Posted on 04/23/2008 8:41:43 AM PDT by buccaneer81
Injury accents bike-car tensions Wednesday, April 23, 2008 3:21 AM By Aaron Beck and Tim Doulin The Columbus Dispatch
David Krohn knows all about the tensions between bicyclists and motorists sharing the road. A run-in with an angry group in a car Friday left him with a broken jaw and a gash in his head. "They think we're supposed to be on the sidewalk," he said. Proper pedaling
* Bicyclists must follow the same traffic rules as those driving motorized vehicles, including stopping at stop signs and red lights and observing the speed limit. * Bicyclists must ride in the direction of traffic; they cannot ride against traffic. * Bicyclists must ride as near to the right curb as is practical and safe. * Bicycles must be equipped with a white headlight and a red rear reflector and red light when used at night. * No more than two cyclists can ride abreast in a lane, but they must move to the right if they are slowing traffic. * Bicyclists can move out of the curb lane to turn left after signaling. * Bicycles are not allowed on freeways. * It is illegal for someone to ride on the handlebars or anywhere other than a seat on a bicycle. * Bicyclists must signal a turn, unless they are in a turn-only lane. For a left turn, extend the left hand and arm horizontally. For a right turn, extend the left arm with the forearm and hand turned upward, or extend the right arm and hand horizontally. * Bicyclists can pass slower-moving vehicles such as horse-drawn buggies and farm vehicles.
Sources: Ohio Revised Code, Columbus City Code David Krohn was stopped on his bicycle in traffic on N. High Street in the Ohio State University campus area Friday night when a car behind him started honking.
He pulled over to let the metallic-blue convertible pass. As it did, the four college-age men inside hurled obscenities at Krohn. Then he did something that apparently infuriated the men: He touched the car to steady himself on his bike.
One of the men bounced a plastic bottle off Krohn's chest and, now on foot, chased him as he pedaled down an alley off Frambes Avenue.
"The next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance," said the 64-year-old Krohn, who had suffered a broken jaw and gash on his head.
The attack is an extreme example of the tension that exists between cyclists and motorists, and confrontations could escalate as the weather warms.
Some cyclists complain drivers are unwilling to share the road. Drivers say cyclists don't follow the law when riding in the street.
"They are both right," Columbus Police Lt. Edward Devennish said.
"I see motor-vehicle operators who treat bicyclists without any respect, and I have seen bicyclists do stupid things and violate the rules of the road."
Drivers must realize bicycles and motorcycles are "extremely vulnerable and they have as much right to the roadway as you do in your car," Devennish said.
Bicyclists have a right to an entire lane of travel on a road, he said.
"But be considerate of the other drivers who are going to be able to go faster than you. You don't gain anything from slowing them down."
Krohn was attacked as he was on his way home after performing with Columbus Dance Theatre at its Downtown location.
He said witnesses told him that he was hit from behind in the alley, probably with a beer bottle.
An avid cyclist, Krohn said he was assaulted about four years ago. He was riding down Cleveland Avenue in a recumbent bicycle, in which the rider pedals in a reclined position, when a pedestrian, a young boy, punched him.
"What seems to offend people in cars is that we're on the road," Krohn said. "They think we're supposed to be on the sidewalk. It seems that in the Midwest there's a car thing. A car is an extension of the personality, and any infringement on that is like a slap in the face."
Cyclists are not without blame. Two years ago the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission analyzed crashes between bicycles and vehicles in central Ohio over a five-year period. It found that in 29 percent, the most common contributors were bicyclists who improperly crossed or failed to yield to the vehicle. Motorists failed to yield in 14 percent of the crashes.
Bicyclists often don't follow the traffic rules, cutting through red lights and dodging in and out of traffic, said John DeFrank, a Whitehall resident who works Downtown.
"I just almost saw one right here," said DeFrank, 51, motioning to the intersection of Broad and High streets.
"The light turned red, but the guy on the bike went through the light and somebody almost hit him. In the last few weeks, with the way gas is going, the number of bikes you see on the road is just increasing every day."
Matt Young, 34, commutes by bicycle on W. 5th Avenue from his Upper Arlington home to work at Battelle. His biggest concern is traffic suddenly pulling out from a business or side street.
Young tries to make himself visible by wearing a reflective vest and blinking lights on his helmet. His bike is equipped with lights.
"I pretty much try to follow the law and hope that I gain some credibility for cycling in general," he said.
Columbus Dance Theatre has started a fundraiser to help Krohn pay his medical bills.
"We're getting responses from all over the country because people hear the story and go, 'Oh my God!' " Artistic Director Tim Veach said. "It's ridiculous. Who would beat up a 64-year-old mime? That's about as low as you can get."
abeck@dispatch.com
tdoulin@dispatch.com
"But be considerate of the other drivers who are going to be able to go faster than you. You don't gain anything from slowing them down."
I don't mind bicycles, I think it's a good form of exercise and all, but I have a problem with the people who wear that first sentence like a badge.
We pass a lot of bicycles on our road, it's a popular route. There is a wide paved shoulder for much of the length of it. Certainly enough for a bike to pull off even for a short distance to let cars pass.
When we pass them pulling the horse trailer and they are in the middle of the lane, I need about a half a mile of clear oncoming traffic in front of me before I can get around them, particularly once they've already slowed me down. I can't swerve out, floor it and zip around them without knocking my horses around and I won't do that. I also won't honk at them while pulling the horses, I don't want to spook the horses. But when these bicyclists can tell darn well I am stuck there, due to oncoming traffic, or approaching curves I can't see around, and they don't pull over to the perfectly smooth shoulder, I get REALLY mad.
