Sad News: Sally Meyerhoff Killed in Accident Today

She was going south at the intersection (secondary road), she has a stop sign. The vehicle with which she collided was going east on the primary road, which did not have a stop sign. Investigators concluded she ran the stop sign.

Google map of crash site:

15280 N. White and Parker Road, Maricopa, AZ 85138

So sad. My thoughts with her family and friends. I remember watching her run for Duke at cross regionals.

To all the prescriptive biking comments: Please hold off. The point is well taken, but this is not the thread to start a stop-sign/bike/cars debate.

Thanks.

I am sure this makes us all think of the risks we take but I agree 100% this is not the context to start a debate. Doing so shows a gross lack of sensitivity. I did not know Sally but she sounds like an amazing person who celebrated life. My heart goes out to her family and friends.

Very sad news.

Wonderbuns wrote:

I am sure this makes us all think of the risks we take but I agree 100% this is not the context to start a debate. Doing so shows a gross lack of sensitivity. I did not know Sally but she sounds like an amazing person who celebrated life. My heart goes out to her family and friends.

Agreed, there is no debate. If this tragedy makes us just be a little more careful while we are running in the streets or riding a bike or driving a car, then that is a great thing.

RIP Sally.

agree x 2. a couple of things this tragedy makes me think of. i lived in a community where 95% of the intersections were 4-way stops. You stop, and then you go if you're the first person to the intersection. It is SO tempting (on a bike) to blow through the intersection if you know you got to the intersection before the opposing traffic, and you assume they are stopping. BIG problem if that intersection happens to be one of the 5% that is 2-way :-( and you thought it was 4-way. Ugh. This is just awful. You can SO see both sides of it. It looks like she ran the stop sign. :-( No matter -- it's a tragedy to lose such a talented and enthusiastic athlete.

Roadgeek wrote:

There isn't any debate nor are there any prescriptive comments.

A stop sign means stop, dead stop and look all ways to be clear before proceeding. Whether one is in the city, in the countryside, on a racing bike or a mountain bike, in a car or on foot.

Maybe she was caught up in the intensity of the training and didn't want to break her pace to stop at the intersection and then resume, as that's not an occurrence in races.

Or maybe some people in this thread are just too terrified to admit that despite being safety minded, we are all susceptible to human error, that accidents happen, and sometimes the results can be tragic. No one here knows Sally's thought process that day, nor will we ever know. Perhaps, for whatever reason, she just didn't notice the stop sign. No matter how much we preach and attempt to follow safety rules, anyone can make a single mistake that might prove deadly.

For those us who knew Sally, this thread has taken a wrong turn. Sally was a wonderful, full of life, talented, hard working young woman. I will miss her friendship and will treasure all the crazy, fun memories I have of our times together. RIP Sally.

new york times article up today

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/sports/17meyerhoff.html?_r=1&ref=sports