BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I know the cyclist and he's OK - no major injuries.

Does anyone know if a police report was filed?

No, but since it was on the news and they said the cyclist was taken to the hospital I would suspect that it was.

@rachel_ding - very happy to hear the cyclist is OK. Thanks for posting the info.

Sad it happened and of course I hope the cyclist is okay. 2AM in the Strip on a Friday night is... well about as bad as it could get. Most going to Primanti's to try and sober up. As a cyclist, one should not only ride with great caution, you need a mirror to know what is coming up behind you. Most don't like those, but if you are going to ride when the bars close, you can't just follow basic traffic law and hope for the best. You need to be aware of all cars all around you. Tons of drunks and you are not going to change that. It is up to us to understand we can be hit with ease at some a time of night, not to mention it being a Friday. Please exercise caution.

GG, quit blaming the victim, you don't know if he had a mirror or if a mirror would have helped in this situation. I'm glad however that you do, and that you don't have to strain your neck to look behind you while you ride.

I think gg was just dispensing some useful advice, not blaming the victim.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/bicyclist-injured-hit-and-run-liberty-avenue/nSpzw/

^ Ugh. Liberty @ Herron again. When can this intersection get some love? (Not that it would fix drunken inattentive driving....but...)

yeah... don't see how that is "blaming the victim."

We don't know details, but we do know that it was 2am on a Friday night in an area loaded with drunks. We also know that it was dark out.

There's nothing wrong with pointing out ways to counter-balance the risk in riding a bike under those conditions.

I don't know where exactly this happened (and, apparently, neither did the WPXI video person who did the shoot). But if we assume that the biker was going up on Liberty towards Bloomfield, I do know the following:

1) The bike-lane lines uphill from the intersection are pretty much gone (well, if you're a biker you can kinda see the shadows).

2) We *really* need some sharrows leading up to that intersection. I'd like to see them start at 31st (or at least 32nd).

Does white paint on the ground protect bicyclists from drivers who run the bicyclists over and leave the scene?

I "feel" (sorry) like sharrows and bike lane marking are really only effective as driver enlightenment devices. They definitely can change the mindset and reinforce the message of "bikes belong" and "share the road" for some of the drivers.

But seriously, no authority enforces them. Ever see anybody get a ticket for obstructing one? Or driving in one?

It's not a physical boundary. That little bit of paint doesn't make anybody safe, and it's a cheap and easy way for cities to declare themselves bike-friendly without actually becoming bike-safe.

Sorry. rant-off.

The wpxi story says Liberty @ Herron. Isn't this where Dan was hit by the Jeep? It's the curvy street that drops down from Polish Hill. I've also seen this intersection described as Lawrenceville and Bloomfield.

Story says Liberty & Herron---which is, roughly, where Dan was hit. Photo is Liberty & 28th, though.

I obviously wasn't "blaming the victim". Goodness, stop searching for it. I am just saying please be careful at the hour most bars close on a Friday/Saturday night. There is NO f'n blame towards they poor chap that got hit. Just trying to not hear about it again. Following the laws of the road aren't quite the same at 2AM on a weekend. Defense is your best bet even if you are driving a car or for that matter walking.

Anyway, I do hope he is okay and I also hope this gets resolved.

@Vannevar: No, signage does not automatically compel drivers to do the right thing. They're human, after all. But drivers do generally pay attention to such things (speaking as an occasional driver).

And in the aftermath of an accident it helps to establish the fact that the driver culpably neglected to observe the signage, and that the biker was within bounds.

@Ahlir: Yes, that's quite right.

There are two things that are going to solve this issue. A redesign of Liberty Ave through the Strip and into Lawrenceville so that it's harder to speed, and two greater enforcement namely via traffic cameras at intersections throughout the city that catch people regardless of whether or not there's an officer present.

Btw, a coworker told me about this, I wasn't sure where to post it. 109mph and drunk, on Penn ave.

http://foresthills-regentsquare.patch.com/articles/woman-waives-hearing-on-dui-charges-hitting-109-mph-on-penn-avenue

^ Wow, glad she was caught. I hope they confirmed ownership of the vehicle. Don't normally see too many audis parking near the Wilkinsburg P.O.

