Posted on 05/19/2021 11:34:17 AM PDT by BenLurkin
US national cycling champion Gwen Inglis was struck and killed by a car on Sunday while training near her Denver home, authorities said. She was 47.
Inglis, the reigning US road race champion in the 45-to-49 age group, was riding with her husband, Mike, around 10am on Sunday in the Denver suburb of Lakewood when a Nissan sedan driven by Ryan Scott Montoya, 29, drifted into the bike lane where she was riding.
Montoya remained at the scene and was facing possible charges of vehicular homicide, Lakewood police told local Fox affiliate KDVR-TV. Montoya told police he was not texting at the time of the accident, but admitted to drinking alcohol and using marijuana the night before, 9 News reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at currently.att.yahoo.com ...
LOL!!
They taught me most occurred in parking lots, so now buy everything online.
I guess you have to give the kid credit for sticking around... He’s up schitt’s creek for sure.
that and Harley-Davidson bikes are just too slow to move out of the way. LOL
So since Montoya wasn't texting (a political no-no) and marijuana use is legal in Colorado, Montoya will probably get his license suspended until he takes a driver training class. He may also be required to buy auto insurance.
Colorado is a strict but mellow state.
Around my place it’s illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk unless you are on a very small one made for a child. Still happens a lot but I don’t blame the cyclists since there seems to be zero enforcement.
Under the influence of marijuana is the same as a DUI with alcohol
Mirrycle mirrors are good and are inexpensive.
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Used to ride my bike 10 miles to work (one way) and probably did that for 20 years, more than 75 times a year. I had a few close calls... one with a city bus. I called up the municipality and complained and got a call back half an hour later from the supervisor who said he just checked the onboard bus cameras and said he was “absolutely horrified” at what he saw. I asked what happens next and he said “action will be taken”.
Of all the mirrors I’ve used, I highly recommend the ones that clip on to one’s glasses.... you end up with a much bigger field of vision, you can tip your head a few degrees to get an even larger range and you can do all that with a quick glance to the side. I highly recommend them...
https://www.rei.com/product/752285/bike-peddler-take-a-look-mirror
I couldn’t find the one I use but it’s like this...
Bike trails and wide sidewalks are so much safer than bike-lanes.
If it saves one life get rid of bike lanes. At least make them go in the opposite direction of traffic and make bicyclists obey all traffic laws.
I tried one of the glasses-clip-on mirrors before buying the first Mirrycle, but in winter they were often blocked by my jacket's left shoulder area being blown back and up in the wind. Also, I could not get it to be sufficiently stable. It was much better than nothing, but the Mirrycle mirror was always where I expected it to be, and always showed the same view behind me. It just worked.
We always remember the close calls. I saw a mailman's car approaching me in the mirror. When the car should have veered away from me, it just kept coming. I quickly turned the bike off the road and almost into the woods before stopping. He plowed over the area where I had just been. I don't think he ever noticed that I was there. Maybe he was sorting mail.
The only time I have been hit by car I was in a bike lane. A woman driver had stopped at a stop sign, with her car perpendicular to the bike lane. I would have sworn that she looked me in the eye as I was about to pass in front of her. She accelerated right into me. Fortunately I was not seriously hurt, and the bike was only scratched a little.
I have had the same jacket issue but just made some changes to solve that problem. Well, whatever works for you and obviously it does. I too have hit the side of the road on more occasions than I care to recall. The other thing to do of course is to have a blazing bright rear light. I thought mine was good but I saw one a while ago and I swear, I think it could be seen 3 miles away (night) and likely a good half mile away in broad daylight!
Only an asshole of a cop would ticket a cyclist for riding on a sidewalk.
If you have to ride on a street, I’d ride against the direction of traffic. If it is safer to walk on the side opposite the flow of traffic, it’s safer to ride on that side for the same reason.
Having a freaking huge flashing red and blue light might also help.
Best decision is to ride on a dedicated bike path
We don’t bike fast roads. Just too dangerous. We use sidewalks when possible. You really have to watch for people turning into or leaving restaurants and other businesses. Neighborhoods are OK, but you have to be alert.
This is why I gave up cycling when we moved to North Carolina. I used to put on over 3000 miles a year on my bike — and competed in many races. I was in the best shape of my life in those days, but riding up north is different. The roads up north have shoulders. The roads in the south by and large don’t. I live now in a cycling paradise with the Blue Ridge Parkway passing by on the ridge above my home. It’s just not worth it. No way to get off the road and everyone these days are texting on their cell phones.
I miss it, but I think I’ll live a bit longer without it...
After a few close calls last year, one of which resulted in a fall and a rotator cuff injury to my left shoulder, I bought a bike rack for the back of the SUV and I drive to the bike trails now instead of biking there even though they're just a few miles away.
There's just too many damn' idiots that don't know how to share the road with bicyclists / refuse to share the road with us and run us off.
"...I'd ride against the flow of traffic..."
The rules may say to ride with the flow of traffic, but why is it safer? If you are a serious road racer, I could see riding with the traffic; but not for a casual rider.
"...why is riding with the flow of traffic safer?..."
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