FLCC> FW: crushing of local cyclist

Tue Oct 23 12:04:50 EDT 2007

maybe its just me, but i dont consider jeep a big SUV....at least not by 
the tahoe, suburban type standards.  i have owned a jeep and i have owned 
the older blazers and an 90's landcruiser and a durango , the jeep was the 
smallest of them.

stan

At 11:37 AM 10/23/2007 -0400, aspec335 at aol.com wrote:
>John, FLCC,
>
>It's probably just coincidence but the two times I was hit in the city 
>were by large Jeep SUVs. On the first occasion, the guy went right through 
>a red light and hit my car in the back, spinning me completely around 
>(claimed he didn't see the red, or any, light). On the second occasion, I 
>was hit while riding my bike to work by someone who turned into me trying 
>to get into a driveway (claimed he didn't see me).
>
>Yesterday, I saw an accident on Meadow street by the Ithaca bakery and, 
>you guessed it, a large Jeep SUV was involved.
>
>Ride safe,
>Alex
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: John Dennis <jvd at baka.com>
>To: flcc at icycle.org; 'Mike Simkin' <mes13 at cornell.edu>
>Sent: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 8:29 pm
>Subject: FLCC> FW: crushing of local cyclist
>
>Hi Mike and the FLCC listserv,
>
>Yes, I was in error in my earlier post to have implied that the driver of 
>the Jeep was at fault, as there was little or nothing first IJ article to 
>warrant such an implication. From the IJ today we learn that witnesses saw 
>the FedeX truck driven into the path of a Jeep Grand Cherokee which had 
>right-of-way.
>
>My point about momentum is that many SUVs are unnecessarily heavy and thus 
>are more prone to cause harm to others when involved in accidents.  Why 
>not complain about this?
>
>According to Wikipedia, â€œvehicles over 6,000 pounds are restricted from 
>many <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City>city roadways in the United States 
>although there is some dispute about whether this restriction is for 
>actual curb weight or for GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating). GVWR is the 
>maximum allowable total <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight>weight of a 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road>road 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle>vehicle or trailer that is loaded, 
>including the weight of the vehicle itself plus 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel>fuel, 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger>passengers, 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo>cargo, and 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer>trailer tongue weight.â€ In the 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States>United States, two important 
>GVWR limitations are 6,000 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_%28mass%29>pounds (2,721 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilogram>kg) and 8,500 pounds (3,856 kg).
>
>Andy Bowers suggests in a <http://slate.com/id/2104755/>2004 article that 
>California has banned big SUVs from many of its roads without realizing 
>it. He claims that many big SUVs are banned from most roads in LA, San 
>Francisco and Santa Monica by pre-SUV laws that banned trucks weighing 
>more than 6000 pounds. Below I have made a table showing the GRWR and curb 
>weights for various 2007 model SUVs and a few 2007 sedans. Note that the 
>Jeep Grand Cherokee—the sedan involveed in Fridayâ€™s accident--is just 
>under the 6000 pound GRWR threshold.
>
>
><http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS>NYSâ€™s 
>limits on vehicle weights appear to be very liberal.  The weight on a 
>single wheel â€œshall be not  more
>   than eleven thousand two hundred pounds.â€ Thatâ€™s the equivalent of 
> an entire H1 Hummer resting on a single wheel.
>
>
>
>Vehicle weights in pounds for 2007 vehicles unless indicated
>
>
>
>factor
>
>
>
>
>GRWR is
>
>
>GRWR
>curb weight
> >6000 lbs
>
>Hummer H1 (2006)
>10,300
>7847
>1.72
>
>Hummer H2
>8600
>6400
>1.43
>
>Lincoln Navigator
>7800
>6008
>1.30
>
>Chevy Tahoe 2008
>7300
>5524
>1.22
>
>Chevy Suburban
>7200
>5505
>1.20
>
>GMC Yukon
>7100
>5635
>1.18
>
>Toyota Land Cruiser
>6925
>5425
>1.15
>
>Toyota Sequoia
>6600
>5140
>1.10
>
>VW Touareg
>6493
>5254
>1.08
>
>Jeep Grand Cherokee
>5900
>4488
>0.98
>
>Hummer H3
>5850
>4700
>0.98
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Toyota Rav4
>4535
>3444
>0.76
>
>Toyota Camry
>
>3680
>
>
>Toyota Corolla
>
>2550
>
>
>Toyota Prius
>
>2890
>
>
>VW Passat
>
>3344
>
>
>VW Beetle
>
>2948
>
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>Does the Town or City of Ithaca have any weight limits?  Engineer Tom West 
>of the City of Ithaca told me today he didnâ€™t know of any, but he will 
>check. I have found a limitation of truck weights to 5 tons in parts of 
><http://fhia.org/events/truckcount.htm>Forest Home.
>
>Would it be out-of-line for cyclists as a group to ask that the Town of 
>Ithaca and the City of Ithaca to impose limits on the size of SUVs allowed 
>on Ithaca streets?  I think not.  For one thing, it would be a show of 
>solidarity with the cyclist, Edward Coil, who was crushed by the Fedex 
>truck as a result of Fridayâ€™s accident. Second, are streets would be 
>safer for everyone, no just cyclists.  Third, our pavements would last 
>longer and there would be less pressure to raise taxes. And fourth, our 
>City and Town would be on record as taking a stand to say, Enough is 
>enough from a sustainable livelihoods perspective.  In this age of global 
>warming that may yet have catastrophic impacts on many millions of people, 
>there is no need to drive to work or to the store or anywhere in a vehicle 
>that weighs over 6000 pounds. Could a ban be imposed on a given street, 
>when a (12,000 lb?) snow plow was allowed to operate on that street. I 
>have no idea!  The latter is an emergency vehicle and the objective of 
>minimizing weight stresses to pavement and the number of heavy vehicles on 
>our streets would still be served.
>
>Fridayâ€™s accident is at least the second fatal SUV-related accident in 
>Ithaca in the past year, is it not?  In an earlier accident on Seneca St., 
>a female pedestrian was fatally run over by an SUV as she crossed the 
>street. The driver of the SUV continued on without stopping.  Police later 
>found him shopping at Home Depot and he apparently denied knowing that he 
>had run over anything.  According to the IJ on-line comment section, the 
>driver received only a traffic citation.
>
>One wonders if members of the community spoke up and asked the police and 
>District Attorneyâ€™s Office how much investigation went into the 
>driverâ€™s claim to have been completely unaware of having hit anything? 
>Was this driver asked to submit to a polygraph or related test?  Did the 
>District Attorneyâ€™s office order simulation tests to be performed to 
>test whether it would be physically possible for an SUV of the model in 
>question to hit a manikin of the victimâ€™s weight, size, and density 
>without the impact shock being clearly noticeable to a driver?
>
>If Californiaâ€™s major cities already have 6000 pound weight limits for 
>most of their roads, why shouldnâ€™t Ithaca pass similar laws?  In our 
>case, however, I would be in favor of there being a clear intent to 
>enforce these laws for both SUVs and commercial trucks (with exceptions 
>for fire trucks, snow plows, garbage trucks and similar service vehicles).
>
>Best,   John
>
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