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Wisconsin Cyclist killed in rear-end collision
Quite a loss, both to the cycling and to the medical community.
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/artic...s/4cyclist.txt |
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Wisconsin Cyclist killed in rear-end collision
He wasn't using any rear lights whilst riding in the dark. I mean a good rear
blinky costs only about $15. |
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Wisconsin Cyclist killed in rear-end collision
"Zippy the Pinhead" wrote in message s.com... Quite a loss, both to the cycling and to the medical community. http://www.lacrossetribune.com/artic...s/4cyclist.txt This isn't really another "blame the cyclist" question, although it might seem so. I'm not saying "too bad, he got what he deserved, it was his own fault, Darwin was right." It's a tragedy, but that's not what my question is about. How does anyone that intelligent and motivated ride in the dark with no lights? What I'm interested in is the thought process itself, and the underlying set of assumptions that leads to it. This is an intelligent, educated adult who is trained to be observant and to account for every possible factor when making judgements. How does someone like that come to be riding in the dark with no lights? I'm just befuddled by stuff like this. RichC |
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Wisconsin Cyclist killed in rear-end collision
In article ,
"Rich Clark" writes: How does anyone that intelligent and motivated ride in the dark with no lights? Maybe those inadequate, stock reflectors mandated on all new bikes give a false sense of security or "good-enough-ness"? And I guess rationalizations like "I'm not going that far", or "There's no traffic this early" are Famous Last Words as much as "Don't worry, it's not loaded." regards, Tom -- -- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca |
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Wisconsin Cyclist killed in rear-end collision
"Rich Clark" wrote in message ... How does anyone that intelligent and motivated ride in the dark with no lights? I bet this time of year people forget the days are getting shorter, and plan rides thinking it will still be light when their ride ends. Certainly I've have experience with tennis teams scheduling matches at 6pm this time of year, even though their courts have no lights. And I see the soccer teams showing up for practice at 5pm, though I know it's a bit dark to take headers by 6:30. I wonder if these type of "no light" accidents are more common this time of year. What I'm interested in is the thought process itself, and the underlying set of assumptions that leads to it. This is an intelligent, educated adult who is trained to be observant and to account for every possible factor when making judgements. How does someone like that come to be riding in the dark with no lights? I'm just befuddled by stuff like this. RichC |
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Wisconsin Cyclist killed in rear-end collision
Zippy wrote:
Quite a loss, both to the cycling and to the medical community. http://www.lacrossetribune.com/artic...s/4cyclist.txt Very sad. "Contributing factors in the accident, which was reported at 5:51 a.m., where darkness and lack of rear lighting on the bicycle, according to the La Crosse County Sheriff's Department." --Karen M. going shopping for a replacement blinkie light today (old one stolen) |
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Wisconsin Cyclist killed in rear-end collision
"Cathy Kearns" wrote in message m... "Rich Clark" wrote in message ... How does anyone that intelligent and motivated ride in the dark with no lights? I bet this time of year people forget the days are getting shorter, and plan rides thinking it will still be light when their ride ends. No doubt. However, the rider in this case was killed before dawn. It was dark when he left and it was dark the entire time he was riding. RichC |
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Wisconsin Cyclist killed in rear-end collision
On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 09:36:45 -0400, "Rich Clark"
wrote: [...] How does anyone that intelligent and motivated ride in the dark with no lights? What I'm interested in is the thought process itself, and the underlying set of assumptions that leads to it. This is an intelligent, educated adult who is trained to be observant and to account for every possible factor when making judgements. How does someone like that come to be riding in the dark with no lights? Where I live, there is no requirement to have a rear light, only a rear reflector as comes on every new bike. The article did not mention whether the bicycle had a rear reflector (I'm assuming it did) nor did it state that a rear light is mandated by law in his area as the article implies. In some places, a flashing rear light is disallowed: http://www.magma.ca/~ocbc/hta3.html Given that most of the general population - let alone many cyclists who should know better - believe that reflectors are a suitable replacement for lights and given that John Forrester was not able to convince the bicycle industry and the US CPSC to change the status quo, http://www.johnforester.com/Articles/lights.htm my question is why should he be expected to know that reflectors are almost useless? There are people who buy bicycles who don't frequent Usenet and who haveen't visted Sheldon Brown's website, believe it or not. Incidentally, I see no mention of a helmet as is usually the case where "the cyclist was not wearing a helmet". -- Chris Bird |
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Wisconsin Cyclist killed in rear-end collision
"Chris B." wrote in message ... On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 09:36:45 -0400, "Rich Clark" wrote: my question is why should he be expected to know that reflectors are almost useless? There are people who buy bicycles who don't frequent Usenet and who haveen't visted Sheldon Brown's website, believe it or not. Good point, I suppose. Being both a driver and a cyclist, though, and knowing how hard a cyclist can be to see sometimes, I just have trouble imagining other people blithely assuming they're safe. Incidentally, I see no mention of a helmet as is usually the case where "the cyclist was not wearing a helmet". Yeah, makes you wonder if another reporter might have written "the cyclist was wearing a helmet, but it failed to save his life." RichC |
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Wisconsin Cyclist killed in rear-end collision
On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 09:36:45 -0400, "Rich Clark"
wrote: How does anyone that intelligent and motivated ride in the dark with no lights? What I'm interested in is the thought process itself, and the underlying set of assumptions that leads to it. This is an intelligent, educated adult who is trained to be observant and to account for every possible factor when making judgements. How does someone like that come to be riding in the dark with no lights? He had to be somewhere, showered, shaved, cooled down and ready to work at 0730. And, well, summer ended kinda early in these here parts this year. His blinky was probably in the resident's quarters on the garage shelf where he put it last Spring. It's very well lit where his ride started -- like daylight 24/7. That probably lulled him into his fatal error. No excuse. I'm sure he'd have wanted it to be a lesson. I've been caught on the other end. Spring. I used to try to take my first long ride while there were still those huge icicles on the road cuts on the river road. Having ridden a trainer all Winter, I was so euphoric to get out and stretch on real roads that I didn't notice how late it was getting. BOOM! Sunset. People who live in Northern climes will know what I mean. It's light out, then suddenly it's dark out. Long walk home facing traffic on the shoulder. And still a couple of close calls. And I had an amber flasher on my left upper arm -- go figure. Long story short (I know -- too late) -- y'all be careful out there. That's what the Doc would have said. |
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