In your Recent Victory over an SUV, you have set an example for all of us by
proving that a bicycle CAN take out a vehicle with a weight-ratio of
30-to-1, with both bicycle and cyclist to come through unscathed.

Truly, you are a Hero to the Cause and an Inspiration to Us All.

To top this you are going to either have to take out a Train or an
Airplane... Please let us know if there will be any sort of ceremony, when
you Carve a new Notch in your Bike. Perhaps we could Shower you with Leis at
the next mass...

Congratulations, and Merry Christmas!

Yours in Victory

-Matt

>From: "Duane D. Browning" <ddb1965@...>
>Reply-To: hawaiibicyclists@yahoogroups.com
>To: Critical Mass <criticalmasshonolulu@...>, hawaiibicyclists
><hawaiibicyclists@yahoogroups.com>
>CC: Hawaii Bicycling League <bicycle@...>
>Subject: [hawaiibicyclists] Accident at Merchant & Richards (12-14-05)
>Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 22:30:40 -0800 (PST)
>
>Before anyone starts screaming that a bicyclist caused an accident at
>Merchant and Richards today, let me set the recored straight:
>
> I was the cyclist involved, in case you didnt know yet.
>
> While doing my rounds for Crosstown Couriers, I rode down Merchant
>Street in order to get to the Richards Street intersection so I could turn
>down Richards to get to a client's office to make a pick-up.
>
> I passed by a gold SUV, on its righthand side and made my turn. I was
>riding in the parking lane on the far right side. The portion of this lane
>outside the golf shop is a No Parking zone, though you will often see
>vehicles parked there for assorted reasons. People going to the golf shop,
>the Post Office, etc. Basically, people park there, do a quick errand and
>then leave. After the No Parking zone, there is on-street parking
>available.
>
> After making the turn, I saw the SUV in my peripheral vision and glanced
>over my left shoulder to see it coming right at me. My thought was "The
>driver wants to park in front of the golf shop." So, I kept moving, though
>a little faster, so the SUV could park and not hit me. I manuevered to get
>to the left side of a parked car, so I could pass it and keep going.
>
> Remember: I am still riding in the parking lane, not in the open road.
>
> I could feel the heat from the SUV on my back - a combination of the sun
>reflecting off the car and the heat of its engine - so I knew the car was
>very close to me, perhaps 6 inches to a foot off my back tire.
>
> As I was about to pass the parked car, I heard a loud crash behind me.
>The SUV had jumped the curb, knocked-down a bike rack and several newspaper
>stands, slammed into the brick wall of the golf shop and come to a halt.
>The driver's door was jammed shut, since the SUV had come to a halt right
>next to a street sign.
>
> The SUV was at a right angle to the golf shops Richards Street wall.
>Inside the golf shop, three racks filled with golf clubs came flying,
>luckily no one inside the shop was injured by these projectiles. The brick
>wall was cracked, however.
>
> For the SUV to have come to a rest at such an angle would have required
>the vehicle to have turned 180 degrees, now facing the opposite direction
>from which it exited Merchant Street.
>
> Until the driver turned toward me, I was never in the SUV's path. She
>did not have to turn to avoid me, as I was never in front of her.
>
> What I think happened was: the woman exited Merchant and hit the gas.
>She pulled the steering wheel too far to the right and sent the SUV in a
>180 degree turn and into the wall. Going too fast, she could not stop in
>time to prevent the accident and there were no skid marks in the path of
>her vehicle. The golf shop owner is certain, due to the angle that she hit
>his wall, that the driver had, instead, exited the parking lot fronting the
>Post Office, made the illegal turn and lost control of her SUV, perhaps
>accidentally hitting the gas instead of the brake. Despite me telling him
>that she had made the legal turn from Merchant, he seemed unconvinced. The
>owner of the golf shop is not mad at me or holding me responsible for the
>accident in any way.
>
> The driver told HPD that she had swerved to avoid me, but that is
>impossible. I had passed her on the right and was riding in the parking
>lane and was approaching a parked car from behind. For her to require
>swerving to avoid me, I would have to have crossed her path from the left
>and she would have been on my righthand side. But, she never was. From the
>turn, until I saw her coming toward over my left shoulder, she was always
>always on my left.
>
> That is what happened from where I saw it.
>
> DUANE
>
>
>Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to
>support Ovarian Cycle 2006!
>
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