I had a lovely time riding the bike to work on Thursday, but across town, on routes that I have ridden many times, but TWO cyclists were struck by inattentive cars with inattentive people driving them. One cyclist was struck head-on and killed by a 78-year-old driver close to the Sandia Casino on Tramway. The driver of the offending car said he "just blacked out" and didn't see the cyclist. Sounds like a great defense for not paying attention while driving to me. No charges were filed, in keeping with long standing tradition concerning car-bicycle accidents.
The other victim was crossing an intersection on Indian School passing Washington, when a 19-year old female driver ran a red light and crushed him and his bicycle. She hesitated for a moment and then proceeded on her merry way, leaving the cyclist to be rescued by other passers-by who called 911 and got him to the hospital. His skull is damaged and he's had parts of his brain removed and is in serious condition with multiple injuries. Police found the offending driver only about a mile away and ticketed her for RUNNING THE LIGHT. No charges were filed concerning striking the cyclist nor for leaving the scene of an accident. Again, in accordance with long standing tradition of favoring the larger, motorized vehicle over a slower smaller vehicle. Or pedestrian.
The only good thing resulting from these incidents is a sudden rash of publicity about the dangers of distracted driving and the fact that bike riding will only continue to increase with the whopping cost of driving a car, and that drivers need to slow down and PAY ATTENTION. My driving habits have admittedly changed these last several years since I started regular bike riding.... I'm constantly thinking "What if a cyclist pops up here?" When I punch the radio buttons or look at my position on the GPS I worry about looking away from the road too long, because it only takes a few seconds to overtake a cyclist or other slow or non-moving object
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