OK, I admit that I just unloaded on the Bike Fed blog <http://www.bfw.org/2015/09/17/crash-in-vilas-county-raises-bike-fatalities-to-13-for-the-year/> about this most recent death. I will own that. But I am very frustrated by seeing so many news reports about pedestrians and bicyclists being killed on the roads this year.
And the news reports -- even by Bike Fed, of all sources -- always seem to focus on what the victim did wrong. In this case, no lights and no reflective clothing. I just finished reading a blog post about "walk-shaming <http://streets.mn/2015/09/16/walk-shaming-in-the-media/>," and it resonated with me. Since my comments are "awaiting moderation," and I'm impatient (some might say hot-tempered), here are my comments: If you go to streetview, you can see that the road has shoulders in the location. Assuming that the bicyclist was riding on the shoulder — and I have to assume that any bicyclist out in the evening on a rural road would be on the shoulder — why are we focusing so much on the fact that he didn’t have lights or reflective clothing? Isn’t that a bit of blaming the victim? Of course, both legally and practically, one should use lights, reflectors/flashers, and/or reflective clothing at night. But there is always another party involved. What about the driver? Geez, I’m worried about hitting a DEER at night. Shouldn’t the driver be aware of what’s around him? If indeed the bicyclist was on the shoulder, the driver would have to have left the travel lane to hit the guy. I realize that Share and Be Aware is focused on keeping bicyclists safe, but where is the outrage that drivers are not paying attention? And maybe we should also be looking at why people have no choice but to travel on these roads. What about infrastructure? Isn’t it a great thing that people are using their bikes to get around? Do they have a safe route when they chose a bike? Unfortunately, we do not have the victim’s side of the story, so we will maybe never know why he was out there and whether he was on the shoulder. I’m sure the driver will never even get a ticket because the bicyclist didn’t have lights. Leave your lane = oopsie. No lights = death penalty. - See more at: http://www.bfw.org/2015/09/17/crash-in-vilas-county-raises-bike-fatalities-to-13-for-the-year/#sthash.AaJWCTH4.dpuf Robbie Webber Transportation Policy Analyst 608-263-9984 (o) 608-225-0002 (c) [email protected] All opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer or any other group with which I am affiliated.
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