Cyclists at Risk for Bicycle Accident Injury

Brownsville, TXWriting about bicycle accident injury is a tough one, because on this subject there are more often than not two sides to every bike accident story. Tragic, too because more and more people are riding bicycles for all the right reasons. But whenever there is a bicycle accident, there is usually at least one of the parties who is grossly at fault.

Beyond that however is the open warfare that often exists between the cyclist, and the motorist. It's almost an 'it's-you-or-me' scenario.

In Texas earlier this month, three college kids were riding their bikes late at night when they were struck by an SUV coming the other way. It appears as if the SUV had the right-of-way, in that it was traveling in the correct direction, and proceeding uphill along a one-way street. It appears as if the cyclists were proceeding downhill, in the opposite direction. The three cyclists were knocked from their bikes, and the lead cyclist was killed. It is not known if they were wearing helmets, or if their bikes were equipped with lights.

Cyclists who ride at night without lights, who refuse to wear a helmet or never bother with hand signals are the bane of motorists. The very advantage of a bicycle—agility and maneuverability—can often drive a motorist to distraction if those attributes are flaunted. Bicycles are great for getting around in a major city, for example—and there's no better way to circumvent a traffic jam, than on a bicycle. But motorists will tell you that too many cyclists are not acting responsibly on the road. There are no hand signals used, and cyclists routinely cut in front of slow-moving cars.

Responsible cyclists, who cycle for fitness or as a means of commuting with a reduced environmental footprint, have all the gear, know the rules of the road and use them. However, there are careless Charlies in every camp and the cycling community is no different. Riding on a busy city street cannot be handled the same way as riding along a lonely dirt road.

But then, the motorists have some explaining to do, too.

Late last week an arrest was made in the cycling death of a Brownsville woman after she was struck and killed by a car in the wee hours of September 11th of this year in Brownsville, Texas.

Carmen Quezada Gonzalez, 52, had been making a habit of taking early-morning rides for fitness with her daughter-in-law Tara Amara Gonzalez, 23. It is not known if the women chose night riding due to reduced traffic on the road, or if it was a matter of scheduling. Nonetheless, the two women were out riding on West Elizabeth Street at 2:20am on the morning in question, when they were struck by a car driven by Juan Picazo, 24.

The younger woman sustained only minor injuries. Carmen however wasn't so lucky. She was transported to Valley Baptist Medical Center, but died from injuries sustained in the bike accident. It is not known if she might have survived had she benefited from more rapid medical attention. At 2:20am, there would be few people milling about, and getting help would take precious minutes the more seriously injured cyclist may not have had to spare.

Especially when the driver who hit them, simply drove away. More than a month after the accident happened, Picazo was tracked down and admitted to the incident.

That's the other side of the bicycle accident injury issue—motorists who act irresponsibly around cyclists. Even though bicycles are allowed on most major thoroughfares with the possible exception of multi-lane highways, sometimes drivers go out of their way to make the lives of responsible cyclists miserable.

This writer is an avid cyclist, who cycles for fitness and also, on many days, to work. I wear a helmet, I have a light and a bell, and I observe the rules of the road. And yet there have been close calls. One day I was riding down a less-traveled paved road down by the municipal airport when I heard a vehicle approach from behind. There was no oncoming traffic, which meant the vehicle approaching to my rear would have the opportunity to swerve and arc left into the oncoming lane, briefly, as he passed me cycling in the same direction, to the driver's right.

However, instinctively I ran my mountain bike off onto the soft shoulder. Good thing I did, too. The SUV that passed me at a high rate of speed not only didn't bother to give me additional room, but the driver had stowed a long piece of two-by-four inside the cabin, the end of which protruded a couple of feet out the passenger window. Had I not drifted off to the side I would have been decapitated. The helmet would not have helped, and the bike accident would have proved fatal.

Other times I have been riding in the same direction of traffic, at the outer edge of the outside lane of a four-lane city arterial. On several occasions drivers have simply refused to migrate into the inside lane to afford me a wider berth. Instead, they choose to stay where they are and sail past me with inches to spare—and sometimes not even that. I have felt the tickle of sheet metal on the hairs of my leg.

Accidents do happen, with often-tragic results. And just as there are irresponsible drivers, there are also irresponsible cyclists. However, as both a driver and cyclist I can tell you that there have been many more instances where I have almost been mowed down by a car while riding responsibly, than when I have been inconvenienced by a cyclist while driving.

I'm reminded of a journalist colleague who was an avid environmentalist. She rode her bike everywhere. This is a person who would ride for two hours to conduct an interview, and then ride two hours home.

She was riding home from such an interview along a highway, when she was struck and killed by a motorist who simply wasn't paying attention.

I don't know if her family sued with regard to that bicycle accident, but I hope they did.