I took a look at where this happened. It's part professional interest and
part detective work to see if I can guess what each party was doing when
the crash occurred. Unfortunately, there is rarely any follow-up - i.e.
news reports - on non-fatal crashes, so I often don't get to check my
suppositions.

Based on 
location<https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Lumbermans+Trail+and+Cottage+Grove+Rd,+Madison,+WI&hl=en&ll=43.084083,-89.306928&spn=0.008157,0.016512&sll=43.077289,-89.297347&sspn=0.032757,0.066047&t=h&hnear=Cottage+Grove+Rd+%26+Lumbermans+Trail,+Madison,+Dane,+Wisconsin&z=17>and
the scant information in the news story, I'm going to guess:

1. The bicyclist had been on the Cap City Trail (aka Isthmus Path) just
prior to the crash. The path ends at Cottage Grove Rd, I think. It's been a
couple years since I've been on that section, so maybe it's been extended
farther than what is portrayed on Google Maps, but the City map seems to
show the same thing. (Although since they are using Google Maps, recent
extensions could be missing from both sources.)

2. He wasn't actually on Cottage Grove Rd. He was on the sidewalk. If a
bicyclist just left the path and wanted to continue eastbound, many would
choose the sidewalk over trying to cross CGR with no light where the path
ends.

3. He wasn't actually on the sidewalk at that moment, he was trying to
cross CGR to Lumberman Trail. There is a light there - the first one east
of the end of the trail - and Luberman provides a connection to another
neighborhood path at the end.

4. The bicyclist was headed home to the neighborhood south of CGR.

5. The bicyclist was in the crosswalk when hit. The news report says the
driver hit the bicyclist while "driving onto Lumberman," and I'm guessing
she didn't look for anyone in the crosswalk before making the turn. And I
can't say I'm surprised. It's not a very bike-ped friendly area, so there
probably aren't many people using that crosswalk.


That's just my guess. And that's all it is - a guess, albeit one that is
informed by knowledge of average bicyclist and driver behavior.

Now, if the bicyclist was going the other way - headed into town - then
there's a completely different scenario, but I'm betting he was coming from
town.

Oh, and I'm amused that the police
report<http://www.cityofmadison.com/police/newsroom/incidentreports/incident.cfm?id=15143>says
he was "peddling on Cottage Grove Rd." I'm assuming he wasn't selling
anything.

Robbie Webber
Transportation Policy Analyst
State Smart Transportation Initiative
www.ssti.us
608-263-9984 (o)
608-225-0002 (c)
[email protected]


On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 2:31 PM, rick <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> http://www.channel3000.com/news/bicyclist-collides-with-car/-/1648/24390736/-/ca4iue/-/index.html
>
>
>
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