Stop and Go: Look Beyond the Bias

[XLFD]

The story looks like it is a pretty cut and dried instance of a seasoned bicyclist ignoring a stop sign and getting hit by a vehicle, but is it all that simple: 

 

WRIGHT TWP., Mich. (WZZM) -- A beloved Grandville music teacher was hit and killed by a car while riding his bicycle in Ottawa County over the weekend.

WZZM 13 is taking a closer look at whether there were enough signs for cars and bikers at the intersection of 24th Avenue and Musketawa Trail near Marne, where the accident happened.

There are stop signs for bicyclists on each side of the road, but investigators say often times they're overlooked.

"I always stop, I slow all the way down, I don't run through them," says bicyclist Bob Dykstra.

Dykstra sees fellow bikers blowing the stop signs all the time. "They'll fly right through, they'll look both ways and go, but if the sun's in your eyes or you miss it, the car could be right on top of you."

Sunday afternoon, investigators say 55-year-old Jeffrey Looman slowed down on his bike, but never stopped as a car was approaching.

"He (the car's driver) did apply breaks but could not stop in time and hit the bicyclist," says Sergeant Steve Austin with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department.

Jim Newatzke was driving by when he saw Looman in a nearby ditch. "There wasn't much to do, I was a medic in the service, and he took a pretty good shot."

Looman, a music teacher at Calvin Christian Schools was pronounced dead on the scene.

"This isn't a loss we just recover from, Jeff has left a legacy here... he's been here since 1989 and built our music program," says Barb Engbers, Principal at Calvin Christian High School.

WZZM 13 asked the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department if it's too dangerous to have a bike trail close to where cars travel 55 miles per hour.

"I don't think it is, if it's done safely, properly, and legally. The trail bends, it curves, you have to slow down, and there's a clear red stop sign," says Sergeant Austin.

Deputies hope it sends a sobering reminder to other bikers. "To me it's important, I don't need to get there that fast," says Dykstra.

Investigators say there was another bicyclist hit and killed by a car in the same area in 2008. They say that person also had not stopped at the stop sign.

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/255488/2/Bicyclist-killed-in-Ott...

When an experienced bicyclist dies at an intersection, I am always suspicious of the causes, this being no exception.  I have found that throughout my bicycling career, spanning over 100,000 miles on the bike, that whenever I get in serious trouble at an intersection it is not the result of me voluntarily taking someone else's right-of-way.  But let's look at the scene:

The red arrow indicates Looman's path, the black arrow indicates the motorists path, the dashed orange lines indicates a sight-line area.  This news report says that the cyclist slowed but did not stop, another TV news outlet states he slowed to about 20 mph, a speed which most 55 year olds surpass only on a downhill slope.  If he did slow , but not stop, why didn't he?  The sun wouldn't be in his eyes, weather was not a factor, he should have seen the car coming since he would have been looking north coming to that intersection. 

 

 

The motorist coming down the road would have seen the bicyclist, would have expected him to stop.  Even though there is a bike trail crossing sign further up the road, there is no special traffic control for vehicles that dictate they must alter their driving.  Placing blame on the driver would definitely be misplaced unless they were recklessly speeding, which doesn't seem to be the case-- though the vehicle's crash records should be looked at if there was no other witnesses to the event other than the driver.  One would have to believe that the investigators heard that the cyclist 'slowed down' from that driver or another witness. 

 

Jeffrey Looman may have made a mistake and failed to yield properly at this crossing, but due to his experience and the almost optimal setting, there is a good possibility that it was not that simple.  From my own personal experience, I have found that getting a bicycle up to speed after a stop can be the most dangerous activity at an intersection.  Let's assume, Mr. Looman stopped/slowed for other traffic, and tried to then get across the road. 

 

Problems with toe clips, being caught in a high gear, a chain derailing, or some other mishap that prevents the cyclist from getting across in a safe time frame, may have kept Looman from getting across safely.  These things happen to all cyclists at times and if it happens when a car is bearing down on you at 55 mph or more, you may find yourself in the same predicament as Jeffrey Looman.

 

Chances are if this happened, or even the more remote likelihood of brake failure, the evidence would be lost with the death of the bicyclist and the demolition of the bicycle on impact.  But one should always consider all the possibilities before blaming a seasoned bicyclist that failed to stop, who obviously knew how to yield throughout his career.