Wow, I feel I am a careful cyclist, but if a car is running at over 100 mph behind me, I don't think I would be able to hope the curb in time. I hope that is a one time thing. Wow, I keep thinking I am pretty prepared, but maybe I am not as prepared as I think. I do watch closely and listen closely. It is amazing what we as cyclists can hear when riding. I know I would have heard that Audi, because when you are hearing someone speeding, it is pretty obvious, but wow. Over 100! I have never encountered that speed. Yes, about 80mph over the Highland Park Bridge happens, but I don't ride on it anymore after a near death experience.

if only there were a large roadway that cyclists could use to go from the strip district to the bike lanes on liberty or on up to oakland that no one but sober city approved drivers are allowed to use.

oh wait, there is.

glad to hear the cyclist is ok though!

In 35 years of driving, I don't think I've ever hit 100 mph, and the couple of times I was in the 90 range, it was on an interstate. Penn Avenue? Even in my younger, wilder days, I got weirded out doing 45 on Penn.

At close to 110 mph, you're covering 160 feet each second. The distance from the corner of Penn and Braddock, to the spot where James Price was hit, is about 500 feet, about 3 seconds at this travel speed. So, even if you heard a car coming, you still wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time.

What's amazing here is that she managed NOT to kill anyone, despite going that fast through a congested area.

She didn't even have her lights on. I get nervous going the speed limit on Penn. She's lucky she didn't go airborne at one of the intersections.

Sucks about the guy who was hit. Hope he is doing well. Two bike crashes, one major car crash where one of the vehicles flipped. Who knows how many other minor crashes. I wonder what it will take to fix it.

There is only one way to fix the problem. Enforcing the speed limits. Problem is, only state police can use radar I guess. How can police enforce with no tools? The speeds people are traveling are too fast for conditions. Bad for us.

Obviously, we need infrastructure. Someone needs to take a look at where people who ride bikes live, and where they want to go, and make sure they can get there safely. There is no safe route between Oakland and downtown, no safe route between the universities and the places where students live, no safe route home from the Strip, etc. It is really amazing that we have as many people cycling as we do, given the situation.

I was talking with the former traffic engineer of the city yesterday (they laid off him and a lot of other people years ago; since then we haven't had a traffic engineer working for the city) and he pointed out that the design of the Boulevard of the Allies entrance in Oakland precludes bike access. PA law requires Penn DOT to "consider" bike access in all construction. And they did consider it, so they were able to check that off in the planning. They just didn't do anything about it.

We need, at the very minimum, laws requiring new road construction to include safe bike access.

The article said they knew she was doing 109 because she was timed going through a speed trap.

while i agree with everything you just said, the city has had a full time traffic engineer for the past few years

erok -- I was misinformed.

it's cool. there was a long time where there wasn't one tho

The speed trap could have been vascar which I have heard is not the best. Or maybe it was one of the signs that show your speed. Anyway, I know I would feel very relaxed and comfortable on our streets if people actually drove the city speed limit of 25mph. I think the real speed people drive is around 40mph. That is a huge difference for cyclists on the road.

As far as infrastructure, that is a tough one and costs a lot of money. For some reason the city doesn't seem to want it. For example, when riding a bike down Butler Street from the 62nd St. Bridge towards Lawrenceville, why is there no bike lane? That road is a huge free for all and there is a ton of room, yet nothing for us. Not even a white line showing drivers it isn't meant to be a two lane highway. If the city was looking out for us, they would at least paint a stinking white line showing that the road is ONE lane! What about up through the zoo? There is room for a bike lane and there is also NO parking on that street, so it is great for us. Why no lane?

@gg Wow, I feel I am a careful cyclist, but if a car is running at over 100 mph behind me, I don't think I would be able to hope the curb in time.

Cars going that fast make a distinctive sound. A couple times I've heard it (well, maybe not THAT fast, but well over 70 on Forbes, say). I don't even take time to look over my shoulder, just head to the curb. People who have seen this have laughed at me hiding behind trees or parked cars. Sometimes the threat isn't even heading in my direction.

No matter. In the 0.9 seconds it takes to look over my shoulder, the woman on Penn would have traveled 144 feet and I move maybe 15 feet towards safety. I can handle being laughed at if, say, she turns two blocks before she would have passed me.

The first few times I rode on the jail trail, it was nerve-wracking, because you hear that sound there all the time. Now, when I ride that trail, I take a second to consciously calibrate my listening.

Getting off the jail trail, I need to be more conscientious about RE-calibrating.