CALIFORNIA BICYCLE NEWS AND CYCLING SAFETY TIPS BLOG

A lawsuit was filed in June stemming from a fatal bicycle accident that occurred on May 31, 2011 near San Diego, according to Fox News in San Diego. A sport utility vehicle lost control and veered off State Route 56 in Rancho Peñasquitos and onto a bike path, killing 40-year-old cyclist Nick Ventuo, and injuring a second, Baron Herdelin-Doherty. Accident investigators determined the crash to be an accident and did not cite the driver. Ventuo’s family and Herdelin-Doherty have filed wrongful death lawsuits against the city, San Diego County, the State of California and the driver of the SUV, claiming both the road and bike path are unsafe for cyclists and motorists. Only a chain link fence provided a barrier between the car and the path, and the suit claims a more substantial barrier was necessary. The distance between the path and the street (40 feet) met the legal requirement,…
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It is beneficial for cities and communities to invest in bicycle lanes for its roads—they keep cyclists and motorists safe. Bike lanes define road space and provide a layer of protection for vulnerable cyclists. According to The Department of Cambridge Community Development, the construction of bike lanes in Davis, California decreased bicycle accidents by 31 percent. Motorists are more likely to keep an eye out for cyclists on roads with marked bike lanes. They also encourage cyclists to stay out of the way of cars and trucks. When bicycle lanes were added on a main road in Eugene, Oregon, the crash rate reduced by half for cyclists and also decreased significantly for all car accidents. On roads that have bike lanes, cyclists obeyed stop signs 81 percent of the time versus 55 percent on roads without the lanes. If your community does not have marked bike lanes on roads cyclist…
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