At 08:15 AM 8/13/2006, Judy Olson wrote:
Capt. Jill Klubertanz of the East Police Precinct called me early this
morning to report on a motorcycle-van crash which occured at about 9:30 pm
Friday night at the corner of Atwood and Jackson streets. The crash
resulted in the death of the motorcyclist and critical injury to the van
driver. As of this morning, the van driver, a woman, was in critical
condition.
Police spotted 3 motorcyclists driving west on E. Washington Avenue at 100
MPH. Police gave chase, and two of the motorcyclists pulled over. The
third continued at a high rate of speed toward the downtown. Near
downtown, another squad began the chase, and the motorcyclist turned (I
don't know where), got onto Williamson St., and began driving east. The
police officer ceased pursuit at about Baldwin.
The motorcyclist continued onto Atwood. Police do not know how the driver
collided with the van.
I will check the police website and see if there is more information there
and let you know.
Judy Olson
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Hello All,
Please stop using the word "accident" to describe "crashes."
This is a horrible tragedy, but it wasn't an "accident;" It's a clear
example of why most crashes are NOT accidents - a motorcyclist evading
police and driving at 100mph is almost inevitably going to end up crashing.
There's nothing unpredictable, and certainly nothing unpreventable, about it.
One of the first steps to changing the culture that seems to think it's
normal for drivers to kill more than 40,000 people a year, and seriously
injure half a million more, is to change the language. Crashes are not
accidents. (OK, it's possible that some tiny percentages of crashes fit the
common understanding of the word "accident," but that doesn't mean it's OK
to call all of the crashes that are predictable and easily predictable
"accidents").
If you don't think that language matters, then consider "defense of
marriage" vs. anti-gay legislation, and "Right to Life" vs "Pro Choice."
Wherever you stand on those polarizing issues, it is absolutely clear that
language matters, and when it comes to CRASHES, the Wisconsin Department of
Transportation agrees (although the Madison Police Department has not yet
seen fit to change it's language or the name of it's reporting forms)
Here's a long-ago post to a local list serve for cyclists from Arthur Ross,
the city's bicycle & pedestrian coordinator:
"Dictionary definitions aside, the common connotation of the term
accident is something that was unavoidable, unplanned, unpredictable,
unpreventable, etc. In common usage, the term accident implies that no
one was responsible for what happened. Most traffic crashes, however,
are both predictable and preventable.
Wisconsin DOT statistics indicate that something on the order of 80% +
of reported traffic accidents are caused by driver error. In the 1989
edition of Wisconsin Traffic Accident Facts, at the bottom of page 1, is
the following:
Accidents to be called Crashes
Traffic crashes are not accidents, but avoidable events caused by a
single variable or chain of variables. We are dedicated to reducing
traffic injuries and fatalities by addressing the factors that cause
them. During this transition year, the 1989 edition of Accident FACTS
uses the term "accident." Future editions will incorporate "crash" into
the text and will be entitled Crash FACTS.
Calling these incidents crashes or collisions allows us to get away
from the blamelessness that the term accident implies, and get on with
the task of addressing the human behaviors that lead to these
occurrences on a predictable basis so that they can be prevented."
--Arthur
If you've read this far, then you may be interested in this:
The 14th International Conference on Walking and Biking (aka
ProWalk/ProBike 2006) is coming to Madison September 6-8.
And on Tuesday, September 5, one of the special events associated with the
conference will take place:
The Traffic Justice Institute, 11am-5pm, See
http://www.bikewalk.org/conference/tji.html for details on the Traffic
Justice Institute.
Details on the conference in general can be found at that website as well:
http://www.bikewalk.org/conference.php
Chuck
Chuck Strawser
Madison Project Coordinator
Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin
106 E. Doty Street, Suite 400
Madison, WI 53703
voice: 608-251-4456
fax: 608-251-4594
www.bfw.org
*The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin is a proud member of Community Shares
of Wisconsin, and Community Shares of Greater Milwaukee*
Both raise funds through employee-giving campaigns to
support local social and environmental justice organizations.
Please support Community Shares and The Bicycle Federation
of Wisconsin through payroll deduction at your workplace.
Pro Walk/Pro Bike biennial international conference: Sept 5-8, Madison, WI
http://www.bikewalk.org/
Bike for Wisconsin Fundraising Ride: Sunday, September 17, 2006
http://www.bfw.org/events/BikeforWisconsin.php
Saris BFW Fundraising Gala: Friday, October 20, 2006
http://www.bfw.org/events/saris_fundraiser.php
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