Take the Lane

Died on a ride, #16 and #17, 2008

Two more cases of cycling fatalities, and two more times to ask ourselves, are we being as smart on the road as we can be?

The deaths were in London, Ont. this fall. Two readers pointed me to the most recent, and in calling around, I learned of the earlier death.

The first was Oct. 1. A 20-year-old Fanshawe College student was hit from behind while he was stopped in a four-lane road, just right of the centre-line, waiting to make a left-hand turn. It was 7:30 p.m. (after sunset). He was dressed in dark clothing, with no lights other than the required rear reflectors. He died a few days later in hospital. The motorist has been charged with careless driving.

The second was Wednesday, around 7:20 a.m. A 21-year-old man rode up on the right-hand side of a line of traffic stopped for the gates at a rail crossing. As the gates went up and the traffic moved, the cyclist, according to the police report, pulled up alongside a tanker truck, which as it crossed the tracks, made a right-hand turn into a parking lot, striking the cyclist. The rider died at the scene. His visibility does not seem to have been an issue. No word on charges as yet. London police are looking for motorists who were in the lineup to come forward as witnesses.

I'm not saying that the cyclists were in the wrong here.

Sounds to me like the 20-year-old was doing everything by the book -- using the full lane to make the turn, had the required rear reflector. I can't help thinking that he might have been more visible at night with some reflective clothing, and a flashing light. I have climbed on the soapbox about this before, and clearly, will do it again. There's no shame in being excessively safe.

As for the 21-year-old, there's probably not a cyclist amongst us who hasn't shaved a second or two off our ride by pulling up alongside someone at a light or a rail crossing, and then moved ahead together. It's usually easy to make eye contact with the driver of a car. Harder to do so with a guy in a truck cab. Notwithstanding that, truckers need to make better use of their mirrors.

Parks Canada removes ghost bike

I used to have mixed emotions about roadside memorials: on one hand I understood the need to grieve, but on the other hand I thought the grief was inappropriately placed. I have since come to see the value of roadside memorials as a reminder to all road users of the dangers of the road, and their need to be mindful of themselves and others while using the road.

As a longtime cyclist, I have a particular interest in the "ghost bike" phenomenon, where bicycle advocates or friends of a dead cyclist paint a junker all white and fix it to some point near the scene of a bicycle fatality. It's a strong visual reminder.

There was a ghost bike attached to the fence along the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff to mark the spot where University of Guelph grad Collin Cureatz had been killed in June 2007. It went up in September when the man charged in his death went before the courts. The decision on the motorist won't be known until January of next year, but the verdict on the ghost bike came down in the middle of last month. Parks Canada officials, according to an online story by Rocky Mountain Outlook, took down the bike last month because they feared visitors to the park would misinterpret the bike as some kind of pointer to bike routes in the area.

Get serious. So, are those roadside crosses an indicator of churches ahead? The Rocky Mountain Outlook article suggests that those who supported the placing of the ghost bike respect the Parks Canada decision. I liked the roadside warnings in Scotland and the north of England that reminded drivers how many people are died on certain stretches of highway. I would rather see more ghost bikes, or some similar signage, to remind motorists that their roadways are not just easy-breezy conduits from point to point, but places where inattention or aggression can lead to tragedy.

Two in court over cyclist's death

The two men charged in the death of cyclist Barry Grosse last month appeared in a Saskatoon court today, but not much happened, according to a Canadian Press report.

Mitchell Rebryna, 20, and Kyle Bradley, 22, who are alleged to have been street racing, are facing charges of criminal negligence causing death. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, plus a lifetime driving ban (although one wonders how much driving you do behind bars, anyway). Pretty unlikely that the two will get the max sentence, even though one could argue that their actions gave the 64-year-old Grosse a maximum sentence last Sept. 24.

The two haven't entered pleas yet, but will likely do so when they show up again on Dec. 2.

More on the street racing death

Canadian Press has moved a story with more information about the Saskatchewan cyclist alleged to have been killed in a street racing incident. You can see the whole story here.

Collin Cureatz's case not done yet

The wheels of justice grind mighty slowly, even when the case appears to be as open and shut as that of Collin Cureatz, the University of Guelph grad who was hit from behind and killed while cycling in the Banff area of Alberta in June 2007.

The driver who killed Cureatz was operating a vehicle without a licence, had been drinking and had a rap sheet as long as his arm. I discussed this at length in a February post About Collin Cureatz. At the time, it appeared the charges that remained against the driver would be heard this fall.

