BIKE: Cyclist down on SoCo

[dana_price]

Folks,

I came across the scene of an accident this evening about 10:20 as I was
driving home down S. Congress. This time I was in the car, but Live Oak
and Congress is on my daily bike commute route.

A witness had stopped a car in the center lane near where the man had
fallen and several people were there, including the man's friend. I only
stayed until help arrived because Liam was asleep in the car and I didn't
have any information or skils that would have helped.

The cyclist was unconscious but breathing, and there was blood on the
pavement. It shook me up to see the scene, I guess that's why I felt that
I had to write. Could have been any of us. Though he wasn't wearing a
helmet, the bike had lights- at least, a rear blinkie. I didn't see the
front.

The driver who had hit him had fled the scene.

I'm not going to speculate how it happened- there was at least one person
who says he saw it, so perhaps someone can find the police report.
Sometimes there's something either party could have done to prevent it.

I would like to see us as a cycling community think about some things:
- how can we educate both cyclists and motorists about principles of safe
driving? How can we make cyclist education available to ordinary working
class folks who probably would never consider taking a class or visiting
Michael Bluejay's website.
I would almost prefer having a license or certification for cyclists. I'm
sure this will set folks howling, but it would be one way of teaching
everyone the same rules. I would also like to see drivers have to
correctly answer a test on interacting with non-motorized traffic before
getting a license or renewal. The TX licensing system does nothing to
educate drivers about the rights of alternative transportation users.
- Rather than trying to teach folks to live with a potentially unsafe
situation, what can be done to make the road system safer? A lot of
studies are done on the causes of auto accidents, can we push for the same
for bike/ped accidents?
Maybe the speed limit on SoCo needs to be lower? After all, it runs right
through neighborhoods and sees a lot of bike/ped traffic. I would like to
see a more concerted challenge to the dominant paradigm that moving cars
quickly is the #1 priority. I don't think traffic on Congress needs to be
going 40.

Sorry for the long post