Cyclist Run Over by Truck in Maryland

[secstate]

Or a very close pass. The article says the truck and cyclist were both heading north and the cyclist hit the curb.

Not a stretch of road I would want to cycle on. Looking south toward the I-270 overpass:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13394[/ATTACH]

[cvcalhoun]

This also emphasizes why it’s important to take the lane:

* If you are far enough out into the lane so a vehicle has to go into the next lane to pass you, you’ve got more margin so that if you fall over, you’re less likely to get run over.
* If you take the lane, you don’t run into the curb (which is apparently what caused the problem).

[lordofthemark]

The road has a 40MPH speed limit. Which means traffic, at free flow, is probably going around 50MPH. I don’t think I have to give in all my VC bona fides to say I would be very uncomfortable taking the lane there, and I imagine even many of the faster and more confident riders here would also be. Of course staying to the far right on such a road is even worse. Personally I simply won’t ride on a road like that (I have the privilege to build my life so I don’t have to) I realize that is not an acceptable policy answer, and there are people who rely on bikes to get around and live in places like that.

I am saddened by this death. But I am also glad my own advocacy work is in the City of Alexandria, where problems are at least more tractable.

[secstate]

@lordofthemark 153486 wrote:

Personally I simply won’t ride on a road like that (I have the privilege to build my life so I don’t have to) I realize that is not an acceptable policy answer, and there are people who rely on bikes to get around and live in places like that.

I am saddened by this death. But I am also glad my own advocacy work is in the City of Alexandria, where problems are at least more tractable.

Yes, Google Maps suggests there are very few good streets for cycling in that area of Frederick — and depending on the cyclist’s route, perhaps no viable alternatives at all. The accident was at 7am, so it was somewhat dark. My guess is that it was someone heading to work. As you say, perhaps someone without many good options.

[Crickey7]

That design is about as bike-unfriendly as it gets. I like to think of myself as having crabon cojones, but I, too, would not ride that route by choice.

[bobco85]

@cvcalhoun 153484 wrote:

This also emphasizes why it’s important to take the lane:

* If you are far enough out into the lane so a vehicle has to go into the next lane to pass you, you’ve got more margin so that if you fall over, you’re less likely to get run over.
* If you take the lane, you don’t run into the curb (which is apparently what caused the problem).

I agree and like to believe that I do this in general since I am a pretty confident rider in most cases. That said, if I were to find myself riding this stretch of road at 7 in the morning, it’s very likely that I would be nervous and riding much farther to the right in the lane than I normally would. 50+ mph traffic does that to me.

I feel a sense of claustrophobia even looking at the bridge underpass and roadway north of it in Google Maps because of the lack of a shoulder. It’s too bad that when they removed the off-ramp they didn’t at least put a shoulder in. Had they kept a shoulder, that cyclist very well may still have been alive.

[wheelswings]

Very sad situation, whatever the specifics. Probably he was riding to work and didn’t have good options, as others have suggested.
May he rest in peace, as we hold his family in the Light. w&w

[Tania]

More info:
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/public/bicyclist-fatally-struck-by-tractor-trailer-on-md/article_46f15489-f77d-538a-9c07-e1ff7f871205.html

I used to live within a mile of where the accident happened. No one would bike there unless they HAD to.

[anomad]

That’s sad. It reminds me of an accident I came across during cleanup in Salt Lake City where a bicycle was hit by a cement truck. The bicycle had tried to squeeze past a right turning cement truck at an intersection with predictable results. It was also an older man that was riding out of necessity more than most of us are. If I may say so without being callous.

[dasgeh]

Just to make sure this is said: while I think this is shitty design, I don’t think it is unreasonable for a person to bike there. It is legal and there are no markings prohibiting it

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[Steve O]

@dasgeh 153527 wrote:

Just to make sure this is said: while I think this is shitty design, I don’t think it is unreasonable for a person to bike there. It is legal and there are no markings prohibiting it

Additionally, I would find it entirely likely that the truck was traveling faster than the posted 40 mph and may have passed the person on the bike closer than 3 feet. In order to pass legally, the truck would have had to cross partially into the adjoining lane. The answer to the first question may be available in the truck’s GPS log, if it has one. The second we are likely to never know.

Agree with dasgeh. What is unreasonable is that it is commonly accepted that someone who wants to get from A to B on their bicycle must travel miles out of their way (or not go at all) in order to do so safely. Yet this is what our officials and society almost universally believe.

[KLizotte]

This sound similar to an accident that occurred last fall in Mt. Airy, MD. One of the employees of the LBS was riding home or to errands on a road that looks very similar to the one pictured above. A female driver hit him because (she claims) the sun was striking her windshield and she didn’t see him. He died as a result of his injuries.

He was the person who originally got me set up on my trike so I am very saddened by his death since he was a very kind, gentle man. He had very little money and his bike was his primary mode of transportation and I understand he was lit up like a Christmas tree at night. Unfortunately the road he was taking was the only one available because the interstate cuts that area in two and there are no low volume roads crossing the highway in that area. So basically he died because he was poor and had no other alternatives to transportation mode or choice of road. It’s outrageous.

[Crickey7]

That’s a state road. The Maryland Department of Transportation seriously sucks when it comes to bike facilities, not that MoCo is much better.

[lordofthemark]

@dasgeh 153527 wrote:

Just to make sure this is said: while I think this is shitty design, I don’t think it is unreasonable for a person to bike there. It is legal and there are no markings prohibiting it

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I agree. I did not mean to imply that the cyclist was at fault for riding there, just as I doubt anyone here thinks they were at fault for not riding far enough to the left. I am not familiar with the state of advocacy in Frederick County, but I suspect it will be a while before roads like this are addressed.

[mstone]

@dasgeh 153527 wrote:

Just to make sure this is said: while I think this is shitty design, I don’t think it is unreasonable for a person to bike there. It is legal and there are no markings prohibiting it

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I don’t think anyone is saying that, the feeling is just that we look at that road and wouldn’t want to ride it because we’d be too likely to get killed. That’s just a sad indictment of the car centric engineers who designed the road.

[Author]

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