baltimorespokes

By Andrew Clark
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1. When you encounter the following sign, you …

a) Come to a complete and precise stop 15 feet into the intersection, take a sip of your double/double Timmys coffee and cruise forward almost running over a bunch of people-shaped objects.

b) “OMG IC a big red square circle thing in front of me. WTF is it? LOL ;)”

c) If by “stop” you mean “roll through while playing with my GPS” then yes I “stop.”

d) Was that a stop sign? Oh. I’ll stop twice at the next one.

2. How much space do cyclists need on either side of themselves as a safety zone?

a) None. I’m not worried about getting hit by a cyclist. I’m in a car.

b) It depends on what kind of lesson I’m trying to teach them. If it’s my “You don’t belong on the road” then eight inches, but if it’s my “I could have killed you but I didn’t” then 14 inches.

c) Space? Is that some kind of granola cyclist hippie thing?

3. It is okay for me to drive 80 km/h in a 40 km/h school zone because…

a) I have only five minutes to drive five kilometres to my health club so I can ride five kilometres on a stationary bike.

b) Speed doesn’t kill. People not getting out of my way kills.

c) Speed limits are more like guesstimates.

4. I’m driving my minivan, which smells as if a cat has thrown up dog vomit. My middle-aged spread hangs over my Gap leather belt like a gelatinous wave spilling over a makeshift dam. On the radio, ’80s retro plays – the soundtrack to my misery. My kids are strapped into their car seats stoned on fast food watching DVDs on their personal DVD screens which are lovingly secured in front of them. This is okay because…

a) It’s important for my kids to learn there is more to life than sitting around the house watching television. There is also driving around in a minivan watching television.

b) Families are like sharks. If they stop moving they die.

c) If I have to turn around one more time, I’m going to have to make seven or eight more empty threats!

d) There’s nothing like the freedom of the road. Free to drive the speed you’re told, photographed by hidden cameras all the way, anywhere you want, as long as it’s on roads the government has constructed. Freedom baby!

5. Drive-thrus are better than restaurants because …

a) If I am exposed to light and the open air I might turn to dust.

b) Less exertion. Saves energy for chewing.

c) Getting food passed to me through a square hole by someone in a uniform reminds me of prison.

6. Driving is important for society because …

a) It keeps the world away from me. I am safe.

b) It keeps me away from the world. Fewer people dismayed by my presence.

c) It’s a win/win … but on a metaphysical level it’s mostly b.

7. You see a cyclist 50 yards in front of you getting ready to make a right turn. You …

a) Okay, “I see a cyclist …” Let me try and imagine that …

b) I blow by, seeing how close I can come without actually hitting him.

c) Slam on my horn. These guys don’t think the law applies to them.

8. Why must you use signals when turning?

a) Turn signals are like Twitter. They let people know what I’m up to.

b) Because it’s very important for other drivers to use them.

c) To send out an alert of your intentions … before changing your mind at the last minute and turning the other way.

d) To inform other drivers of what you want to do after you’ve already done it.

9. You’re driving along, minding your own business when some maniac cuts you off. You …

a) You want to settle this like men? You got it! Let’s yell obscenities at each other from within our rolling steel cages until the light changes.

b) Drive up behind him, real close, and tailgate him for a few kilometres, endangering yourself, everyone in your car, everyone in the other car and everyone else on the road. Point made.

c) Nothing. Anger is wasted energy. We all make mistakes … Lovely planet you have here.

10. You’ve got the top down on your BMW convertible. Music pounds, causing damage to your hearing. Every inch you drive screams “See how much money I have.” Or “I live with my parents.” It’s after 4 p.m. and parking is forbidden. You …

a) Pull over, put your hazards on and cause a traffic jam. They mean no parking for a long time.

b) Pull over, park, fling open your door almost levelling a cyclist. Talk on your phone. It’s not parking if you are still in the car.

c) All of the above.

What’s your score?

If you answered C you are correct. C is always correct because cars are big.

Continue reading “The Great Canadian Drivers Exam”

By Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel
Allen Belonger’s death is essentially a closed case for Iowa County law enforcement.
No tickets were issued and no criminal charges are being pursued in the crash that killed the 62-year-old bicyclist on July 11.
Fellow members of the Spring City Spinners Bicycle Club are not yet ready for that end.
Their frustration over Belonger’s death and the lack of legal consequences for the driver has sparked a new sense of advocacy.
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"I’m appalled that there was no ticket," said Laura Fisher, president of the Spring City Spinners. "It sends the message that the cyclists shouldn’t have been out there anyway. It makes me sad and angry at the same time."
According to the sheriff’s reports, the motorist, then 16, turned left in front of Belonger on a rural road in the Town of Hollandale, on the course of the Insane Terrain Challenge Ride. Belonger and two of his fellow Spinners were tackling the 120-mile ride that morning.
The impact with the passenger-side door of the pickup truck killed him almost instantly.
The driver told sheriff’s investigators he had been drinking with his father the night before the crash – about six beers from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Hollandale Fireman’s Picnic – according to the sheriff’s reports. The boy lives in New Berlin but spent last summer in Hollandale. He was turning into a driveway at that home when the crash occurred.
The Journal Sentinel is not naming him because he is a juvenile.
With roughly six hours of sleep, but sober, the driver said he saw Belonger and the other cyclists but underestimated their speed coming south, down the hill toward him.
Initially, a sheriff’s deputy issued the driver a civil ticket for causing injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle. When a test showed zero alcohol in his blood, that ticket was dismissed.
Iowa County District Attorney Larry Nelson made his decision not to pursue criminal charges after reviewing the sheriff’s reports and a crash reconstruction prepared by the Wisconsin State Patrol. It appeared that the driver may have been negligent and failed to yield the right of way, but the action did not rise to the threshold of criminal negligence, he said.
Belonger’s speed coming down the hill was one of the factors that weighed into the conclusion, Nelson said.
He was uncertain why the driver was not ticketed for failing to yield the right of way.
Attorney Paul Bucher, who represents the driver and his family, said the youth was not responsible for the fatality and no tickets were warranted.
Much of the blame for the crash falls on Belonger and the ride organizers, Bucher said.
"(The driver) had absolutely no liability in this case," said Bucher, a former Waukesha County district attorney. "(He) was turning into the driveway. The sun was directly in his vision. The individual was pedaling with his head down and didn’t even look up."
According to Bucher, the Insane Terrain ride was promoted as a "speed run," with riders seeking maximum speed on the hills west of Madison. An accident reconstruction estimated Belonger may have approached 60 mph, he said.
Based on the ride Web site, however, the Insane Terrain promotion focused more on the challenge of climbing up the hills rather than speeding down them.
Belonger’s case has generated interest beyond cyclists in the club he joined after moving to Waukesha from Phoenix.
"It makes me sad that a motorist in my state can drive in such a way as to kill another person and get no charges," said Greg Ferguson, a Madison-area cyclist and competitor. "Motorists are too often deadly, and need to pay attention, slow down, and give their full attention to the deadly vehicle they are driving."
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Continue reading “Failure to yield to cyclists = no liability”