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This is the second installment in a monthlong series. To read the rest of the series, visit thestranger.com/news.
What do authorities do to a careless motorist—who isn't drunk, but definitely isn't sharing the road either—who mows down a cyclist, killing him or her?
Stranger Personals
"You kill somebody, you walk away," says David Hiller, advocacy director for the Cascade Bicycle Club, describing Washington's lax vehicular-homicide penalties. He says current laws do a poor job of outlining punishments for harming "vulnerable users of a public way" (that is, people not encased in tons of steel, such as cyclists and pedestrians).
Hiller and other cycling advocates have long wished that motorists who carelessly kill cyclists and pedestrians couldn't get off with the $250 traffic citation prescribed by current law. "I'd love to hang these people up by their toenails at the edge of town and paint 'killer' across their chest and let them hang there until the buzzards peck their eyes out," Hiller says.
A proposal in the state legislature, Senate Bill 5838, is hardly that harsh. But it would significantly ratchet up penalties for "negligent driving in the second degree." If the measure passes, a driver who causes death or substantial bodily harm to a vulnerable roadway user—a cyclist, a wheelchair user, a pedestrian, a scooter driver, a Rollerblader, even someone riding a horse—would be required to complete a traffic-safety course and do 200 hours of community service, and would face a $5,000 fine and a suspended license if they don't comply.
Sponsored by senators Ken Jacobsen (D-46), Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36), Joe McDermott (D-34), and Ed Murray (D-43), the bill will need the support of Seattle's entire legislative delegation. After all, the city they represent is among the most bicycle-reliant parts of the state. The bill will also need lobbying support from Mayor "Mike Bikes" McGinn and from cycling city council president Richard Conlin.
Among the arguments they can make to rural legislators who don't care about cyclists and other urban roadkill: This bill protects people on the road operating "a farm tractor or implement of husbandry," too.
Could you give us some more context, please?
The other major reason many folks cycle out in lanes, rather than far to the right, is to be more visible to drivers - riding far to the right does make it easier for drivers to pass you, but you'd be surprised at how many drivers simply don't notice a biker on the side of the road unless the cyclist is out toward the middle, taking up space and visual field of the driver. I've been knocked down a couple times by cab drivers who didn't see me and bumped me off the road when I'm riding too far to the right to be noticed by distracted drivers.
I totally agree that riders should be careful and courteous, and that some in Seattle fail to do this. But please don't take cyclists riding out in traffic as an act of aggression - for a great many of us it's just a simple survival tactic, and we (or at least I) regret that it sometimes pisses drivers off when do it. It's to protect ourselves, and to protect drivers from having to deal with the nightmare of hitting a cyclist accidentally.
This spring I was driving down eastlake and a cyclist zipped out on one of the dedicated crosswalks at about 20mph. Thankfully traffic was moving slow and I was able to stop. He got off the bike an started accosting me. I told him he wasn't a pedestrian, and and that he was supposed to behave like any other motor vehicle. It escalated.
Yes, motorists need to pay attention, and there are far too many accidents. But in the 4-5 close calls I've had, they have all been the cyclists' fault -
By the way - this is not just about bikes. Did you commentators actually read the article or did you just come here to recite your very boring story about the bicyclist-who-ran-the light story?
Where do the motorized two-wheeled members of our traffic community fit into your thoughts and opinions?
yes people in cars should be more aware and better trained. but by that standard so should bikers.
2. If the driver of the vehicle wasn't negligent and it was the bicyclist's fault then the fine won't apply to them.
What's the problem here exactly? Negligent drivers should be held more accountable. Why is that a problem for some people?
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@15 & 16 cdalerider: When did you start to ride? Most people learn to ride bicycles around ago 5 or 6. You want to "taxed, licensed, and ticket" five year olds?
To everyone who claims that you see cyclists breaking laws all the time: At least those cyclists are visible. The vast majority of cyclists who obey traffic laws at least as much as any motorist are invisible to motorists. When Bryce Lewis, a 19 year-old kid from Colorado, was killed at the corner of Fuhrman and Eastlake in 2007, he was riding legally in a marked bike lane that a truck turned into without checking for oncoming traffic. The way our laws are currently, that truck driver would have faced severe penalties had it been a motorist killed. As is, he received no legal punishment at all.
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WTF? Really? It can be hard to tell who is negligent in the case of a car vs. bike accident, especially because bicycles can be very unpredictable and don't necessarily follow rules (I know cars don't either) and this guy wants to string up every driver who has an ACCIDENT involving anything other than a car and brand them a murderer?
