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it now)
Subject:
BIKE: Bicyclist injured in collision with bus on
Guadalupe
Date: 11/4/00 2:15
AM
From: Michael
Bluejay
To:
austin-bikes@topica.com
From the (Wednesday) Daily
Texan
Bicyclist injured in
collision with bus on Guadalupe
Bicyclist Anneke Pfister, 28,
was admitted to Brackenridge Hospital after
a 10:51 a.m. collision Tuesday
with a northbound Capital Metro Route 1
bus at the corner of Guadalupe
and 26th streets. Pfister suffered injury
after the rear of the bus
rolled over her legs. Pfister remains in fair
condition.
By Julie Nolen
Daily Texan Staff
A bicyclist was in fair
condition at Brackenridge Hospital Tuesday
evening after a Capital Metro
bus ran over her legs as it drove north on
Guadalupe .
At 10:51 a.m., 28-year-old
Anneke Pfister's bicycle handlebars grazed the
side of the North Lamar bus,
causing her to fall into its path, said
Laura Albrecht, a spokeswoman
for the Austin Police Department.
Both were traveling north at
the intersection of Dean Keeton and
Guadalupe Streets when the
accident happened, Albrecht said.
Pfister was injured on a
portion of Guadalupe where there is no bicycle
lane.
Heather Meed, an English
freshman who called 911, said she didn't see the
accident happen but did see
Pfister immediately afterward.
"I couldn't see much ... but I
saw her shoe fly off and ran over and
called 911," Meed said. "She
kept yelling, 'My leg, my leg, I can't move
my leg.'"
Another witness, Lisa Gindy, a
nursing sophomore, said APD, the Austin
Fire Department and Emergency
Medical Services responded quickly.
Pfister was transported to
Brackenridge Hospital. The extent of her leg
injuries was not available
Tuesday night.
Sylvia Lemberski, a biology
senior who was on the bus when Pfister was
injured, said the bus driver
didn't realize he had hit Pfister.
"When this woman told him he
had hit her, he said, 'I didn't hit her,'"
Lemberski said. "I don't think
he knew."
Brian Roe, Capital Metro's
public relations manager, said the driver was
sent home for the day and will
be required to undergo drug and alcohol
testing as part of their
standard procedure. An APD investigation is
ongoing.
Rebecca Beard, an advertising
junior and bicyclist, said Guadalupe is a
dangerous street on which to
ride.
"They say no biking on the
sidewalk, but there's no bike lane. Where are
we supposed to go?" Beard said.
"We're not a car, we can't do the same
things a car can do we're too
small."
While Guadalupe has a bicycle
lane along part of its length, it only
extends from Martin Luther King
Jr. Boulevard to 24th Street.
Linda DuPriest, bicycle and
pedestrian coordinator for the City of Austin
Public Works and Transportation
Services, said there is not enough room
on Guadalupe to extend existing
bicycle lanes.
"We'd have to take out the
sidewalks in front of those businesses or run
into the UT buildings,"
DuPriest said. "It's just not physically
possible."
DuPriest added that there are
alternate routes with bicycle lanes to
escape the heavy traffic of
Guadalupe , such as Rio Grande Street and
Speedway.
"If nothing else, you can get
off your bike and walk on the sidewalk,"
DuPriest said.
DuPriest added that Capital
Metro bus drivers have been responsible
drivers and are good about
driving around bicyclists near campus.
Roe said Capital Metro
implemented a bicycle- and pedestrian-safety
program that has reduced
bicycle accidents 54 percent since March.
The program teaches drivers how
to anticipate the reactions of bicyclists
and pedestrians by assessing
road conditions like a bicyclist would. The
program was created in
cooperation with the Texas Bicycle Coalition.
Roe added that the Texas
Chapter of Public Risk Management Association is
awarding Capital Metro a Risk
Management Achievement Award for the
program this week.
"Our drivers need to understand
they're sharing the roads with
pedestrians and cyclists," said
Mark Ostertag, Capital Metro's safety
coordinator, in a statement.
"We want to make sure they understand what
