Fair Coverage/Conclusion of an Accident in Spokane?

[XLFD]

I ran across a troubling accident that happened in Spokane.  Troubling, in my opinion, because of the coverage and the result.  Here are two news accounts from two different sources I retrieved on the internet, and some pictures from the incident..

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by KREM.com/Spokane Police Department
krem.com
Posted on October 4, 2010 at 2:56 PM

DOWNTOWN SPOKANE-- On Monday just before 2pm, a bicyclist struck the side of a minivan in the intersection of Lincoln Street and 4th Avenue.  Spokane Police have been on scene and have closed the intersection pending their investigation.

Preliminary investigation shows the bicyclist was traveling down Lincoln Street towards downtown (northbound).  A minivan was traveling east on 4th Ave, stopped at a stop sign.  The minivan entered the intersection and was struck by the bicyclist.  The bicyclist was transported to a local hospital for serious injuries.  The driver of the mini van was not injured.

At this time, the intersection of 4th and Lincoln remains closed for about a block in both directions.

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In brief: Crash injures cyclist, closes intersection
 The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review

 
A crash between a bicyclist and a minivan closed the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Lincoln Street in downtown Spokane on Monday.

The cyclist was taken to a hospital with serious injures. Spokane police say the bicyclist was traveling north on Lincoln into downtown just before 2 p.m. when the rider struck the van, which was traveling east on Fourth Avenue.

Police said the van was struck as it entered the intersection. The driver was not injured.

The area between Fourth and Fifth avenues and Monroe and Lincoln streets was closed for several hours.

Downtown construction plans include the creation of a bicycle route on Fourth.

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I would like to postpone revealing  more aspects of this accident until I get some responses for initial impressions.  It's unlikely that the bikerider will recover from his injuries.  The cameraman for the four pictures was pointing NW, S, NW, and ESE respectively at that intersection.

[Sweater Cows!]

The second pic tells the story.

In the second picture you posted there is a white/gray pickup just up the one way street on the near side to where the van would have stopped. If the cyclist was moving along at just the right(or wrong in this case) speed the van driver could have very well stopped, looked up the hill, looked forward accelerated through the intersection and at that exact same time as when the van was stopped the cyclist would have been hidden from view behind(the passenger side of) the truck.

[AQUAMAN]

What's so troubling about the report, no ticket issued? Or the sustained injuries? Which may be serious? They probably just covered the accident with a quick few pics. at this stage, not really knowing the statements from the victims involved in the accident yet, I would assume. Either way, hope the biker recovers soon. The bike looks real bad.

[charlemagnetism]

the bottom picture must have been the first taken since the bike and van are more east where they would likely have been. i think if i just read the second report i would think the bicyclist was a dumas by running into the van like he did and maybe deserved his injury. the first report at least mentions the stop sign the van stopped at before pulling out in front of him. its hard to see them sometimes. bikes and stop signs iykwim. was there a ticket issued to either. give us more to work with.

[Lisa O'Brien]

Well maybe I'm not seeing it but the bike rider did not have a stop sign- so he had the right of way not the minivan. But from the pictures it also looks like the minivan would have had obstructed view from looks like a parking garage and the vehicles parked on the street.

[AQUAMAN]

I totally agree Lisa and Mary, that biker was blocked in vision by the pickup, and may have just zoomed across the intersection, going down a steep hill, probably faster than safer, because he did have the right-of-way, dead right unfortunately, and most likely. This looks like a big city should look, like no place for bikers to ride safely. I still like the fact that motorcycles have a headlight on all the time, some even blink on and off in daylight, perhaps, a good idea for the pedal boys too.

[XLFD]

Good analysis guys and gals. you're well on your way to being CSI specialists.

I hadn't even thought much about that pick-up and the parking garage blocking sight-lines, but more on that later. You caught the steep hill and the fact that the van had a stop sign, but the bicyclist did not. Accidents like this explain why a cyclist (bi- or motor-) must be prepared to stop even when they have the right of way at intersections like this, for they will be the one injured. The slope make it almost impossible to stop given the increased speed and capacity of bicycle breaks.

Note, every bicycle-car accident you look at will waste some newsprint by telling you that the driver was not injured, as if 20 lbs. of bike could make much of an impression on 1000s of lbs. of a vehicle that is crash-tested repeatedly to protect its occupant from damage.

