Hey all. Just wanted to update you on this whole story. I was the cyclist involved with the red Cadillac yesterday. I was riding down Holcomb lane and she was not paying attention and made a quick left turn in front of me. I had no time to react and hit the right side front quarter panel and went into the wind shield and up and over to the other side. I would not be sitting here writing this email if I did not have a helmet on. My helmet is what impacted the windshield first and completely shattered it. I actually pulled pieces of glass out of it this morning. The helmet cracked in many places but stayed in tact. Paying $200 for a Giro helmet is a small price to pay.

Luckily no broken bones but had some issues with my leg that required surgery. Should be out in a few days hopefully.


Matt Davis

marian wrote:

There's a recent article in Bicycling Magazine about
this kind of thing. It focuses on cyclists in
California, so it hits pretty close to home. There's
a number of organizations that have been formed by
cyclists in response to this kind of thing. The
article's depressing and scary, but on the subject, so
here's a link that I hope will work. If not it's on
bicycling.com and the article, I believe, is titled
"Broken."

http://www.bicycling.com/article/1,6610,s1-3-12-16637-1,00.html

Marian

--- William Still <wstill@gmail.com> wrote:

> My friend was struck riding down 7th street a few
> years back in a hit and
> run. He managed to get the license plate number and
> phoned the police.
> When an officer finally arrived at our house, he
> inspected the destroyed
> bike and saw the cuts and bruises my friend
> sustained and took my friend
> over to the address of the driver. You would think
> that a hit and run would
> be considered a dramatic infringement upon the law,
> but the officer told the
> driver to simply "pay more attention" and that was
> that. No repercussions
> of any kind for the driver and, yet, my friend could
> have been killed and
> was out a wheelset for his road bike. I would say
> that the officer failed
> miserably in his duty to "protect and serve," but
> this is not the only case
> of police incompetence. It seems, unless a gun is
> involved, policemen just
> don't give a crap. My father was a firefighter for
> years and had many
> contacts in the police department back home and said
> that officers really
> don't care about these kinds of incidents. They
> have to fill out so much
> paperwork that they simply don't bother reporting
> many of these smaller
> crimes. I have grown up knowing that if you ever
> need a police officer
> ASAP, simply tell the dispatcher "I think he has a
> gun" and you will have a
> dozen cops there in a few minutes. Otherwise, good
> luck! Don't know how to
> change the mentality of drivers and law enforcement
> officials in this town.
> My experience has been such that Reno is one of the
> worst bike commuting
> towns I have ever been in. Few bike lanes, fewer
> routes away from vehicles
> and drivers who range from incompetent to malicious.
> That's my two cents
> worth. William Still
>
> On Dec 6, 2007 9:35 AM, Darren Seltzer
> <pilotstud64@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Hello All.
> > This email is merely a rant, there is no
> 'timely'/critical information, so
> > you can delete now, or read on if you would like
> to know more.
> >
> > I was watching the morning news (rare that I am up
> that early) and saw a
> > clip on an elderly lady who hit a cyclist
> yesterday. The footage showed the
> > horrifically cracked windshield of the red, 2
> door, late model Cadillac
> > (shocking huh?). The cyclist was said to have a
> few major injuries, and
> > that he was wearing a helmet. The only other
> information I know is the lady
> > was cited for a "failure to yield" violation.
> >
> > If you are still reading...I had read on velonews
> of a forum (link
> > below) by an attorney, who thought there is a huge
> bias against cyclists in
> > both the driving/police enforcement communities.
> Mr. Mionske quotes many
> > incidents (including one in Incline not too long
> ago) where many cyclists
> > have been hit/and or killed, and then to find the
> driver rarely cited, even
> > when the situation dictates pure driver error.
> You can read the link below:
> >
> > http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/13637.0.html
> >
> > Finally to my question: For the Reno cycling
> community, has anyone
> > personally felt/seen a bias against cyclists? I
> would also like to ask
> > anyone with any legal background, how/why do these
> motorists only receive a
> > slap on the wrist for injuring or even worse,
> killing a cyclist?
> >
> > Thank you if you have read this far. I believe we
> all know as cyclists
> > there are inherent risks in our sport, but there
> should be greater
> > consequences for motorists who injure/kill
> cyclists, just as a motorist to
> > motorist fatality (vehicular manslaughter). I
> apologize if I seem a bit
> > heated, it's just that these incidents arise quite
> frequently, more than
> > they should. Thanks again everyone!
> >
> > PS-if anyone has any information on the cyclist I
> heard of this morning,
> > please let me know.
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
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> >
>

Forget most, remember some, but don't turn none away.

-Townes Van Zandt

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