Intersection near my house a cycler & PU beet at a cross road of a bike trail & street intersection. PU looking left going to turn R, he pulls out, biker hit front of PU, she's going about 25 to 30 mph. Up & over the hood , several broken bones, bike bent up, she ends up in the other lane. Was wearing a helmet, was conscious when I was there. Bike trail was going the wrong way for the driver to see her , when he had a clear ROW to turn, he pulls out & he & the biker meet. AK Troopers says it was the biker's fault. IMO, better to ride the shoulder than ride the bike trails going the wrong way of traffic.
I ride by that location a lot. So it's a wake-up reminder, eye contact with the driver is key if you are going to go in front of them. Almost every driver here, when our eyes meet at similar intersections, motions me to go thru. I do same when driving , Ak rules are basic Ride the shoulders & go with the traffic direction. stay on the shoulder or on the right side of the lane. Follow the same driving rules for vehicles . Many of the so called bike trails are more like pedestrian trails, not made for riding a bike at any fast speed. Not designed for bikes to have the ROW like many might think. Vehicle always stopping right on the trails at intersections. When biking, ride the shoulders IMO is just safer.
Tough luck for that rider. Pickups vs bicycle riders never seems to turn out well. Glad everyone survived.
Should be more traffic signage. Either a stop sign for the bike trail or move the stop sign for automobiles back. Hope she fares well.
Trying to find local information on the accident. Nothing I could find online yet, probably be after the weekend.
There are a few trails around here. Closest one is about 15 miles from us. Some ask me if I ride the trails. NO. I ride on the roads. I see people load bikes on their cars then drive to the trails. Why not ride the bike to the trail? Sad to hear any time a bike accident.
I agree with the troopers calling it her fault. She hit him, he was in his lane, she was speeding through an intersection & on the wrong side of the road. Can tell some engineer who designed the road side trails they call bike trails, knows squat about biking/cycling. Some are down right DANGEROUS & set up to get you run over ! Got a few good trails here, but I feel much safer riding the shoulders. When on the good paved trails, it is fun to go miles with no traffic Some of our roads have 4 ' - 6' shoulders, real comfortable to cycle on. them The few that have none , I avoid a much as I can. Most of the road edges have been swept of the sand & gravel from winter, & now the paint crews are out painting the road lines. Nice fresh painted white shoulder lines. Good warm 65°+ weather coming . Trees all nice & green, & flowers blooming. Gonna be good riding.
Sounds good Dave. One of my wishes is to go into Shenandoah NP and head south. Right out of the park you get on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Somewhere around 500 miles with no stop signs or traffic lights! We've traveled it a few times in the motor home but I'd like to ride it some day. It would take more than a few days for me.
