FLCC> FW: crushing of local cyclist
Bill Goffe
goffe at oswego.edu
Tue Oct 23 14:18:11 EDT 2007
On "claimed he didn't see" it might be a case of "inattentional
blindness." Clearly I wasn't there, but this is a fairly common phenomena
and I'd like to think that not everyone is that mendacious.
One writeup is http://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/inattentionalblindness.html .
The one about the airliner flying into the ground is apparently a classic example.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inattentional_blindness describes how people
missed a person in a gorilla suit in a film as they were looking for
something else.
It would appear that the take-home message for cyclists is to be extra
careful.
- Bill
Alex said:
> 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, "vehicles over 6,000 pounds are restricted from
> many [1]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
> [2]weight of a [3]road [4]vehicle or trailer that is loaded, including the
> weight of the vehicle itself plus [5]fuel, [6]passengers, [7]cargo, and
> [8]trailer tongue weight." In the [9]United States, two important GVWR
> limitations are 6,000 [10]pounds (2,721 [11]kg) and 8,500 pounds (3,856
> kg).
>
> Andy Bowers suggests in a [12]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
> involved in Friday's accident--is just under the 6000 pound GRWR
> threshold.
>
>
> [13]NYS's limits on vehicle weights appear to be very liberal. The weight on a single wheel "shall be not more
>
> than eleven thousand two hundred pounds." That'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
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Does the Town or City of Ithaca have any weight limits? Engineer Tom West
> of the City of Ithaca told me today he didn't know of any, but he will
> check. I have found a limitation of truck weights to 5 tons in parts of
> [14]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 Friday'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.
>
> Friday'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 Attorney's Office how much investigation went into the driver'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
> Attorney'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 victim's weight, size, and density without the impact
> shock being clearly noticeable to a driver?
>
> If California's major cities already have 6000 pound weight limits for
> most of their roads, why shouldn'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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>
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>
> References
>
> Visible links
> 1. City
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City
> 2. Weight
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight
> 3. Road
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road
> 4. Vehicle
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle
> 5. Fuel
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel
> 6. Passenger
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger
> 7. Cargo
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo
> 8. Trailer
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer
> 9. United States
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
> 10. Pound (mass)
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_%28mass%29
> 11. Kilogram
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilogram
> 12. http://slate.com/id/2104755/
> 13. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS
> 14. http://fhia.org/events/truckcount.htm
> 15. mailto:FLCC at icycle.org
> 16. http://icycle.org/mailman/listinfo/flcc_icycle.org
> 17. http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/index.htm?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000970
> _______________________________________________
> FLCC mailing list
> FLCC at icycle.org
> http://icycle.org/mailman/listinfo/flcc_icycle.org
--
*------------------------------------------------------*
| Bill Goffe goffe at oswego.edu |
| Department of Economics voice: (315) 312-3444 |
| SUNY Oswego fax: (315) 312-5444 |
| 416 Mahar Hall http://cook.rfe.org |
| Oswego, NY 13126 |
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| "Retreat? Hell, we just got here." |
| -- Captain Lloyd William, U.S. Marine Corps, on the suggestion of |
| retreating French soldiers that his Marines retreat as well at the |
| Battle of Belleau Wood on June 4, 1918. "The First World War," John |
| Keegan, p. 407. |
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