Also I see a basis of bias against bicyclists here. As Charl points out, the 2nd article would have you believe the cyclist was at fault, whereas most note the van drove out in violation of the cyclists ROW. The stated purpose of stop signs are to reinforce ROW rules, period. If you stop at one, you must still yield. Obstructions or not, the van should have been very wary of fast traffic coming down the street.

The following pics (courtesy of Google Maps) illustrate the view of the van on that day looking up the street at the stop sign, and the street parking permitted by the city on that street. A vehicle can be parked within scant feet of the intersection, making a big traffic hazard potential, and as noticed, the parking garage and its hedges are not helpful at this place.

[XLFD]

Here's the second installment of information. It was posted a couple of days afterwards, and had a little more on the accident:

More info on cyclist accident
The guy who got in an accident on Monday is Matthew. I talked to his sister, Katherine, this morning. She has spent the last 40 hours in ICU and was exhausted, shocked, and heart broken.

It's unlikely that Matthew will recover from his injuries. He's got extensive spinal and brain damage. Katherine has been instructed to gather family quickly.

It's one thing to sit and armchair accidents. It's quite another to be in one and it's quite another to meet, face-to-face, the loved ones of victims who are struggling to make sense of it all.

I'll lay out what I learned here.

- Matthew worked at the new Apple store. He was on his way to work.

- According to a witness Matthew was "flying down the hill." Based on Katherine's discussions with the "investigators," this is the single piece of evidence that makes this a closed case. (I can't stand it; I have to editorialize a bit here: to most car-people, I would submit that a cyclist going 25 MPH is "flying." But of course I wasn't there.)

- The driver, who had an expired license, was not ticketed. He stopped. Then he pulled in front of Matthew, who was unable to stop in time to avoid a collision.

- There are bicycle tire skid marks that indicate Matthew tried to stop.

- According to Katherine, Matthew was a "real" cyclist: he always wore a helmet, he was not a "sidewalk rider." He followed the rules.

- Katherine made the mistake of looking on the Spokesman-Review for information on the event. The poorly described accident scene (which implies it was rider error) coupled with the typical vitriolic, uninformed remarks of the SR commenters made the horrific event even worse.

- She mentioned that the investigating officer said that there were some "bike advocates at the scene who were doing their own investigation" and who were going to "put up a white bike."

I have to wonder how the SPD "investigation" would be different if this were a car-car accident with such an awful result. There's so much to say here.

[AQUAMAN]

I'm so sorry for Katherine, her family, and of course Matthew. God's speed for recovery. For safety's sake, I think the cycle idea of required headlights blinking has merit for pedal bikes too. It also may be a good idea for someone to mfr. a helmet that has a blinking red or yellow light on the top, so the individual can be more easily seen. Pedal bikers and cycles are very hard to see too many times while people in cars are in a hurry and not really looking for them.

[XLFD]

The whole thing is a tragedy, and I will let you know if I get any more updates, hopefully they will be good ones.

I checked out a lot of accidents that happened to motorcycles and bicycles to do the BUMPS May thread (which I will finish one day). You would not believe the amount of accidents I went through where the motorist was able to use the defense "I didn't see them." And can you believe they often got off scot-free even when they killed or vegetablized a biker even when they drove off the road, violated their ROW, or were not properly licensed or registered.

If LEOs and news reporters do not hold motorists accountable for such acts (as they would if they ran into another enclosed vehicle), do you really think they will have a great incentive to look out for Bicyclist-Motorcyclist-Pedestrians even if they are lit up like fireworks?

[Sweater Cows!]

I prefer my cage over the bike(of any kind) any day. The kid hates the motorcylces and although i ride one i would rather not. I went for one ride early this summer and that was enough for me. maybe one day I will be able to afford a decked out polish tricycle but until then I'll take the cage for my mobility.

[XLFD]

Not me, Sheila, I get visibly upset when I am riding my car and see another bicyclist out enjoying a ride while I, at least temporarily, can't ride. Just remember, the first ride usually isn't the best ride, the best thing to do is ride more frequently.

If I can get a little less than 100 more miles on my bicycle before January 1st, I will be up to 5000 miles for the yearly total. Even so, this is the first time in 9 years I will have driven more miles in my vehicle than I have rode on my bicycle.