FLCC> FW: crushing of local cyclist
Bill Goffe
goffe at oswego.edu
Tue Oct 23 21:18:26 EDT 2007
Ironically earlier today I came across a study that found that the more
cyclists there are on the road the safer that road is for cyclists:
Safety in numbers: more walkers and bicyclists, safer walking and
bicycling, P L Jacobsen, Inj Prev 2003;9:205-209,
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/9/3/205 .
They say that this result is "unexpected" but it seems very plausible to me
given this discussion.
I came across this reading "Will Bicycling to Work Get You Killed?"
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/will-bicycling-to-work-get-you-killed/ (it also describes a plus side to bike commuting).
- Bill
Wayne said:
> Inattentional blindness (if it is a real thing)
> certainly provides a good reason to urge more people
> to bike commute. A single person on the road is much
> more likely to be overlooked (and hit) than if there
> were bikers every 100 feet or so. If I were eloquent,
> I would simply write a letter to the journal
> encouraging people to ride. If someone starts a
> scandle, they're much more likely to print it. In
> fact, if we could somehow write it in a way that it's
> critical of the highschool or DeWitt Middle School,
> it's sure to get published. Cynically yours, Wayne
>
> --- Bill Goffe <goffe at oswego.edu> wrote:
>
> > 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
> >
> === message truncated ===
>
>
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--
*------------------------------------------------------*
| 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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| "But it doesn't do it justice -- the loss was just so great. I wish |
| people could understand what it was like." |
| -- 83 year-old Carl Orjala, a WW II vet with tears in his eyes, |
| describing the WW II Memorial in Washington DC. He served with a |
| medical unit in the Pacific that treated the wounded. "Without |
| Fanfare, World War II Memorial Opens in Washington," New York Times, |
| April 29, 2004. |
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