You can’t prevent or even plan for this sort of thing. One minute it’s a beautiful fall afternoon in the Wine Country of Northern California. Temperatures are moderate, the sky is blue and you’re out for a ride to shake off the “dust of the day.” The next minute you’re sprawled on the pavement bleeding next to a twisted bike. If you’re lucky the story continues, if you’re not... it ends there.
Last Monday afternoon I was out for a ride on my shiny new Trek Portland commuter bike. The route included a short portion of Santa Rosa’s Highway 12, a divided thoroughfare that further south is well-known to cyclists for its narrow shoulders, its higher proportion of senior-citizen drivers, and a couple of high-profile motor vehicle-on-bike collisions that ended tragically (for the cyclists). But on this stretch of roadway it was different. The sun was setting behind me, traffic was moderate and the shoulders beautifully wide. As I approached my intended left turn I glanced behind, first in my mirror and then by turning my head, to make sure that traffic would allow me to safely move from the shoulder into the marked left turn lane at an intersection controlled by a light. “Aha, a nice long gap,” I thought. So I cautiously extended my left arm to signal my intentions and trustingly changed lanes while maintaining my pedaling cadence. As I eased across the highway I breathed a sigh of relief. I made it into the relative “safety” of the left turn lane next to the planted median. “Home free,” I thought. Now my thoughts turned to meeting my fiancé at the pool where she is a competitive swimmer.
In the next instant, I got a fleeting glance of the Volvo that plowed into me from behind. No screeching tires… no evasive maneuvers… no shouts of “Look out!” ...just pow! And that’s about all I clearly remember until I found myself in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.
I was one of the very lucky ones. I’m able to write about it afterward. Many are not. What was the driver doing? Chatting on her cell phone? Checking her email? Stuffing a burrito into her mouth and dripping salsa on her blouse? Maybe she was distracted by a Chihuahua on her lap? Who knows? What drivers need to realize, take seriously and take responsibility for is that they are piloting 3000-4000 lb. steel projectiles on the same streets where defenseless cyclists ride, joggers run and children play. A moment of driver inattention is negligence that can result in serious injuries or worse. Still, they’ll be out there… babbling on their cell phones, curling their eyebrows, and stroking their lap dogs.
Ride defensively? Sometimes there’s simply nothing you can do. Your life is entirely in their hands.
