In a move long overdue, the Federal Department of Transportation will now consider cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists as equals on the road. Future road projects that utilize Federal funds should try to incorporate bike friendly and pedestrian friendly elements. According to the article above, 43,000 pedestrians have died over the past ten years in collisions with cars. From some brief research, I've found that roughly 700 cyclists are killed each year in collisions with cars and another 40,000 cyclists are injured by collisions with cars EACH YEAR. Of those cyclists I've known who have either been killed or injured by motorists, rarely has there been any kind of punishment for the careless motorist. Larry Schwartz - killed in 2003, his killer spent a 1/2 year in jail for leaving the scene of the accident. Dr. Breedlove - killed in 2005, killer was not prosecuted. I'm not sure what happened to the driver who killed Edie during the PACTour in 2001, but he was a recently retired man driving an RV, I doubt there was any prosecution. Of those cyclists I know who've been hit by cars and lived, not one motorist has been charged and some of those were pretty nasty crashes requiring hospitalization. The problem though in most of the nastier crashes was the driver fled the scene and was never found, it's tough to prosecute when you don't know who to go after. I guess that highlights another problem with motorist/cyclist collisions.
"Viva LaHood"
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