The sad fact is unless the courts start giving serious penalties to people who carelessly injure others with two-ton guided missiles there will be no way to discourage this. And “I didn’t see you” or “I thought I could pass” is not a get out of jail free card — unless you believe that a road user, driver biker or pedestrian, has no obligation to see what’s in front of them to avoid causing havoc!

This is actually one of the better resons FOR riding two abreast, namely, the riders present twice as much surface area to the eye of an overtaking car, making it twice as easy for even the inattentive person to see them. Our crew often spreads out a little on some roads and tho no one ever verbalized the reason I honestly believe it is to be more visible and sort of control the lane. Still, being safe is no guarantee if the other party isn’t.

I hope everyone will be okay — except the driver. As to that, we as a country need to reevaluate our police of taking people who could never get a handgun permit and settign them loose in cars. At a minimum drivers should be trained to interact with all strata of road users — including cyclists.

But I’m afraid to say i’m not holding my breath for it..

Note that motorists almost always occupy an entire lane. That’s not arrogant. That’s the default behavior for driving in lanes. That’s why we have marked lanes.

Sharing a lane side-by-side is the exception, which only applies when a whole bunch of conditions are all true.

Only those who were there know what happened. No one but the motorist who hit this pack of cyclists truly knows her state of mind, how alert she was & what she was or wasn’t doing when she hit the group.

Knowing the people hit are a group of excellent cyclists who ride this route at 6am every Saturday morning, they had undoubtedly begun their all out ride, traveling only somewhat below the speed limit. They have a reputation for being respectful of motorist traffic and riding no more than two abreast in a safe manner as close to the right as possible – not arrogantly occupying an entire lane.

Regardless of whether the motorist was or wasn’t distracted (texting, talking on her cell phone, hung over from the previous evening), we all agree she shouldn’t be exempt from the same liabilities she’d have if she hit another car or pedestrians, regardless of what jurisdiction the accident happened. And we know we all need to organize & get very vocal before change will happen. One other item to consider among us all… even we cyclists drive cars and are not immune to distractions. Sadly, any one of us could find ourselves in an ugly situation as a motorist if we don’t stay focused on the road. Every time I head out in my car, I see people driving in front of, behind, or in the next lane texting, talking on the phone, applying makeup, or doing other activities… while driving. Admittedly, I’ve done it – and I’m resolving not to double task while driving anymore.

I’m appalled that not one of our local news media reported on this incident immediately, but more importantly, there are bigger issues to deal with. Cyclist & motorist safety, motorist distractions & arguably ridiculous legislation relative to motorist/cyclist incidents need to be addressed. Thank you, Steve & Sharon, for reporting to us all about your ordeal – best to you and all involved for a speedy recovery. Great comments here from everyone – now let’s get to work!

I am sure I could set it up pretty easily.