That's fine if you can prove that the driver intentionally killed the cyclist with malice aforethought, but I'm thinking that 99.9999% of the time, the driver of the car has absolutely no intention whatsoever of having anything to do with the cyclist much less cause them harm.
Yes, drivers should pay close attention and use caution! But sometimes accidents happen.
I hardly drive, but you bicycle people terrify me. What a bunch of psychos.
Bicyclists are careless when they ride.
That people can type this without irony is pathetic. Can ANYONE in these comments or ANYWHERE IN THIS CITY say that when they drive their car they NEVER go 5 over the speed limit? Or roll into a crosswalk while taking a free right on red? Or fail to come to a complete stop at a stop sign? Or ignore a yield sign? Or talk on their cell phone or fail to signal or fail to yield to a crossing pedestrian or take an illegal turn, or any of the CORNUCOPIA of other "minor" infractions that we endure from motorists every single day without batting an eye?
Seriously, people. Why don't we ALL get over ourselves. Motorists don't obey all the traffic laws. In fact, there are some laws you can literally GUARANTEE that 99% of drivers will simply ignore or let slide when the situation warrants it.
When a cyclist does this, people freak out and say its an egregious violation of law and public safety. When drivers do it, the critical mass of so many of them violating the letter of the law makes it invisible to us. Because we don't WANT to see it, because we all get where we're going a little faster when it's done.
Regardless of which "side" you're on, the hypocrisy is pretty rank.
This should not be an issue. Are people actually going to use the comments section of an article about protecting the lives of cyclists to whine about reckless cyclists? Reckless cyclists don't (can't) do much to drivers except make them pay more attention to their surroundings. Do these people whine the same way about shitty drivers?
I feel like this is like having a conversation about preventing butterflies from being crushed underfoot by dinosaurs and someone on the dinosaurs' side saying BUT THE BUTTERFLIES FLY AROUND LIKE CRAZY!!!111!!
Also something never mentioned is that thanks to the elements and the nature of the city it is dangerous as hell to ride in the right most section of road because of debris and lack of maintenance. Those little potholes drivers hate to go over because it shakes their suspension can toss riders and destroy wheels.
So yah, before drivers bitch about saftey and cyclist breaking laws they should make sure they actually know what they are saying. Ask any cyclist how many times a car, going FASTER than the speed limit, has passed them at dangerously and flat out illegal distances.
I agree that negligent drivers should be held accountable, but blowhards like Hiller and the thousands of people he stirs up, set the cause back with their aggressive negativity. I hope rational readers understand that although loudmouths are often quoted as the voice of cyclists, and are apparently even hired to speak for us, most of us just want to happily ride our bikes and stay out of everyone's way. Cycling is FUN, people, not a competition. Slow down and enjoy it.
Being a sadomasochist is ok, but only as long as everyone involved agrees to play. When you want to punish people who don't want to play for hurting you too much, it starts to look very insane. ...and it can not prevet accidents anyways.
There are a plenty of sane solution that reduce conflicts between different transportation modes(i.e. better street design, bicycle lanes, physical barriers between different transportation modes, signs for biciclists forbidding or allowing access just like for vehicles, getting rid of sharrows and other confusing elements, etc..)
This penalty/jail solution only encourages more conflict because it provides extra revenues for the city. The city will never fix dangerous roadways if it brings more revenue to them.
This solution just doesn't provide any safety at all. It brings extra revenues for the city and provides more room for masochism, or even sadomasochism, because other people get get hurt as well, not just the bicyclist.
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OK, let's up the penalties against bicyclists who hit pedestrians. Vehicular assault would be appropriate. Pedestrians are vulnerable when approached by a bicycle travelling 30 mph down a sidewalk.
oh... and ringing that little bell, or saying "on your right"... these are requests, not "orders"... for others to yield right of way. FYI.
It's obvious when confronted with a dangerous multi ton vehicle that some drivers know or feel that they are immune. We need safer streets if more non pro riders are going to venture forth on their bikes & leave their cars waiting for the next trek out of town.
Stop salmoning (going wrong way on street), people. It's dangerous and makes the rest of us look like complete idiots.
As for the motorists with their 'tales of bicycle traffic infractions' - you guys can all fuck off. I don't even bother to keep track of the times I've nearly been hit by someone blathering away on their phone. In any case - if a cyclist fucks up - chances are she/he will be the one to pay for it. You guys in cars just get a dent or nice free show.







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