Let’s be safe out there; let’s share the road
Corky Miller and Ironwoman Nicole Burge were injured when they were passed, then clipped, by a horse trailer in Chesterfield Valley. They were admitted to St. John’s Mercy Medical Center with a variety of injuries.
Check out the pictures of Miller.
Our friends at stlbiking also report a serious incident from earlier in the month, when Greg and Rosemary Girouard were hit on Big Bend near Meramec Community College. Rosemary suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung. Greg had a broken leg, ribs, face, teeth, andhead trauma, and other injuries.
A quick check through the archives shows that St. Louis averages about one reported accident a month involving motorist and cyclists in which the cyclists require at least a trip to the hospital.
We’re stretching the boundaries of the jog blog a bit here, and we’re stepping into a feud as old as the Hatfields and McCoys: cyclists and motorists. The sides blame each other. Cyclists take up too much of the road; cars won’t give an inch. Each side feels it is entitled to the road.
In reality, each side has an obligation to share the road. I know I’ll be accused of oversimplifying. Too bad. Once you put away the injuries, hurt feelings and bruised egos, that’s what it comes down to.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T, as Miss Aretha would say.
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I don’t think this strays to far from running at all. I can only imagine the dangers a cyclist must face since he/she is on the road at all times. As a runner in Midtown training for the STL Marathon, I have had many close calls. Particularly memorable was the time I was running through Forest Park near Steinberg (going up the big hill towards Kingshighway) when an oncoming car nearly put me into nearby Barnes Jewish. There’s also the always dangerous motorist who turns right on red without looking to the sidewalk on his/her right, when a runner or pedestrian has a walk signal to cross the intersection in front of the car. Be careful out there people! St. Louis drivers are crazy!
Should have been “too far from running”…can’t believe I did that
“To” versus “too”: welcome to the wonderful world of journalism. I can only hope that none of the myriad mistakes I make today are so insignificant.
There are many times when I have no sidewalk for a stretch and must run on the road. I’m always thankful for those that move over a few feet when they pass me (THANK YOU to those drivers!). But there are always a few that refuse to budge, nearly grazing my clothing as they zoom by. And I’m not even several feet out into the road…I’m sticking as close to the curb as possible. That just amazes me. I always make sure to run the opposite direction of traffic in hopes that I’ll have a few seconds to jump out of the way before I get hit.
[...] another cyclist was seriously injured by a hit & run driver — the second such incident in three days and one of several recent car-bike incidents in which cyclists have been injured [...]
If a cyclist did was Sarah does _ ride in the opposite direction of traffic _ they’d be violating the law.
The thing to remember, which Sarah suggests, is that so many drivers, cyclists and runners respect the rules of the road. It takes only one rotten apple, though.
The last comment makes us sad. I’m glad that the Bike Fed is offering a reward. A better outcome would be for the guilty party to turn him/herself in and show remorse.
Kathleen, I drove up on the terrible accident scene at Big Bend and Meramec College at 10am on as Saturday and it was too close to home (in many ways). I live 1/4 mile for the accident.
I immediately felt sick worried for the cyclists involved because as I approached the accident scene it was obviously serious. The police were taking special care to document the scene, including the locations of the car and bike after the acccident. Cycling gear and tandem bike were strewn about and the car was off the road in the grass. In the middle of the block. Yes. It was a tandem bike and the car ended up off the roadway. It’s insane. Tandems are the most considerate of all cyclists and whatever this driver was doing they were so obviously out of control of their vehicle.
I’m actually grateful for the news that these cyclists survived. I looked for news for a few days.
I think we could use some politician help. I mean seriously if Chicago can embrace bike friendly and the politicians can say yes it is better for our citizens and our streets to have cyclists who don’t pollute while commuting and recreation then it would be nice if our County Executive or Mayor could do the same.
What strikes me about these cycling incidents is that they seem to be multiplying. I think we’re reaching a critical mass, so that the politicians can’t ignore the problem anymore. Sad that the situation has to reach critical mass, when people’s lives are involved.