Thread started by two wheels good at 11.28.07 - 12:03 am

Perhaps something good can come out of the bad stretch of PCH in Dana Point where two bikers were killed and two joggers became quadriplegics.

Given the groundbreaking legal settlement, it seems like some kinda legal precedent has been set here that the biking community might be able to use as a jumping-off point.

Still it's hard to predict if this will lead local governments to maintain bike lanes better, or resist constructing new ones.

"All they had to do was get a can of paint and stencil little bike figures in the bike lane and drivers would have known there was a bike lane," Callahan said.

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This is going to sound insensitive as fuck, i mean it's a terrible tragedy and all but still...

Daniel and Neria were jogging with two other women in the bicycle lane on the northbound side of PCH when they were struck.
...
The lawsuit alleged that the road was unsafe because the bike lane was too wide -- possibly causing drivers to mistake it for another lane -- and improperly marked.


I wonder if this could be do to the fact that A) It's a bicycle lane, not a sidewalk and b) another lane, you mean for vehicles like bicycles?

I know the article says that they had had problems with people driving in the bike lane there, so I guess I can see their reasoning for suing the city, not the multiple offending hit and run drunk driver who hit them, I guess I'm, taking offense to the way the article is worded, and that the women were jogging in the bike lane. It does suck that they were hit.



FuzzBeast
11.28.07 - 4:32 am

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regardless of pedestrians not being able to use the bike lane for jogging or whatever ITS A FUCKING SOLID WHITE LINE. YOU DO NOT CROSS SOLID LINES WHEN YOU ARE DRIVING. THATS LIKE ONE OF THE SIMPLEST RULES IN THE GUIDEBOOK.



ruinedbyidiots
11.28.07 - 8:53 am

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As part of the settlement, the city had to add concrete barriers to further protect bicyclists and pedestrians.

I wonder if this is good or bad.
It's good if the city has to do more to secure bike lanes, it's bad if the city is only liable because it provided bike lanes in the first place.

No bike lanes, no liability.





marino
11.28.07 - 10:57 am

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Now someone needs to win a lawsuit against a city for NOT providing a bike lane on a main route that needs one. That would put the onus on municipalities to do what they should and support bikes as real transportation.




adamthelizard
11.28.07 - 11:29 am

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also, having ridden that section on the LA-->SD ride, it sucks. The barriers make the lane narrow as fuck, and hard to pass anyone, also, debris and dirt collects in there, and as it is no longer roadway, it doesnt get removed by car passage, wind or street cleaning, so instead of a solid white line and the 1 in a million chance of being hit by a car, you get a 1 in 50 chance of a flat, a pretty good chance to fall because of loose grit on the road, and no way to avoid a rider crashing in front of you.
The worst thing about this case is, it sounds like a case of deep pockets. The drunk that hit them is no where near as rich as the city, which garnered them nearly 50 milliion dollars. When in fact it was the drunk's fault, not the bike lane being "too wide"



FuzzBeast
11.28.07 - 12:51 pm

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A) runners should be running against traffic, not along with traffic flow

B) cyclists go along with traffic flow

C) it sucks for anyone to get hit, regardless of the above statements...



adrian
11.28.07 - 1:01 pm

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This was poorly marked bike lane. We have the exact same thing here in LB. The only difference is that hardly anyone rides the bike or jogs on this section and in this part of town. It's a solid white line with very little marking to point out that it's a bike lane. Really an awful piece of traffic engineering in my opinion.



User1
11.28.07 - 1:07 pm

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From what I recall, the douche nozzle that hit the ladies was DRUNK. As FUZZ stated, he was also a repeat offender. Regardless of bike lane being too wide or poorly designed, this (_0_) a**hole clearly did some damage. I suppose it's another issue and over my head. It kind of upsets me that personal accountability is taking a vacation these days.

R



NEWB310
11.28.07 - 9:39 pm

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Not only was the driver drunk, after hitting the women, he high tailed it, parked his car in a neighborhood, walked home and then called the cops to report his car stolen.
They were able to see through that smoke screen pretty fast. What a sorry excuse for a human being.

As far as Long beach streets go, there are very few you can ride cross town east to west. All the major streets turn into curb to curb car lanes west of the airport. No bike lane, no shoulder space at all. Shame shame shame on the city "planners".



Creative Thing
11.28.07 - 10:01 pm

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