Common' People SHARE THE ROAD (another bicyclist down)

[Lorrie]

I just found out today, that my landlord was riding his bike last night, on Armstrong, and I forget the name. But, it was one of the streets heading North towards the woods, AND HE GOT HIT BY A CAR THAT DROVE AWAY!!!!

The car was making a turn, not sure of the details but it hit him.

Brian Plaugher is in the freakin' HOSPITAL, with a freaken' BROKEN SHOULDER, POSSIBLY BROKEN COLLAR BONE, or something...and a BASHED IN HEAD!!!~ What the f**K? And can you believe the car drove away and left him there!!!

Now... he will be okay, but why did that have to happen? WHY???

There was a witness to the end of the accident, but, by the time the witness was seeing what was happening and watching Brian eat dirt, then to look at the car after seeing that...well it was too late to see what kind of car or anything... BECAUSE THE CAR DROVE OFF, AWAY...GONE! Who does that?


Nevermind, I'm sure I know.

Okay, I feel the need to refresh a memory or two, about what you, when operating a potentially dangerous weapon should do when coming to a stop sign.

Goes like this:
First you come to a full and complete stop.
Then while stopped you should already be looking to the right.
Then you look to the left. (while stopped)
Then you look to the right again.
When it is completely clear and safe make your turn.

How hard is that? "California Stops"! BAH!!! Its not right! It is not the law! And mostly it is not safe! Not even on deserted roads, less traveled...at night...

I will now admit to all who read and head this message...

I AM S:cussing: DARN PISSED FF RIGHT N:cussing:W!!!

[Willie Lumplump]

Who does that?

Criminals do that. Drug dealers. People who drive without a license or insurance. Kids who lack adult judgment and maybe are too young to drive anyway. Illegal immigrants whose families depend on them for survival. I'm sure the list is long. I keep reiterating the same homily: In matters concerning bicycles and cars, the only laws that count are those of Isaac Newton. The laws of physics just don't allow much mingling of bicycles with vehicles that outweigh them by 100 times. I'd never ride a bicycle on any of the public roads around here. It's just too dangerous. I'd guess that lightweight powered vehicles are somewhat safer because they travel faster; consequently a car's closing time is longer giving the driver more time to react.

[realfire]

I am not a big fan of getting into wacoobb banter/bashing
But i felt compelled to reply to this one and have no intention on going back and forth after this reply.

" Lumping " people into categories of who would do that is just rude and ignorant of any real facts . Hit and runs happen allot . There was a young man killed back in feb on my corner in sebastopol . They are sometimes people who got scared in the moment and later step up to the plate and take responsibility . Often times an older driver may also flee from the scene.
In either case what is the productivity of assuming who did it . How about asking what can we do to make things better . I appreiciate the frustration with such accidents ,but what is so often overlooked is the person who got hurt and what THEY may need or how can WE can make it safer for cyclists ?

that is all for now
sorry lorrie about your friend
what can WE/I DO to help ?

betina

Criminals do that. Drug dealers. People who drive without a license or insurance. Kids who lack adult judgment and maybe are too young to drive anyway. Illegal immigrants whose families depend on them for survival. I'm sure the list is long. I keep reiterating the same homily: In matters concerning bicycles and cars, the only laws that count are those of Isaac Newton. The laws of physics just don't allow much mingling of bicycles with vehicles that outweigh them by 100 times. I'd never ride a bicycle on any of the public roads around here. It's just too dangerous. I'd guess that lightweight powered vehicles are somewhat safer because they travel faster; consequently a car's closing time is longer giving the driver more time to react.

[MsTerry]

I agree Bettina, there are a lot of factors that that aren't mentioned.
what kind of clothing was the cyclist wearing, dark? light?
Did he have a light? reflectors? Where was the cyclist in relation to the side of the road? was he on the right side of the road? what was the weather like? rain? fog? mist?
It only takes a light tap from a car to have a serious fall from a bike.
If the radio was on in the car, they may never have noticed.
Any serious biker assumes that a car is trouble, especially at night.
the roads here are deathtraps for bikers.
Be Aware!

I am not a big fan of getting into wacoobb banter/bashing
But i felt compelled to reply to this one and have no intention on going back and forth after this reply.

" Lumping " people into categories of who would do that is just rude and ignorant of any real facts . Hit and runs happen allot . There was a young man killed back in feb on my corner in sebastopol . They are sometimes people who got scared in the moment and later step up to the plate and take responsibility . Often times an older driver may also flee from the scene.
In either case what is the productivity of assuming who did it . How about asking what can we do to make things better . I appreiciate the frustration with such accidents ,but what is so often overlooked is the person who got hurt and what THEY may need or how can WE can make it safer for cyclists ?

that is all for now
sorry lorrie about your friend
what can WE/I DO to help ?

betina

[shellebelle]

On this topic lets also mention to be aware of the people walking.

The other night as I was heading into Sebastopol there was someone walking in dark clothes and bless them they thought to carry a flashlight and flick it back and forth so cars in both directions realized it was moving!

Had it not been for a flicking light it would have been very easy to accidentally hit this walker just due to circumstances. I know I didn't see them at all until the light moved.

I just found out today, that my landlord was riding his bike last night, on Armstrong, and I forget the name. But, it was one of the streets heading North towards the woods, AND HE GOT HIT BY A CAR THAT DROVE AWAY!!!!

The car was making a turn, not sure of the details but it hit him.

