Rollover crash critically injures bicyclist on Madison

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 1, 2011 at 8:28am

What a nightmare. I hope the bicyclist comes out OK.Being rolled over by a ton of metal is not good.

 

How badly does a car need to be driven to make it roll over on its top?  I hate that they call this an "accident."

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on September 1, 2011 at 9:23am

Well, until it's confirmed that the driver was under the influence of something or meant to hit the median and rollover, I think he or she is allowed the benefit of the doubt.

James BlackHeron said:

What a nightmare. I hope the bicyclist comes out OK.Being rolled over by a ton of metal is not good.

 

How badly does a car need to be driven to make it roll over on its top?  I hate that they call this an "accident."

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 1, 2011 at 9:43am

A driver must have their vehicile under control at all times.  There is no excuse. Even mechanical failure like a blown tire is not an excuse as enough safety margin should be kept untapped to account for such things.  If someone is going so fast or turning so hard at speed that they can't recover from a blowout then they are driving too fast for conditions -Driver Error.

I refuse to account for anything as an accident unless something major like the steering becomes uncoupled from the wheel or other freak (and extremely rare) catastrophic equipment failure.  99.99% of all crashes are because the driver screwed up and was driving over their skill level and/or too fast for conditions.  

 

There really are no accidents.  That freak equipment failure or the hole that opens up in the overpass that a car falls through are statistically unimportant in the larger picture.   Cars crash because drivers make bad decisions and screw up.

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Melanie K on September 1, 2011 at 9:57am

According to this article,

While police had no information on the crash, witnesses said a motorist driving on Madison struck a center median and rolled over on a male bicyclist.

If this is accurate, I would think the motorist was driving too fast, as just striking a median shouldn't cause your car to flip over on its roof. Also, I believe it is pretty difficult, barring any horrid mechanical failure of the vehicle, to strike a center median on accident. This implies that the driver of the motor vehicle was not paying attention, was distracted and/or was under the influence of something. Medians are usually pretty obviously placed in the middle of the road. Just my two cents on this.

 

My heart goes out to the cyclist and his family and hope he recovers.

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Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on September 1, 2011 at 10:17am

The right to go as fast as possible is engrained in people. Even in those I would call friends or loved ones are guilty of it. Even I use to be guilty of it before I became involved in cycling.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 1, 2011 at 10:35am

+1

 

Ask yourself, "What would happen if I had a blowout right NOW?"

 

If the answer is "crash" then you are going too fast for conditions. 

Adam "Cezar" Jenkins said:

The right to go as fast as possible is engrained in people. Even in those I would call friends or loved ones are guilty of it. Even I use to be guilty of it before I became involved in cycling.

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Permalink Reply by Jason W on September 1, 2011 at 10:43am

Tank, calling this an accident is ridiculous. Does this look like someplace you should be driving fast enough to flip a car for god's sake?

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Madison+Street+and+Hoyne+Avenue,&...

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Michelle S on September 1, 2011 at 11:42am

I agree of course no one SHOULD be driving that fast near this intersection. On the Street View, there's a nice-looking library there with bike racks, and people waiting at the bus stop.

 

But everything else about the intersection, as well as the design of the street itself, encourages a motorist to drive as fast as they can. Madison is wide enough for four lanes of moving traffic, completely unstriped, no bike lane, surrounded by weed filled parking lots, and the median planters are bare.  It doesn't excuse speeding, but it does help explain it.

Jason W said:

Tank, calling this an accident is ridiculous. Does this look like someplace you should be driving fast enough to flip a car for god's sake?

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Madison+Street+and+Hoyne+Avenue,&...

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Jason Kim on September 1, 2011 at 12:31pm

"The right to go as fast as possible"?  Driving in the state of Illinois is a privilege not a right.  So nobody has the right/privilege to speed considering the consequences.  An innocent person laying the the hospital in critical condition because somebody felt they had "the right to go as fast as possible". 

Adam "Cezar" Jenkins said:

The right to go as fast as possible is engrained in people. Even in those I would call friends or loved ones are guilty of it. Even I use to be guilty of it before I became involved in cycling.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 1, 2011 at 12:43pm

The problem is that after the designers make an intersection "more safe" people will just go faster through it and use up whatever extra safety in extra speed.

 

The issue isn't that the road is to blame -it's the brains behind the wheel that do not feel that any extra margin of safety is necessary so the safer they make the roads the faster they go.  The average driver's perception of what is reasonable risk does not align very well with what reality is when the accident numbers are run on the road afterwards.

 

People will drive as fast as they can and ignore the consequences.  The only way to actually make people slow down is to make the roads seem less safe.  the issue with that is that often these "traffic calming" measures actually DO make the roads less safe and the biggest idiots who refuse to slow down are even more likely to flip cars like this bozo did onto this poor bicyclist. 

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on September 1, 2011 at 1:02pm

Any additional info available?

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Permalink Reply by Tim S on September 1, 2011 at 1:03pm

wow, that is crazy. Last thing in the world I expect while riding is a flying car hitting me. All the best to the cyclist, hope they recover.

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