And they were heard yesterday in Banff court. While a contingent of cyclists listened in the courtroom, the whole sorry story was trotted out. The judge has reserved her decision on the major charge of careless driving.

Cycling is practically a national pastime in the Rockies. Roadies have no more magnificent place to tour; mountain biking was made for those mountains. Not surprisingly the cycling community is watching this case with interest. And they have not forgotten Cureatz. A ghost bike -- a road bike painted white -- has been hung at the point in the road where the collision occurred. Here's a photo passed along from Take The Lane respondent Eric Harvie.

I have had mixed feelings about roadside memorials, but I wonder if the appearance of ghost bikes -- the dozens and dozens that would be placed on roads and streets throughout Canada -- would have an impact.

A cyclist falls victim to street racers

I limit my numbered Died on a Ride posts to Ontario cases partly because the laws involving cyclists and motorists are largely provincial, and partly because I couldn't keep up the calling necessary to track every cyclist fatality in the country.

Some jump out at you, though.

Here's one from today: a 65-year-old man in Saskatoon killed by what appear to be two motorists who were street-racing around 3 a.m.

According to the Canadian Press report, the man was hit from behind and was pronounced dead in hospital. A witness to this tragic death told police the two cars, which drove off, had been racing. Police have a description of each car, and it's only a matter of time before the murderers are caught.

I say murderers unreservedly, because they each took into their control a massive weapon, and with the knowledge that every motorist has of that weapon's destructive effect, wielded it without thought of the consequences. It is as if they had been walking down the street, each with a loaded rifle, firing into the darkness ahead of them.

Died on a ride, #15, '08

According to the Sarnia Observer, we have lost another cyclist.

This one is a 64-year-old man who was killed Saturday night, says the OPP press release, when he collided with a truck just north of Brigden, near Sarnia. The police said the cyclist swerved into the path of a truck that was approaching him from behind, at around 8:30 p.m. No word on whether the cyclist was using lights or reflectors, and no indication of any witnesses, other than the truck driver. I am always curious about the use of the word "swerved" when something like this happens.

Did the cyclist cut suddenly across the path of the overtaking vehicle? Or did the cyclist make a safety correction to avoid broken glass?

FURTHER TO THE ABOVE POST:

The cyclist was identified as Russell Moffit, of Brigden.

 

Died on a ride, #14 '08

The Toronto cycling community lost an avid rider this past week, when a 50-year-old man was killed while riding in the city's North York area.

The cyclist (who has not been named at the request of his family) had the right of way going into the intersection around 8 a.m. on Wednesday. A left-turning motorist apparently slammed into him, tossing him several metres.

Although the rider was wearing a helmet, he died at the scene of what police called massive head injuries.

Reports in the Toronto Star, the Toronto Sun and the York Guardian quote a police officer as saying the collision was completely preventable, and that charges would be laid against the motorist.

A tragic cycling loss

Another tragic cycling loss with the death last month of obsessive bicycle adventurer Ian Hibell, who was killed by a hit and run driver in Greece. The Times Online has the full story.

Hibell spent nearly 40 years pedalling to different parts of the globe, his story partly told in Into the Remote Places, a 23-year-old travel adventure book. Among other treks, Hibell undertook the first true overland south to north trip from the Cape Horn to Alaska, from 1971 to 1973. His stories inspired countless cyclists to slap on panniers and go exploring.

According to the Times piece, Hibell was killed Aug. 23 by one of two cars that were street racing. Hibell died at the scene. The driver was caught and charged. Hibell was 74.

Died on a ride, #13 '08

Hard on the heels of a study that alleges that bike helmets save children's lives, comes news from the Niagara peninsula of the death of a 10-year-old girl who was not wearing hers.

I know there is a lot of controversy about the mandatory helmet laws in this province and other jurisdictions, but can't help but think that Janessa De Hamel-Nelson, of Virgil, might be alive today if she had been wearing one.

According to a report by Paul Morse of the Hamilton Spectator, Janessa was riding her bicycle Wednesday around 8 p.m. along a bicycle-pedestrian path in Niagara-on-the-Lake when she lost control and ran into the side of a tourist trolley bus.

Although the empty bus was slowing down for a stop sign, it was moving fast enough to cause head injuries that were fatal, according to the investigating police officers. Police also said that the girl was wearing MP3 player earphones, although there was no indication that the MP3 player was a contributing factor.

Police said there would be no charges against the bus driver. Bad enough, I suppose, that the driver has to carry the weight of the child's death on his shoulders.

Just for the record, helmet use is mandatory for cyclists under the age of 18.