Brian Plaugher is in the freakin' HOSPITAL, with a freaken' BROKEN SHOULDER, POSSIBLY BROKEN COLLAR BONE, or something...and a BASHED IN HEAD!!!~ What the f**K? And can you believe the car drove away and left him there!!!

Now... he will be okay, but why did that have to happen? WHY???

There was a witness to the end of the accident, but, by the time the witness was seeing what was happening and watching Brian eat dirt, then to look at the car after seeing that...well it was too late to see what kind of car or anything... BECAUSE THE CAR DROVE OFF, AWAY...GONE! Who does that?


Nevermind, I'm sure I know.

Okay, I feel the need to refresh a memory or two, about what you, when operating a potentially dangerous weapon should do when coming to a stop sign.

Goes like this:
First you come to a full and complete stop.
Then while stopped you should already be looking to the right.
Then you look to the left. (while stopped)
Then you look to the right again.
When it is completely clear and safe make your turn.

How hard is that? "California Stops"! BAH!!! Its not right! It is not the law! And mostly it is not safe! Not even on deserted roads, less traveled...at night...

I will now admit to all who read and head this message...

I AM S:cussing: DARN PISSED FF RIGHT N:cussing:W!!!

[Lorrie]

"Nevermind, I'm sure I know."

I wrote this. And I wrote it because I didn't want this question to be the only thing you people took from my post... Didn't work.


Brian has been riding a bike for more than the six years that I have known him. He did have a light, his wife told me he did. He has ridden from Guerneville to Healdsburg, windsor, santa rosa, sebastopol and back to Guerneville in one trip! He is an avid biker. I can only guess, because I wasn't there to witness his riding, that he had taken all the precautions as an educated biker can take for his safety.

Brian Plaugher used to be the pastor at Community Church in Guerneville and is now active in the church in Sebastopol. Not sure which one. Now his job is to go around to places where people need comfort, prayers and whatever else he can do for people with ailing or fatal health and health problems.

I have admiration for him. That is why I am pissed when this person who hit him drove away. He drove away that is what I am pissed about.

You have all given that person plenty of excuses. Not of them fly by me. That driver was not being safe, not paying attention to everything around him. HE WAS WRONG!

[phooph]

I was hit in my car by a hit and run driver in October who drove away as fast a he could. I assume it was a he as it was a big pickup truck. It was too dark and he was too fast for us to even see the license plate or the driver.

I suspect that one source of hit and run drivers are those without insurance, and often that means illegals because they can't get insurance because they don't have driver's licenses. I had a friend who's car was totaled in Santa Rosa by a Hispanic driver who ran away and disappeared never to be caught. His car was also running on expired plates and they couldn't even track it back to a legitimate owner. If anyone is wondering why legislators would want to pass a bill allowing illegals to get licenses, that's one reason.

Ruth

"Nevermind, I'm sure I know."

I wrote this. And I wrote it because I didn't want this question to be the only thing you people took from my post... Didn't work.


Brian has been riding a bike for more than the six years that I have known him. He did have a light, his wife told me he did. He has ridden from Guerneville to Healdsburg, windsor, santa rosa, sebastopol and back to Guerneville in one trip! He is an avid biker. I can only guess, because I wasn't there to witness his riding, that he had taken all the precautions as an educated biker can take for his safety.

Brian Plaugher used to be the pastor at Community Church in Guerneville and is now active in the church in Sebastopol. Not sure which one. Now his job is to go around to places where people need comfort, prayers and whatever else he can do for people with ailing or fatal health and health problems.

I have admiration for him. That is why I am pissed when this person who hit him drove away. He drove away that is what I am pissed about.

You have all given that person plenty of excuses. Not of them fly by me. That driver was not being safe, not paying attention to everything around him. HE WAS WRONG!

[Braggi]

I suspect that one source of hit and run drivers are those without insurance, and often that means illegals because they can't get insurance because they don't have driver's licenses. ... If anyone is wondering why legislators would want to pass a bill allowing illegals to get licenses, that's one reason.
Ruth

Agreed. It's also an argument for an added gas tax to provide minimum coverage to all drivers regardless of license status. That means if someone hits you, hit and run, no license, no insurance, whatever, your injuries and damage are covered at least to state minimum amounts. Not great but a whole lot better than nothing.

Allowing illegals to get driver's licenses makes a lot of sense.

BTW, my wife and I have each had our registration stickers stolen off of our license plates in recent years. That is done by people who can't afford insurance or who don't have licenses. The solution is to scrape all the old stickers off your license plate before putting the new sticker on and then scoring it with a knife so it can only come off in little squares which makes it impractical to steal. If you have a stack of old stickers a knife can be slid under the whole stack for a clean removal. The thieves know that.

-Jeff

[Lorrie]

Hi everyone. I have an update...

There was a few questions that I had asked before, and now have the answers.

I don't know if you saw it or not, but, the PD had an article about the accident last Friday.

The title is "Driver admits hitting cyclist"

I now know who the person was that may have hit Brian. And it turns out he is my friend as well. So I am just sick about this all the way around.

According to the PD he turned his self into the Sheriff's Station in Guerneville last Saturday.
The paper said that my friend may have been drinking before this accident.
That, that would be investigated.

Brian had his surgery on his arm (It was broken just below the shoulder ball)
He had come home for a day, before this surgery but I didn't see him. By the time I found out, he was back in the hospital.

Moral: Watch for bicyclist on the roads!...AND DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!