Posted on 09/24/2010 2:05:27 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA
A Berks County man paralyzed in a bicycling accident several years ago was killed Thursday when he collided with an ambulance near his home while riding an adaptive cycle recently donated to him.
Stephen B. Johnson, 49, of Exeter Township, was riding the three-wheel cycle modified for people with leg paralysis west on Rugby Road in Exeter Township when he veered into the path of the ambulance, according to police.
The ambulance was returning to its station from a call and was not carrying any patients, police said.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
As a paraplegic who has ridden these cycles, I can tell you firsthand that they sit very close to the road. Even an orange flag doesn't help much to see these “low riders”.
Keeping this in mind, riding such a low visibility bike at 12:18 PM is also very dangerous.
That being said, this man left an 8 year old daughter behind, so unlike some here, I don't really see the humor in the tragedy.
Google
“bike rage”
Advanced search About 28,100 results (0.14 seconds)
Are you in Houston? One of Mayor Whites bright ideas was to take a strip of pavement on the side of a busy street, paint a bike on it and voila, it’s a bike trail. 2 cyclists
were killed 2 blocks from my house the first week it after it was painted. Beware of that kind of bike trail.
Seat of pants, Bellevue, WA.
LOL! It wasn’t me, I am a little old woman.
I don’t use information logging google.
Some of the riders of such conveyances used to affix a florescent flag, which may be insufficiently “cool” for today’s bicycling crowd.
I still remember the bad old days, when you had things like tire-width drain grates, sometimes in the middle of the road. I got one just right once, and...you can visualize the rest.
What you are suggesting is criminally negligent. Please reconsider.
A recumbent bike really needs a flag on
a long whip like the ones required on dirt
bikes and ATVs on the dunes.
I have a Stebel air horn on my 2009
Kawasaki Versys. It generates a two
tone output at 139 dB. It has kept some
big F250 trucks from making a lane
change right next to me at 65 MPH. The
truck cab sits very high and the driver
does look down to look for other
vehicles. Female muslims with a hijab
often have their peripheral vision blocked
by the awful rag on their head. Be extra
careful when traveling near them.
Pass them, slow down (so they have to shift) speed up slightly, slow down, speed up.
If only you had a diesel pickup.
Very dangerous, there's a lot of road rage out there.
Yes, the head garb makes tunnel vision look spacious.
Oh that’s evil.
Push in clutch, rev diesel engine slightly, release clutch and bellow out a cloud of diesel barf.
I have encountered the same attitude in cyclists myself. You left out ‘’self-aggrandizing’’ but you hit all the right notes about cyclists. I have to resist the urge to veer right sometimes.
Sounds like a good guy who persevered and died doing what he loved. That's a pretty good epitaph for anyone.
For a little more adventure and safety, all you need is a mountain bike...you're forgetting about the ditch.
Thanks, just trying to help.
You must be referring to the Concord/Carlisle/Westford area. I live right in the middle of all that and this time of year, the bicycles outnumber the cars, especially on weekends.
Annoying as they are, I have never come close to hitting one of them. Although I have had close calls with cars coming in the other direction because I have to steer to the center of the road to go by them. So if I'm coming up on a curve (such as Monument Street in Concord), I have to slow down to a crawl behind them because it is too risky to drive past them in case a car is coming up around the bend.
I can sort of identify with the bicyclists because when I walk my dog, I have to walk in the streets because there are no sidewalks in my residential neighborhood. So I am always concerned about being hit from behind - like Stephen King, especially at night. I don't understand why they don't put sidewalks in residential neighborhoods around here. No wonder people are so fat, they have to get in their cars to drive everywhere, or risk their lives by walking on the street.
THOES CYCLIST ARE BEING GREEN, CAN’T YOU SEE THAT! Show a little respect for your betters........ and excuse me for shouting. :o)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.