Study: Bikers, walkers take risks
By CHUCK McGINNESS
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, May 08, 200

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/co...svc=7&cxcat=76

Who's to blame - drivers or cyclists?

http://www.katu.com/news/specialreports/11219826.html

Having lived in Portland OR where the study was done I have to say that auto drivers are generally less aggressive than Philly but I suppose cyclists have less atty-tude out there as well. Most accidents between a car and a bicycle it is the car driver at fault with the car driver failing to yield to the cyclist. However, as some members have pointed out the cyclist is far more vulnerable but apparently more often will disregard traffic signal that led to an accident.

Also alcohol is becoming a problem with cyclists:

“According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 23 percent of bicyclists killed nationwide in 2005 had blood-alcohol concentrations at or above 0.08 percent, the legal limit in Oregon and Washington. This is 26 percent higher than in 1982.”

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Interesting articles.

Regarding the case study in the Portland report ... Obviously the cab driver messed up when his foot hit the accelerator instead of the break after the initial collision.

Regarding the initial collision, though, I'd say both of them were at fault. The driver should have verified the sidewalk was clear. However, what was the cyclist doing riding on the sidewalk? Apparently that's legal in that part of Portland but it's still a bad idea for precisely this reason - drivers don't always remember to check the sidewalk since they're so focused on the road.

One important thing the police report left unexplained was whether the bicyclist whether he had lights (though from the photo it looks like there are streetlights there).

[[In case anyone's wondering, notice I didn't say reflectors. Bike safety websites strongly recommend lights over reflectors. Reflectors only work if their mounted at the correct angle, the headlight hits them at the right angle, and the driver is smart enough to realize he's seeing a bike and not merely a mailbox. Any bike shop will sell rear and front LED lights for as little as $15 apiece. Personally I have two red blinkies in back, one on the seat post set to fast blink and one on my helmet set to slow blink. In front I wear a headlamp (about $45 at Dick's), which is also quite useful for hiking and camping.]]

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