It’s time to stop killing cyclists
Personal Injury News
Article Date: 12/7/2009 | Resource: MLG
It’s time to stop killing cyclists
On average, we kill a bicyclist every month in our outdoor paradise.
That sobering statistic about our beautiful county does not include the paralyzed and otherwise injured. It does not include the people too afraid to use our cycling-friendly roads. And it does not include the drivers forever traumatized by accidentally smashing into a fellow human being.
Next year, however, can be different. Starting today, each one of us can choose to do something about the mayhem of the innocent as well as the emotional trauma suffered by drivers. Today, each one of us can pledge to learn more about cycling safety, whether we’re cyclists, drivers or both.
It will only cost you nine hours of your life and $35.
Called Traffic Skills 101, the course is put on by the League of American Bicyclists and covers basic bicycle maintenance, bike paths, road riding and riding at night. Navigating traffic, however, is the meat of the course.
Last Friday the day after nine-year-old Nicholas Vela was hit and killed by a truck in Anaheim I attended the classroom portion. On Saturday, I checked out the road part. Join me in making the next class over-subscribed. And the next class. And the next.
For non-cyclists
You might ask, “What’s the point of non-cyclists taking the course?”
There are more than 10,000 bicycles in Orange County, which offers more than 10,000 reasons. I’ll offer two more:
First, you may discover you enjoy this form of low-impact exercise.
Perhaps you’ll even reignite the joy when you climbed aboard your first Stingray or mountain bike. Freedom. Remember?
Second, you will come to understand more about what should be expected and what should not be expected from your fellow road riders.
For example, you might feel vindicated when you hear most accidents are caused by bicyclists doing dumb things. But you’ll also discover those pesky and sometimes scary cyclists in the left turn lane have the same right to be there as you do.
Plus, you’ll find out most people on bikes travel much faster that you might think. Why is this important to know? I call it two-seconds of grace.
You see a bicyclist riding on the right. But you want to make a right turn. If you’re like many drivers, you stomp the gas, speed ahead of the cyclist, and whip into your turn. You made it before the cyclist. Whew!
But the poor person on the bike was going 20 miles an hour if you were on a flat road, faster if you were on a downhill grade. She slammed on the brakes to avoid a mouthful of metal, skidded into a curb or worse.
If you’d slowed down and turned behind the cyclist you would have avoided a dangerous turn. And only delayed your commute by two seconds, two seconds of grace.
For veteran cyclists
You are a seasoned cyclist. You hammer Santiago Canyon Road and then look for some serious hills to climb. Like the San Gabriel Mountains. You might say you have nothing to learn from geeks who teach classes on riding. In fact, you could teach them a thing or two.
Perhaps. But do you want to bet your life on it?
I’m a newbie compared to the hard-core cyclists in our incredible county of super athletes. Still, I’ll mention I’ve ridden 6,000 miles in a year, cranked out more than one century (100 miles) just for chuckles and can tear apart and rebuild a bike from the bearings up.
Still, I learned more than a thing or two in the class. I even had an ah-ha moment. I won’t tell you what it was because I bet you’ll have one all your own. And if you don’t, you’ll still have a cool diploma proving you’re not a menace to society. (OK, my moment was cornering. I am a weenie about sliding out. The instructor had a little exercise which gave me more confidence.)
For road wannabes
You know who you are. Your bike is in the garage gathering cobwebs. You take it out, maybe, a few times a year in the neighborhood, perhaps to a county park. But the darn thing scares the beejeebers out of you.
That, my friend, will diminish if the confidence I saw at graduation Saturday is any indication.
With clear graphics, the classroom part takes you through the challenges you face on the road and shows where to ride, where not to ride and most importantly how to ride. For the on-the-road part, the instructor rides with you, guiding you through a wide variety of traffic situations.
Next: Specific tips for cyclists and drivers.
David Whiting has four bicycles, has trained for and finished two Ironman events and has built a customized bike for his father who has polio. He can be reached at 714-796-6869 or dwhiting@ocregister.com.
By DAVID WHITING
OUTDOORS
REGISTER COLUMNIST
For more information regarding this article please contact:
Jeffrey Marquart
(949)589-0150
jmarquart@marquartlawgroup.com