This is a tragic story. Last Thursday evening, a female jogger abruptly did a u-turn on a crowded trail in Dallas. She was hit by a cyclist, who called out that he was passing. But since she was wearing headphones, she did not hear him. The woman suffered a severe head injury and died Sunday evening.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/100410dnmetjogger.156702d91.html
no reason to be going fast enough to kill someone on a pedestrian path
This comment by a cyclist sickens me and shows how self righteous cyclist really are when in reality they support one of the dirtiest sports ever. And this guy is going to pack heat to make sure he can ride... disgusting.
The argument that bicyclists should not be allowed on the Katy Trail seems, to me, anyway, to be indicative of the general attitude of Dallas, if not society at large, these days: “My needs outweigh everyone else’s, and if you don’t agree with me, drop dead”. I’ve seen this reflected in so many issues over the past few years.
Issues such as these cause me to reconsider if I should remain in Dallas or move elsewhere. My contact with people in my personal life seems to becoming more and more confrontational. I was involved in a minor accident (in a suburb) a couple of years ago, and the driver of the other vehicle got out of his car, came over to me, doubled up his fist, pulled his arm back and communiated to me verbally (profanity) that he was about to assault me. I had to call 911 because of that idiot. I wasn't armed then, but I always carry now when driving because of that. I hate to think that I'm actually considering carrying a sidearm now when I ride the Katy Trail in case a walker/jogger takes issue with my riding and tries to assault me. We've sunk to new lows as a society.
I’m a Dallas native, but have lived in other major cities. In Seattle, for example, I observed that bikes and pedestrians coexist peacefully. The attitude there, and in other cities I’ve both lived and visited, seems to be one of cooperation and friendship rather than hostility. Dallas seems to have gone from a friendly city to one of hate.
cyclist are druggy scum wrote:
This comment by a cyclist sickens me and shows how self righteous cyclist really are when in reality they support one of the dirtiest sports ever. And this guy is going to pack heat to make sure he can ride... disgusting.
Seems to me that the "jogger" is more in the wrong than the cyclist in this case. Making erratic moves on a busy trail when your senses are blocked is not the fault of the cyclist. Even if he was speeding, it doesn't change the fact that the jogger did the wrong thing. It is unfortunate the cost was so high.
I got yelled at by a cyclist because I was running on the left side of the trail, the funny thing is that she was wearing headphones while cycling, and really had no room to complain about dangerous behavior.
oh please wrote:
Seems to me that the "jogger" is more in the wrong than the cyclist in this case. Making erratic moves on a busy trail when your senses are blocked is not the fault of the cyclist. Even if he was speeding, it doesn't change the fact that the jogger did the wrong thing. It is unfortunate the cost was so high.
Making erratic moves? It's a trail, not a race course for cyclists.
The cyclist ran over the runner.
The cyclist is at fault.
It is similar to if some drunk ran over cyclists on a road.
Other cyclists would be all upset, oh he ran over a cyclist boo hoo.
But when they run over a runner they think it's okay and is the runner's fault for getting in their way, even though it was on a running trail and the cyclists should have been out on the road, not on a trail used by pedestrians.
J.R. wrote:
Making erratic moves? It's a trail, not a race course for cyclists.
The cyclist ran over the runner.
The cyclist is at fault.
It is similar to if some drunk ran over cyclists on a road.
Other cyclists would be all upset, oh he ran over a cyclist boo hoo.
But when they run over a runner they think it's okay and is the runner's fault for getting in their way, even though it was on a running trail and the cyclists should have been out on the road, not on a trail used by pedestrians.
Based on the facts on this thread, it would seem both parties are at fault.