I'll share the road, I pull over and use the shoulder when I think I am slowing down other traffic, why won't they?
Bicycle etiquette thread :~)
If you’re on a bike at a stop sign stopped anyway, and you’ve got cars who have been stuck behind you, why WOULDN’T you offer to let them by? Why do you want them behind you? I don’t get it. If I arrive at a stop sign where there’s room to pull off pulling the horse trailer, I pull over and wave them by me. I don’t want to be followed by ticked-off people.
I think he’s talking about folks who will make a right turn right on top of the cyclist who’s going straight. I’ve run across that scenario where the driver isn’t even using a turn signal, and then I have to stop in order to avoid running myself right into the side of their car or worse. If I *know* they’re going right and they’re obviously not real aware of me, I’d stop and wait, but that isn’t always the case.
As for ticked-off people getting stacked up behind one...that’s why I don’t like riding anywhere without a bike lane or wide shoulder. I don’t want to get smooshed. But a modicum of courtesy on both sides isn’t an unobtainable goal.
Who says I have to let them ALL go by?
If I come up on a car that’s waiting, sure, if I come up on a line of cars that are already waiting, sure, but if I get there the same time and some little blond listening to Brittany like 2 nights ago tries to go around me without stopping that’s a crime and she should have been arrested, not given a ticket.
Some of you people are freakin’ ridiculous. I’m a cyclist who puts on around 3000 miles a year. I also pay road taxes through the use of three vehicles and one trailer. I ride the roads on my bike and obey the traffic laws. I try to keep right whenever possible. And as for sidewalks - I don’t think the pedestrians would appreciate me zooming by at 25-30 miles an hour.
I’ve been cut off on the left and on the right. I’ve had people look me right in the eye as I’m riding on a road with the right-of-way, and pull out right in front of me from a stop sign, causing me to slam on the brakes and take evasive action. If I get hit, it WILL be the other person’s fault - and you better believe that person will be one miserable jerk after I (or my surviving wife) sues the living crap out of them.
And if you think I’m just some liberal weanie troll - I’m so right wing I make most of you look like Barack Obama.
We have the right to be on the road, just as any vehicle, motor cycle, jogger, or horse. There ain’t nothin’ you’ve got to get to so fast that you can’t get there 30 seconds later.
Not to mention sidewalks aren't made for that sort of speed. I'm always rather baffled by the folks who show up on these threads and say bikes are "safer" on sidewalks. Unless you're a little kid traveling at barely walking speed, it just ain't so. Sidewalks have lots of obstacles (including pedestrians), curbs, and very low visibility. Not a good thing for a real vehicle.
Well, OK, you can cut in front of the Britney driver. I’m sure that’s most of the drivers you encounter. ~rolls eyes~
As for your question, no one says you have to let them all go by, but since they are all going to have to pass you in the next half mile, you might as well let them go. The wait is what, another 30 seconds?
Rosie, he’s talking about a stop sign.
That's exactly the attitude that causes problems.
I'll bet many auto drivers have thought exactly that about bicycles on roads.
I’d never expect a bike to ride on a sidewalk, I know that’s not what it’s for, though I usually did in college, when a bike was my main transportation. The road I commuted on was busier than our road, but not busily ~walked~. I knew where the bumps were, I did it every day.
But back to the issue, I’m as polite as can be, and don’t usually have an issue getting around them in the truck when I am just driving. It’s when they can tell I’m pulling the horse trailer, which means I can’t just ‘zip’ around them in half a lane, that I resent them not moving over to the shoulder. Every foot to the right they can move is a quarter mile of clear road I don’t have to wait for.
And some of us know how to deal politely with both types of traffic, regardless of which we’re part of at the time.
It’s not a competition.
Wrong, the attitude that causes problems is when vehicle drivers drive bicycles off the road causing bike riders to experience intense adrenaline rushes caused by extreme fear due to a reckless drivers who just laugh it off when they almost kill cyclists.
Accents?
I noticed that, too. If I had been the writer (or the editor, for that matter) I would have used a word like "highlights." But I never went to journalism school, so what do I know?
Okay, great, since I ony ride less than 15 miles at a time, dont take vacations in my bicycle or go parking on my bicycle and surely don’t spew out pollutants, I would say you owe me money. Cuz, all that adds up to carbon credits...
Hey, it’s your game....
Last summer I was tailgated by a cyclist on a 25 m/h road. He was inches from my bumper.
When we came to the stop sign, leading to a 30m/h road, I was indicating my intention to turn left, when he flew around the right side of my car, ran the stop sign, and turned left ahead of me.
If a car had been coming, (I was in an evil SUV, and he couldn’t see past me), he would have been reduced to a pile of bones on the road.
When I passed him, a minute later, I told him he was crazy, both for following me so closely, and also for running the stop sign. I also asked him if he had a death wish. He laughed.
When I arrived at the next light, I saw why he had been travelling so fast.....he was trying to catch up to his spandex clad bike club buddies.
These buddies, then started to berate me for “acting like I owned the road”.
So, I have little respect for these clowns. The day I see them paying taxes for the use of the road, and riding responsibly, I might change my mind.
...that’s why I am not a spandex homo...
:)
LOL. That's good to know. ;-)
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