myself have had walkers with iPods walking on the right shoulder with traffic in spite of signs posted every 2 miles for walker/runners to walk facing traffic abruptly turn left and cross the path in front of my bike while I am riding 15mph or so. We were both hurt but she was hurt worse...

I'll agree with you on that as well, friend of mine who commutes to south denver from boulder by bike was nailed by some guy without lights coming the other direction at 5am. Broke some fingers, broke his bike ect. Moron had his ipod in, wrong side of the path pitch black.

My worst accident was on a bike path on the Lake Michigan shorline, 16 year old girl came out of the pine trees (path crossed her driveway) I had noplace to go but over the hood of her car. The impact was so hard my bike stayed upright stuck to her car, and my cleats pulled right out of the shoes and one stayed in the pedal!

Her father turned out to be the ER docter that took care of me!

How do "we" know either that most bicycle accidents are not reported or that motorcycles are probably safer?

S

I have been riding road bikes since the '70's, and have been commuting to work for the last year (20 miles each way). If I am riding on a section of road without a shoulder I will ride in the middle of the lane. It is safer, and it is abiding by the law. A bicycle is considered a vehicle and must follow the same laws as a car. If a rider deems it unsafe to ride to the right of the lane it is legal to take control of the lane. To be safe a shoulder must leave enough room for a bicycle plus about three feet clear to the passing car. In my experience many drivers will pass if there isn't enough room, so it is best to not give them the illusion of space to pass. A bicyclist's safety is more important than a driver's minute delay in rushing to work.

Because this is what me and my colleagues teach, administer, and practice - the emergency medical system.

Doesn't the fact that you see the result of these accidents suggest they are reported? You're in California as well. You have helmet laws, right? I live in Illinois. We have no helmet law. I'd wager it's a bit riskier to right a motorcycle here (on an serious injury per mile basis) than in CA. And more risky to ride a motorcycle here than a bicycle.

S

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough...

When we analyze whether one activity is more dangerous than another we are considering morbidity and mortality. One means injury and one means death. One activity can cause more death per 1000 units of population and the other activity be considered more dangerous because it causes more injury result. Does that make it clearer? Lots of people, particularly kids have falls and collisions with bicycles that cause injury and are not reported or treated making them tough to follow statistically. I think what you are getting at is that motorcycles cause more death per unit of population. I will not argue that, nor would I imagine Ferg either... You might be surprised though, just how much serious injury and death results from bicycle riding. Until King County in Washington State which by the way is far and away the leader in public safety advances experimented with helmet use for young bicyclists we did not know just how good helmets were. They save hundreds of thousands of head injuries per year. No kidding.

What Ferg said (I think) and what I am agreeing to is that bicyclists suffer more injuries due to the inherent danger of the activity. Ways to stay safe? Wear a helmet, ride on the road, with the traffic and obey all traffic laws. Multi use trails while beautiful and I admit my favorite place to ride are dangerous due to people breaking the rules and being inattentive.

I could write more but I have 9 minutes to get to the Reunion event...