Bdubs wrote:
1)your opinion, letsrun has years of proof otherwise
2)Too soon. Imagine how the family/team community feels
3)CRAZY things happen in "safe" environments, I would say this is one of those low probability events
4)He was on the vacant side, the driver crossed the lane and hit him from behind, giving him no time to move
5)the speed limit might be 25, but most don't adhere to it. Plus, the feeling of "safety" might increase risk to runners a la traffic crossing accidents
6)True; I run into this as a biker all the time. I'm not misunderstanding your tone, just reading your terse post. Usually when I call you out, you amend posts with longer, thoughtufl responses. I agree about protecting kids as I'm accused of being over protective from time to time.
7)This is just silly. I won't even touch how stupid your ideas are.
1) Incorrect!
2) Incorrect! Of course they are sad. I didn't chastise HIM for running on the roads. I simply said that this will continue if people continue running on the roads. To get people to change behaviors, you have to comment when the news is fresh. Not insensitive at all; the OPPOSITE of that.
3) You are correct that crazy things happen in safe environments, but think about how many runners and bikers you know who have been killed or seriously injured by an automobile, and then think about how many runners in parks that have been killed by an automobile (women shouldn't run alone in secluded areas though). There are risks in life, but some of them are not necessary to take. It is not necessary to run on roads with traffic.
4) Doesn't matter...the risk is that drivers will not pay attention or will have a medical issue or will over compensate if they veer right a little...that was NOT a vacant road. Vacant roads are closed to traffic. I used to run on one in California -- they would close it early on Saturday mornings so that people could run and bike on it with no cars. Cool.
5) This doesn't hold water as every runner I've ever heard about getting hit by a car was NOT in a suburb. Stats don't lie. CAN someone be injured running in a suburb? Yes. I'm saying though that the risk is SO SMALL that you can all do that if you want; a park would be even better. Running on a road outside the suburbs though is not a good idea.
6) I have no response to this as I'm not sure what you're saying.
7) Not silly. Ever watch House Hunters? People want to live near the water because they have a boat or near shopping and restaurants because they are in their 20s or maybe older but have no kids, or on the mountain top because they like the view and like to ski or downtown because they want to walk or take public transportation to work. If you have an activity that you do that is incredibly important to you, then perhaps you should live where it is safe to do that activity. I say it's not safe on roads. Biking either for that matter. Every person I know who bikes a lot for exercise has been hit by a car at least once, and one of them broke his back (not paralyzed though).