This situation is quite obviously a tragedy plain and simple... perhaps avoidable, but a tragedy nonetheless. The thing is I run with music/podcasts add to that the kind of concentration you get with or without listening to music while running and you can a scenario which makes it difficult to be aware of anything happening around you. The take home message should be is to realize that you’re not alone on trails, the street or the sidewalk and to be aware of what is going on around you.
wilfredo wrote:
no reason to be going fast enough to kill someone on a pedestrian path
Exactly. I was hit by a cyclist who was riding his road bike on the running path at dusk. He came around a corner, had no light, and was riding on the *runner side* of the path. I was not wearing headphones and had on reflective gear. He was going fast enough to cause bruised ribs and torn cartilage when he hit me.
Chlorine in the gene pool
Cyclist are some of the most arrogant pricks I have ever met. The spandex superman outfits are a reflection of their egos and terrible personalities. Drugged up consumer driven a$$hole$. Their equipment is merely a status symbol. A new way to keep up with Joneses.
Sorry, not tragic. The jogger was negligent.
Wrong. If you fall and hit your head on the concrete, it doesn't matter how fast whoever or whatever that ran into you was going. You could run into another runner while running and if they fall in a way that they hit their head on the concrete then they're going to sustain head injuries, possibly massive and fatal. I know cyclists are a favorite target here (often justifiably so) but in this case I place the fault squarely on the idiotic behavior of the deceased.
The jogger caused the accident, but it never ceases to amaze me how fast hobby cyclists try to go on crowded bike paths. Some of these clowns bomb around crowded bike paths as if they are making a break from the peloton, weaving between families with strollers and little kids riding bikes with training wheels. Bike on the road if you're going to do that.
Katy trail is a bad design. There is plenty of room on the old rail right of way for a dedicated hard surfaced bike trail and a soft crushed granite runners/walkers only trail. You cannot have a straight and fast hard surfaced trail that is shared by cyclists and runners/walkers. It is an accident waiting to happen because the cyclists think the joggers will watch out for them and the runners think the opposite. A one size fits all approach does not work. With more people moving back to urban areas, planners need to make improvements to trails to accomodate the increased demand for space for cycling and running. Compared to road construction and stadiums, running and cycling trails are extremely cheap and add tremendous value to neighborhoods. It is time for City officials to put the needs of runners and cyclists on par with drivers and pro sports teams.
kids play on these paths all the time. cyclist and runners both have to watch out for people and SLOW DOWN when they are near other people. I've gone on rides on paths like this, and if there's a lot of traffic, you need to wait until your path is clear. Anyone could turn left at any time and you need to take that into consideration. Just because bikes are allowed doesn't mean they're safe, and it's the biker's responsibility to understand how dangerous his vehicle is
Nobody said that the cyclist in this story was doing any of that.
dean moriarty wrote:
The jogger caused the accident, but it never ceases to amaze me how fast hobby cyclists try to go on crowded bike paths. Some of these clowns bomb around crowded bike paths as if they are making a break from the peloton, weaving between families with strollers and little kids riding bikes with training wheels. Bike on the road if you're going to do that.
It's not a playground (kids play in the street, too, but still have to watch out for traffic) and it wasn't a kid that was killed, it was an adult who broke with her direction of travel and stepped directly into the path of a cyclist. The cyclist's response above is right on. In many other (more enlightened?) places with mixed use paths this simply doesn't happen. Yet in Dallas it's somehow turned into a deadly situation. Maybe Texans are just too stupid to be out in public unless they're in cars.
Fair enough. I'm drawing more on my experience running on the Katy trail (a half dozen times or so), where cyclists were way too aggressive. The trail isn't big enough for cyclists to ride as fast as they do.
Plus the cyclist called out that he was passing. What should he have done, slowed to tap her on the shoulder and ask her if it would be okay to pass her?
Precious Roy wrote:
Katy trail is a bad design. There is plenty of room on the old rail right of way for a dedicated hard surfaced bike trail and a soft crushed granite runners/walkers only trail.
Curiously the accident apparently happened on a section of the trail that had separate multi-use and walking paths, but the jogger was on the mult-use part.